What is Aberdeen like?

Hey!
The other day I received a really good offer to study Anthropology at Aberdeen, and academically wise I'd really like to go given the specific modules available and the recent league table rankings.
However I haven't the slightest about the actual place, and tbh what I've heard hasn't been the most positive, with one of the history teachers at my school, born and raised there, even asking why I would want to go near the place.
For context I come from London, and whilst I have visited St Andrews, the Cairngorms and Inverness very briefly but never Aberdeen.
As such I'd love to hear from anybody currently studying or living in Aberdeen as to what the place is really like, with other insights into the reputation of the university or the Anthropology course being super welcome.
Thanks a bunch to anybody who replies!

Reply 1

3Engineer141592

It’s a great place to be a student but not to remain after uni. The uni has invested a lot in the experience, amazing variety of societies and brilliant facilities (especially the library and sports village). The town’s nightlife is mostly geared up for students and as a student you’d spend most of your time in old aberdeen which is a beautiful medieval place. The rest of aberdeen has fallen in recent years post covid but Old Aberdeen where campus is, is actually much nicer now than when I was a student.

I would warn you though that you don’t have to go to uni, so many of my mates did law, Geography, economics at great unis with 2:1s /1sts and were unemployed for years (and were normal socially too!!!). Unless you want to be an anthropology professor think carefully about where you want to be in future (which I know is really difficult at this stage of life). You’ll have an amazing time at uni, but make sure you so something that you can exchange with the world post-uni

Reply 2

UoA Enquiry Team

Official Rep

Original post by RetroSky

Hi, this is the University if Aberdeen rep account. Thanks very much for your interest in us! I'm glad someone else was able to respond on this, and speaking as a former student here (graduating a few years ago) I would say that it's a pretty good city to be a student in.
I understand why people have not the best perception of Aberdeen; parts of the city are a bit run down, it's remote as UK universities go, and it's not that big a place compared to other university cities. This all being said though I think there are some good aspects for being a student here. The size of the city means that it's very walkable and nothing is too far away. The campus area itself feels very active with students and student accommodation sort of gravitates around here instead of the main city centre. Also if you're a fan of the Cairngorms and north of Scotland generally then it's a great spot for travelling there, plus places like Edinburgh or Glasgow aren't too distant on the train either.

I would say to have a think about the universities you're looking at and what appeals to you about their cities and campuses. Do you want to be close to or far away from home, do you want to be in a big or small city, are there things/places in that city that you're interested in or will be good for any hobbies you have; those sorts of factors should definitely be on your mind as well as the actual courses of each of the universities.

If it's of any interest we have a form on our website for campus visits if you did want to come up to Aberdeen yourself. I realise that's quite a trip from London, but you can also use this to set up a remote call with an academic who may be able to give you more information about the course if that was helpful: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/campus-visit.php
And we do have virtual tours too: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/student-life/campus-city-tours.php

If you have more questions for us just let us know, and hopefully more folk will come in with their thoughts on Aberdeen!

- Matthew, Enquiry Team

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 3

JonasOldacre

Original post by 3Engineer141592

It’s a great place to be a student but not to remain after uni. The uni has invested a lot in the experience, amazing variety of societies and brilliant facilities (especially the library and sports village). The town’s nightlife is mostly geared up for students and as a student you’d spend most of your time in old aberdeen which is a beautiful medieval place. The rest of aberdeen has fallen in recent years post covid but Old Aberdeen where campus is, is actually much nicer now than when I was a student.
I would warn you though that you don’t have to go to uni, so many of my mates did law, Geography, economics at great unis with 2:1s /1sts and were unemployed for years (and were normal socially too!!!). Unless you want to be an anthropology professor think carefully about where you want to be in future (which I know is really difficult at this stage of life). You’ll have an amazing time at uni, but make sure you so something that you can exchange with the world post-uni

This is so true! My son is in Aberdeen as a student and loves it. The university is consistently in the top 20 and rates better than Edinburgh and Glasgow for student satisfaction.
The city itself (outwith the student bubble) has fallen on hard times though and has seen better days. The accommodation is unbelievably cheap compared to London and even though quite far north is on the main LNER trainline!