Racism in Aberdeen?

Hey guys,

I've been researching the University of Aberdeen for quite a while now and have been considering applying there to study English. It seems like a fantastic university and the English course is incredible, however i recently read an online article titled 'Aberdeen 'is worst city for racism' ', which has made me question my choice slightly...

I'm half Pakistani, half Indian and currently living in England, and so i have a feeling that i may be a pretty huge target if racism really is that bad over there. However i've also heard that there are plenty of international students attending the university, and so i'm not really sure what to think?

Advice from anybody who is familiar with the area would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Im from around here and I wouldnt say theres any racism here hahah. I mean of course there are like certain areas of Aberdeen where its bad as to stuff of such but thats like everywhere. But dont worry mate its pretty chill here theres so many internationals here that I think everyone here is used to having all kinds of people here So I would say that there is no racism here - you can be safe and sound ! Hope I helped

Haha that's such good news, I definitely wanted to put Aberdeen University down as my first choice before I read that article about it being a racist area, so thank you for clarifying. And for replying so fast! What is the nightlife like in Aberdeen for students if you don't mind me asking?

Hey guys,

I've been researching the University of Aberdeen for quite a while now and have been considering applying there to study English. It seems like a fantastic university and the English course is incredible, however i recently read an online article titled 'Aberdeen 'is worst city for racism' ', which has made me question my choice slightly...

I'm half Pakistani, half Indian and currently living in England, and so i have a feeling that i may be a pretty huge target if racism really is that bad over there. However i've also heard that there are plenty of international students attending the university, and so i'm not really sure what to think?

Advice from anybody who is familiar with the area would be greatly appreciated!

I'm English and Aberdeen is my second home (mother lives up there) - I have never ever experienced any racism of any type. It's a very culturally diverse area as you said with many international students coming from Aberdeen Uni. I'm not sure where you saw the article or where it was based - I mean like any place there are parts of Aberdeen you'd probably want to avoid but in general it's a great city and I love it there

I'll definitely keep a note of The Lemon Tree, thank's so much. I really want to get a feel of the environment, especially as i'll be coming from such a long way without any of my friends, and i have a feeling i'll be spending a lot of my uni life partying haha

Oh gosh i was worried about that, i heard that there was some trouble last year with accommodation for Aberdeen University too? Apparently they had 200-300 freshers without accommodation who had to live outside of the area, which is pretty daunting... i'm just hoping they've made changes to improve this year haha. I'm glad you've warned me about that though, i'm thinking it might be more sensible to try and move into a student-shared house instead? I'll do some research about costs

I'm looking at the clubs that you linked me to now, they look great! I'm looking forward to it even more now, thanks so much for all your help

I found this thread about nightlife. It may be a little outdated since The Lemon Tree is not on it ? Or maybe Im just wrong hahaha
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Aberdeen_Nightlife

Thats fine hahah The thing is that surely you will meet people in the same boat as you so Im sure you wont be lonely ! As to the clubs you shouldve seen Aberdeen during the freshers week hahaha ! There were like stickers, leaflets and even a few pairs of shoes ? all over the town centre hahaha

Aw yeah I remember my mum saying something about that ! From what I know they had to live quite a bit away from Aberdeen like 30 mins away in the suburbs ( which probably was awful since the bus tickets here are pricey as well - another downfall of aberdeen ). And I know that theres new accomondation being built at the moment next to Morrisons in Aberdeen ( literally in town centre ) But its right next to the UNITE accomondation so Im not sure whether its another flat by UNITE or whether its a specifc uni building it ? But yeah I think you'll be better off finding some other students to share a flat with - that way you'll save some money on bills etc. Good Luck with the research and if you have any other questions just ask them below

x

The only place where you shouldnt really look for a flat is in Torry. I mean that is like one of the very worst areas you can get youself into. Its dangerous ( especially at night , theres chavs and thefts etc ) and just overall pretty dodgy - so I wouldnt reccomend finding a place there even though the housing prices are cheaper than anywhere else but A) thats because its bad area and B) everyone is trying to move out of there oh and C) and many people have problems with damp there because most of torry is really old flats

That's great news, thanks so much for reassuring me. I was definitely sceptical as i know that Aberdeen University is renowned for having lots of international students, and so was totally confused by the article haha. As somebody who travels back and forth from Aberdeen, how do you find travel expenses? I'll be leaving my family back here in England, so i'm just wondering how regularly i'll be able to come back to visit

x

No probs

And it depends really where you are and what method. I live just outside of London so I can either fly up which is about a 45 minute flight (Aberdeen has an airport if you didn't know) or take the train from Kings Cross direct to Aberdeen, start to finish. That's about 7-8 hours but I prefer the train as I can just sit and relax and don't really like flying - too much hassle haha.

In terms of price, I cannot remember the exact prices offhand but they're pretty reasonable, with the train being marginally cheaper than flying. Where abouts do you live?

I live in Coventry, as does the rest of my family. I think i'll stick to catching the train too, getting a flight back home does sounds pretty luxurious but it just seems like a lot of hassle I'll definitely stay away from coaches though, it says online that it can take up to 18 hours! That sounds like waaaay too much stress haha, I'm fine with travelling but that's just a tad too extreme for me I'll look further into train and flight prices through, could you tell me around how much it would usually cost for you to catch a train?

Yeah I finds trains great - I just sit and do some work that needs doing. Just remember to book a ticket when you do..!
Coming from Coventry I'm not 100% which train line you'd take - I go by East Coast which passes from London up through York, Newcastle, Edinburgh into Aberdeen but you would be sort of the other side of that. I'm struggling to give a rough price guide as it depends on/off peak among other things but generally, for me, it's £40-£60 iirc, but then I have a child's ticket as I can still just get away with that haha. Although I think for adult tickets it's roughly £70-£100. But my journey I think would be a little longer than yours so perhaps would be cheaper