University of Aberdeen

[Agapi]

Hello! My daughter is set on studying economics at Uni of Aberdeen. We have visited Glasgow and Edinburgh but not Aberdeen. Her first choice was Glasgow but she missed securing her conditional offer by just few points. Aberdeen is her second choice and she is pretty set on Scotland, even if she has a second offer at Uni of Amsterdam (we are EU nationals..). Any thoughts on studying at Uni of Aberdeen...? It is considered a good Uni..? How about living in Aberdeen? Thank you very much for sharing your experience and insights!

I know lots of young people who have studied at or are currently at Aberdeen and they all love it. It is certainly considered to be a good uni. I think it is fairly expensive in terms of living costs but then again so are many uni cities.

I did 8 years of study there finished at Christmas.

Yes considered a good uni I think it has some very well regarded alumni in economics. It is a nice uni to study at it is all on the one campus with a real campus feel, everything very close together but it isn't cut off from the city like some are. Aberdeen is a nice city to live in I found it big enough to have stuff to do but not so large that you feel lost. Cost of living generally I was paying between £350 and 400 pcm for a flatshare plus bills. The buses are expensive but if you live between uni and town everything is within a 20 minutes walk.

The beach is really nice, there are some nice parks too. Plenty of places to get Saturday jobs and they are very used to students. It is a bit of a pain in terms of location in that is it miles from everywhere else but if she is going to have to fly home anyway it doesn't really matter as the airport is pretty good.

The uni has plenty of clubs and societies and excellent gym facilities.

If you've got more questions just ask!

University of Aberdeen is Scotland’s 3rd oldest university - founded in 1495 (if this date is out by a couple of years sure I will be corrected).
Highly respected and excellent results. It certainly served my younger son well - his good degree, employment outcomes and opportunities.
Aberdeen a small city with a multi racial population, very friendly, with easy access to beach and fantastic countryside, skiing etc. As a university town (Robert Gordon’s University also highly respected) it has a great social life and our family found it the ideal place for two of our now adult children when they spread their wings and left home in a small coutry town to study in a city.
Transport links are good - v good road network up the east coast, train, plane and bus.

I studied there. It’s a lovely city, low population density, lots of awesome stuff for students, decent transport links and also for social sciences it’s well respected.

It’s geographical location makes it one of the coldest places in Scotland though AND it’s not visited by as many bands as Edinburgh, Glasgow or Dundee. BUT I loved it there.

However - she has an offer from the University of Amsterdam??? Where do you guys live because if it’s S England it’ll be cheaper and easier to get flights to Schipol from any London airport compared to Aberdeen.

Plus Amsterdam is an unbelievably ace city and having lived in the Netherlands and being desperate to go back I know which one I would pick.

Ds went to the Aberdeen Open Day under duress from me and ended up loving it. He got an unconditional offer from both Aberdeen and Strathclyde to do Politics and International Relations (with the intention of specialising in International Relations but with the exception of St Andrews, the Unis start off doing both subjects as they have the same foundations) and chose Aberdeen as he didn't want to go to his "home" Uni - and he says he thinks the Aberdeen course is better anyway.

He starts in September

After we (dh, ds and me) went up to the Offer Holders' Day, ds described Aberdeen as a "hidden gem". He's a city boy at heart, but sees Aberdeen as a good mix of city (like Glasgow) and "old Campus" like St Andrews (which he hated the feel of although I loved it when I studied there, but he was right as it can indeed be intense and claustrophobic )

I've had lots of feedback from friends since ds accepted Aberdeen saying that they loved their time there and that their degree has stood them in good stead.

He's already got a place in a 5 person flat in Hillhead Student Village. The accommodation people said that all the 1st years are guaranteed a place in the university accommodation - but not sure how late that guarantee applies

@ All - thank you so much for all the feedback shared. I am of the opinion that Amsterdam may be a nicer city to live in overall but daughter is set on Aberdeen. She has always wanted to study in Scotland so this move is in line with her plans. Never been to Aberdeen although we did visit Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I do hope she likes it there. We will travel with her and stay for a few days until she settles.

Question - would anyone have an idea of a suitable allowance to cover cost of living for DD?

Thank you again for your feedback!

Not sure - I've still to work that out

At the moment I'm working on the basis that the bursary plus maximum SAAS loan is a sort of proxy maximum for the 39 weeks so will make it up to that (c£7,700 iirc - but vibrantly need to check and plan). He'll have to work out how to support himself the other 13 weeks of the year!

Managed to get ds to adjust his budget to £113/week (5 bed flats with 2 toilets - 39 week contract) rather than £142/week (the en suite flats in New Carnegie Court) so that he could afford the £250 per annum for the Aberdeen Sports Village.

Although I think at the time he hadn't realised it was his budget and his choice, rather than us threatening not to pay his gym membership!

Anyway we'll see . He's chuntering about us having to transfer money to him so that he can afford to travel back to Glasgow. I don't think he's quite understood the concept of budgeting yet

Hi - I've answered you on the HE thread.

DD has just finished first year and we agreed we would cover accommodation cost - £5500 for an en-suite room in student halls in Glasgow and she would live off the maximum student loan of £4750. We also did take her out for a couple of meals, paid a coach fare home during the second term and bought her some essential clothes. She did work last summer and had about £1k in savings - she hasn't spent all of this.

We didn't want her to worry about working during the first term as she has a full course load and was adusting to living away from home . She seems to have managed pretty well and while she is home for the summer she is earning her keep by doing housework, car washing, gardening as paid work is hard to come by.

If your daughter hasn't visited Aberdeen I would recommend she does so before firming a offer. It is a very different city to Glasgow. DD ad a conditional to Glasgow last year so i do know how stressful it is to not know until final results day - she was quite stressed by the prospect of going to her second choice and not being guaranteed accommodation there. We made lots of jokes about living under bridges but I was secretly really quite worried.

DD tells me from schoolfriends who have gone to Aberdeen that the Hillhead accommodation is quite run down and that the private student accommodation is better.

Prettybird - strongly recommend the Santander 123 account with the free 16-25 railcard. Train fares can be surprisngly cheap especially if booked in advance. Book return for Christmas as soon as he starts.

To Agapi and Prettybird - hope both your dc enjoy Aberdeen and if I can help just ask.

Hi prettybird - I have looked at the info on the Uni of Aberdeen website and they recommend higher budget to cover cost of living and accommodation. It is suggested to calculate Stg 1,015 per month, which is slightly more than I expected.

www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/tuition-fees-and-living-costs-287.php

Good luck for your son with his move and studies!

readsalotgirl63 - thank you for sharing your DD's experience. Great that she got to go to her first choice University. The financials you mention are more aligned to what I have read on the Uni website.
I also do not wish daughter to fret about money in the first year as I would rather she focus on settling in, studies etc. In all honesty, I have initially thought of funding all expenses but now am inclined to give her some responsibility towards the living expenses from the second year. I think it may be good for her to feel the responsibility and financial commitment that Uni entails, rather than just rely on mum and dad to pay for everything.

Phew - did not think Uni preparation would be so intense....

Thank you all for taking the time to reply, it is very helpful and appreciated.

Over £1,000 month?

After accommodation costs (the mid range ones), that would leave over £100/week for food, books and "social" money - that's roughly what we spend as a family of 3! Maybe that's why we have savings and not debt

Given that at Hillhead, all their utilities and broadband costs are covered, so it really should just be food, books and drink left And there is a Lidl just over the road

By my calculations, based on the higher SAAS loan + bursary (= c£7,700), minus the 39 weeks cost of accommodation (£113/week) and minus the £250 cost of the Aberdeen Sports Village, ds will still have c£80/week to live off. If he has too much, he'll not learn how to budget. I'm a tough mum

Plus he'll have a couple of weeks within that 39 weeks and weekends at home (eg over Christmas) to replenish his stocks (I'll be sending him up with a big batch of my home made granola and we'll no doubt be buying his first grocery shop to fill the cupboards )

If he wants more spending money, he'll have to find a job! But knowing how good ds is with money, I don't think he'll need to (plus my dad has said he's going to bung him the odd bit of extra spending money ). He is however putting out feelers for some paid rugby coaching (he's a qualified coach) which supplement his passion.

Re the accommodation being "tired" at Hillhead; that wasn't our impression of the flats at least. Dh's niece stayed there and showed us round and the flats she was in (which she recommended to ds) have recently been refurbished. Plus there has been a massive investment in The Hub, which is the closest thing that Aberdeen Uni has to a Students Union, which looked very impressive.

Some of the more "residence" style halls (cheaper at £99/week) did look a bit tired: rows of single rooms (each with a washbasin), banks of shower rooms (niece likened it to scout camps/hostels), TV room (which did indeed looks a bit tired) and a bigger kitchen at the end of the corridors.

Thought I should actually name the flats that my niece recommended: they were Hector Boyce and Grant Court. They are 5 bed flats with one or two toilets and a shower room.

She advised against North Court as it was "too far" from the rest of the student "village".

Ds is planning on staying in the university accommodation for the 1st year (I've already paid the £100 deposit and he knows where he'll be staying) and then to make sure he's found a group of friends with whom to rent a flat in 2nd year.

My best friend's dd studied at Aberdeen and they still have a house that they let out (with its HMO certification, ie so that it can have multiple tenants) up there, so I've told her to keep him in mind for next year

Hi - happy to be corrected re the accommodation at Hillhead.

Our experience of student accommodation in Glasgow is that university accommodation is expensive for what it is and in comparison to private student accommodation. BUT - the upside was that dd was sharing with other students from the same university and they were all first years so she has made friends with whom she will share in second year.

There was a bit of haggling by dd regarding paying for accommodation . originally the deal was we would pay for a room without en-suite and if she wanted the upgrade she would pay for it herself. However alltho she applied for the cheaper room as her first choice she was allocated a room with en - suite and persuaded dh that it wasn't fair to make her pay .

There was a fair amount of up front cost in terms of getting together "stuff" e.g crockery. pots and pans etc and the first accommodation payment had to be made in August before the student loan was through.

DD paid her rent via direct debit from her own account which was where her SAAS loan went. I paid the initial payment in August and then made regular payments to dd rather than to the Uni.

DD also opened a student account so had 2 bank accounts and this has been useful in helping her deal with switching money between accounts and budgeting.

I did make a double payment to her in September as there are more outgoings then - books are expensive. I wanted to avoid her having a lot of money all at once and I think that's helped her budgeting.

Btw - my brother did International Relations at Aberdeen many many years ago - it was ( and still is ) a highly regarded course. It is a good university - I'm just biased as a Glaswegian !

Also would agree that this bit of parenting is fairly intense. DD worked very hard to make the conditions of her offer but we were all on edge until results day. In fact I had convinced myself she would really like her second choice better so as to have a convincing "game face" on the day - it took several days to get my head round the fact that she was going to Glasgow.

Aberdeen as a city does look great in the sun - the beach is glorious and the university is very attractive. The library is stunning and it has a strong academic reputation. I hope both your dc have a great time.

Let me know if u have any other queries.

It's been a big help that ds was offered an unconditional (he also got an unconditional from Strathclyde but didn't want to go to his "home" Uni I may have influenced him in that ) so we've been able to plan - and he was able to apply really early for his accommodation and get it confirmed quickly (we were having a similar argument about the cost of the ensuite - but we eventually compromised with the extra £4/week for 2 loos )

I'm currently trying to mitigate the upfront costs by buying a little at a time (like a grey rather than the white bath sheet he is used to towel and various kitchen implements - a mini whisk, wooden spoon and measuring spoons so far). My dad is also promising a clear out to benefit ds

Someone mentioned on the Scotsnet Uni Application thread that their ds had been promised by Unite (private accommodation) that he would share just with other 1st years and ended up being in with older years who already had friendship groups

Glad to hear that your db enjoyed his course. I've been impressed by what I've seen of it so far (this time last year ds was planning on doing sciences - fortunately he'd already started crashing Modern Studies alongside his AHs in Maths and Physics as a vaguely relevant course when he changed his mind to IR )

Hi - would certainly recommend ensuring that clothes etc can be machine washed and that things are coloured rather than white. DD found she rarely had enough to make separate loads of white and coloured. Also make sure "stuff" can be tumble dried - dd did dry undies over the radiator and she had one of those gadgets with hanging hooks/pegs but she lost several socks in the drier and there wasn't enough room to have a drying rack .

We also found she had probably too much kitchen equipment but she did find a small roasting dish useful as she could put a piece of chicken , couple of tatties and some veg in and bung it in the oven.

Hope that helps.

Not really relevant to the Aberdeen convo as DS has chosen to live at home and travel to Strathclyde...makes me wonder about the waste of the other 4 applications he made...but just wanted to say that he turned 18 last week and miraculously already seems older. I'm sure the maturity process will accelerate quickly for those moving away so we will all be looking at different people when they complete their first terms i think.

Hi Wax - I don't think you should regard the other 4 applications as wasted . I think it is a difficult decision for youngsters to make and doesn't hurt for them to keep their options open for as long as possible.

I agree re maturity - dd seemed much more grown up when she came home for Christmas and had learnt a lot. However there were a couple of hurdles along the way which made dh and I realise that despite the apparent sophistication she was still a "young" adult and we're not completely redundant

Hope your ds enjoy his course at Strathclyde - some of dds friends are there and having a great time - and I had friends there back in the dark ages.

I did my undergraduate there 2002-2007 I then did my Masters at Robert Gordon University in 2010. My sistwr who is much youbger than me did her degree at RGU as well. Spent nearly 10 years in the city. I have many fond memories of studying there. It's expensive in terms of rent and living costs but it's a nice easy city to get about and has some really beautiful spots both in the city and the surrounding areas. The University Library is amazing (I am now a librarian). I fell in love with Aberdeen University on the Open day and was so glad to get a place.

I stayed at South House at Hillhead in my days. I have not been back in years but I do think they have upgraded them fairly recently. Walking through Seaton Park then Old Aberdeen to uni was lovely... sometimes a bit of a race or chilly but good!

I'm studying an MSc there at the moment. I also have degrees from Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt. I've been impressed with the library, campus, course everything really.

Sports facilities are excellent with the Aquatic centre and ASV opposite the campus.

I believe Hillhead Halls have been done up recently. Heard good things.

The city is small, friendly, cosmopolitan. Prices/rents have come down since the oil price crashed several years ago.

There's such investment going into the city and surrounds at the moment. The much needed bypass (£750m) will be open in a few months, the airport is close to completing a several million pound upgrade, the new Exhibition centre (250m) should be finished soon looks amazing, seven million is being spent on the Music Hall and the art gallery has nearly finished its £30m upgrade

The countryside is amazing. Mountains, woodlands and beaches galore. It's a great place to live.

We've just got a new Principal who is about to start. All indications are that he is a very good thing. I like living in Aberdeen and the sports facilities at the Uni are fabulous.

Hi, sorry if this is a bit of a derail but can I ask what her offer was? My daughter wants to study economics and is applying to Glasgow but I've heard the minimum reqs bear no resemblance to what they are actually looking for. Thanks!

Can't wait for the Aberdeen Art Gallery to reopen .

I don't know what the University of Amsterdam is like - my husband is an academic and he thinks there's be less of a campus experience there.

But of course you'd get a bigger city.

Great to see more positive feedback about Uni of Aberdeen!

@DaftWeeBun, DD also studying Economics. 1st preference was Glasgow. She had a conditional offer for 38 points at IB level. With A levels I understand it would be straight As. She fell slightly short on that and finally Glasgow came back to us and said they had 3,500 slots but 32,000 applications so they have to be very firm with final selection. Dd did not want to wait for clearing.