University of Aberdeen Applicants and Offer Holders for 2015 entry

Congrats to everyone recieving offers today! I'm a second year student at the University of Aberdeen (eeeek, until exams finish in a few of weeks!) and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have (if I can) or chat away if you want a familiar face in Aberdeen when you get here .


I, personally, would choose Aberdeen (obviously, as I'm already a student here), but the decision is ultimately up to you. No one else can tell you what it is you want to get out of your university experience, so it makes it a difficult thing to help with.
Do you value the reputation more? The style of campus? The location of the campus? The course content? The available societies/sports teams? The nightlife? The public transport? The chances of getting a job as a student?

Aberdeen has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the UK and has also been recently voted the safest student city in the UK. It is also rated higher for your course. These things are all great, but if you can see yourself fitting in at Stirling better, then it'd be in your best interest to choose them . Hope that helped a wee bit!

Oh hello! :-) yup i got a few questions :-D do you live in university accomodation? i would like to know something about rooms, whether there is enough storage, whether iz is lpud there (i dont like loud parties everynight), whether you can cook there without limitation or you have to wait for a free cooker :-) and how much free time do you have? i mean, do you have to visit the university everyday or can xou take a few days off, and how about timetables? i know it depends a lot on courses, but i would like to know an example on how long do you stay in the university and so on... :-) thank you!

I don't live in university accommodation, never have, but I have friends who did. I never heard anyone complain about storage or having troubles waiting to cook. A lot of students live off of pot noodles, takeaways and sandwiches because they can't cook, so you shouldn't have to wait long haha. As for parties, yeah, there are going to be loud parties. You might be lucky and be in a flat with people who are much like yourself and the people around your flat may be the same, or you may be put with people who blare their music every night. It's just luck of the draw I'm afraid, it's one of the rubbish things about student accommodation.

I work part time whilst studying and have been aiming for first class grades throughout, so I don't find myself with a lot of free time, but that's by choice. If I was choosing to just do enough to pass with decent grades and I didn't work, I don't know what I'd do with my days. Students have a lot of time out of classes, but that isn't supposed to be free time, they recommend that you use that time to study and get work done. I definitely advise doing that because then you don't have to do the majority of work in the evenings/overnight like a lot of students end up doing.

Each course is totally different but as far as I'm aware, languages have a slightly higher number of contact hours due to the various types of classes involved. I had around 16 contact hours in my first year (business school). This year I had between 10 and 13, depending on the week. First years get a Wednesday off unless they do a sixth century class though. Unfortunately not all of your classes will always fit nicely together. In my second semester of first year I had a class from 9-10am and not again until 4-5pm on a Friday. It was a nightmare because I didn't live near campus, so the gap sucked. I used it to get work done though, and it worked out fine in the end. You might end up with a great timetable, but if you don't, don't worry too much, use your gaps wisely and you'll have plenty free time at nights and weekends .

These are really great tips! You mentioned that you have a part-time job whilst studying, may I ask what kind? Is it difficult to find a part-time job in Aberdeen in your first year? What kind of jobs are available?

These are really great tips! You mentioned that you have a part-time job whilst studying, may I ask what kind? Is it difficult to find a part-time job in Aberdeen in your first year? What kind of jobs are available?

Also, if you were to work for instance as a waitress or something of this sort, would it be sufficient to cover living expenses?

I wouldn't say so, no. Accommodation is expensive in Aberdeen and you wouldn't be able to work enough to comfortably cover that and maintain good grades/attendance. You would definitely be able to earn enough to cover food/clothes/nights out etc, but a waitressing job alone wouldn't cover your total living costs.

I see...you mentioned working two jobs, but does that make it difficult to find time to study enough?

Oh girl, you have soothed some nerves :-D thanks a lot :-) so if i had a part time job, lets say waitress, and my mum would pay my accommodation, i would be able to live quite well, in terms of finances, right? :-)

I also applied to Anthropology, and got rejected by Edinburgh last week. Confirmed Aberdeen a couple of days ago. So excited!

Same here:
I've applied for anthropology, I've been rejected from Edimburgh and got an unconditional offer from Aberdeen.
I'm kinda worried about the living costs though.

Yeah, the living costs are quite high. Sadly though, they'll be high wherever you go. You can try and apply for a student loan if needs be, I guess it's just one of those things. Guess we'll just have to learn to budget well, as well as do well at Anthropology haha!

Ive accepted a firm offer at Aberdeen and I am expecting really to have info sent out re accommodation.

Is anyone else mature applicant/commuting from distance? Could do with a bit of advice really.