University of Aberdeen Blog

Hi everyone! How are you all getting on? Probably waiting with excitement to hear back from all universities that you have applied for? Well… if you have made a decision to study in Aberdeen you should keep on reading!

In February we will be holding an Applicant Day for Sciences and Engineering (www.abdn.ac.uk/applicantday/) and in March for and Arts and Social Sciences (www.abdn.ac.uk/arts-socsci-applicant-day/). It’s a great opportunity to meet academic staff, talk to current students, have a tour of the campus, and see all the great facilities we have, including the Sports Village and our amazing new library. If you have received an offer from us, go and register your place online, you’ll have great time! I promise J

There is also something on offer for your parents! We are holding Parents’ Information Evenings in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, Belfast, Newcastle and London. During each event parents can ask any questions they may have, meet members of Aberdeen staff and generally learn more about Higher Education. For more information about the event and bookings please visit your website: www.abdn.ac.uk/sras/for-parents/parents-evening/

I hope to see many of you in February and March! Right…. I’m going back to writing my dissertation!

Kristina

I guess it is always difficult to start these things off! Anyway, I’m Shaun, and I’ve just started helping out at the Old Town House. I came to Aberdeen two years ago to pursue my degree in Ecology. I’m going into my third year this September.

I moved to Aberdeen in the summer. As I was living with my partner, I opted not to stay in student accommodation and I figured I’d get settled before term started. I first joined the university through the Associate Student Scheme, run by Ali Clark (the one you see running around and looking stressed at the Open Day!). This let me get a feel for the university, its computer systems and library (as well as taking advantage of my student discount!) a little earlier. It wasn’t a head start really, but it was great to have slightly less of the stress and running around that I might have found during Fresher’s week. If you are going to be around Aberdeen before term starts (around Juneish), I strongly recommend the Associate Student Scheme – if only for the Top Man discount – so you should send Ali an email next year(a.clark@abdn.ac.uk). Oh, and say Shaun sent you!

We are quite busy just now – the Open Day is coming up in a few weeks and we need to get prepared. If you are looking to come to the university, nothing beats seeing it busy and bustling as you do on the Open Day, so you should come along! If you live far away, you can stay in our halls of residence the evening before. The Open Day is always busy, but good fun to work at. I’ll be there giving a student life talk, and no doubt showing some of you around the campus too. If you need to get any information on the open day you can find it here (www.abdn.ac.uk/openday).

I hope to see many of you there =]

Shaun

Doesn’t seem to be that long since I’ve joined the Town House team, but I’ve just realised I’m already an oldie here! It was of course sad to say goodbye to Claire and shortly to Ashley, but also very exciting about welcoming our new student ambassador J Hi Kayleigh! I hope you all are following Kayleigh’s fact of the day, I certainly will (embarrassed to say but I didn’t know the difference between a graduand and a graduate). I am looking forward to her next blog.

Well, I’m actually just about to start my final year, so very soon I will be a graduate myself; well I really hope I will! Summer has been quite busy, so I haven’t started my dissertation just yet. I am quite excited about my project, especially because I will be able to research and type up my brilliant ideas in our pretty amazing new library. If you haven’t heard about this iconic building you should check out our website: www.abdn.ac.uk/newlibrary so all of you who are joining us this year get excited J it will be open this September.

I will be taking a short break in August (I will only be gone for a week), but I will be back in time for our busiest day….Open Day!  EXCITED!!!

Ciao J

Is it really the end of the year?! Well… I’m, as many other students at the University of Aberdeen, spending most of my time in the library, which can only mean that it’s exam time! As always, nice weather and sunny days making it all a little bit harder for us to stay inside and study. But I do have faith in me and my friends; it looks like we work much better under pressure, typical students J Ahhh exams, scary times! Lucky for us the Queen Mary Library has extended opening hours during May – June examination period. You can check opening hours on the library website: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/hours-exams.shtml 

So with help of many cups of coffee we can revise until 2am!

I’m glad I can get a little bit distracted during work at the Old Townhouse. In the past few months we have had many visitors. I have met many of you who have applied to study here and came to visit the university. Actually I’ve realised for many of you this summer is quite stressful too, waiting for your results. But it is also an exciting time! In September you’ll be joining us! YES!!! It is may be slightly early to get excited, but I cannot wait until Freshers week, busy city streets with new and very excited students J I’m sure you are all looking forward to September too! Good luck with the results!

I am saying goodbye for now, time to get back to my revision.

Kristina

After the past few days of rain the sun is finally back J the skies are blue and everyone is back in t-shirts rather than waterproof jackets. Here’s hoping the weather stays like this for the summer. However, the sun is causing some problems for those students with exams coming up over the next few weeks with the choice of sunbathing or studying in the library being a very difficult choice for some. Others are however making the most of the sunshine with tutorial classes being held out on grass in front of Elphinstone Hall. I am lucky enough to not have exams (the joy of an Environmental Science Masters) but I do have a lot of essays to write and I have to start on my summer thesis so I almost wish I did have exams (almost!).

In the Townhouse we are still really busy with lots of prospectus requests so it looks like the 5^th years are making a nice early start on decisions for what they want to study in September 2012. It seems like a long time away but it will come around quick enough. It only seems like a few months ago that I was going round different universities making my choices for where I wanted to study when it was actually over 5 years ago! For all those students looking at starting university and thinking where they want to go we have an Open Day on the 30^th August 2011 http://www.abdn.ac.uk/openday/ If you can make it along to the Open Day it is definitely worth while and its before the UCAS deadlines so is a big help when making decisions. At the Open Day you can get a tour of the campus to see the different buildings that you will classes in, see the places where you can chill out and see the new library which will be almost ready for opening. You can see a virtual tour of the new library at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/newlibrary/ (Aberdeen is not as flat as it looks in the video). There are also lots of presentations to go to on the day whether you’re interested in finding out about Student Life, Studying Abroad, speaking to lecturers to find out what interests you and speaking to current students to see what their experience of the University is.

Just remember to book before you come to the University of Aberdeen, that way we can send you information on what time different things are happening, you can do that here http://www.abdn.ac.uk/openday/booking-form/

Good Luck to all those away to sit exams in the next few months.

Ashley

It is unfortunate that the University of Aberdeen is currently on its Easter break, because most students are missing out on the rather nice weather we are having at the moment. As always during holidays the campus is rather calm and quiet. So is my house as both of my housemates are out of the country right now. One of them is on an internship at the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, DC. I did the same internship six years ago as part of my undergraduate degree in History and Politics. It only lasts three weeks, but it is great fun and gives History students a chance to explore Washington, DC while gaining some valuable work experience. It is one of many such opportunities that all students at the University of Aberdeen have as part of their studies here. If any prospective History students are reading this, you can find more information about the Washington placement here http://www.abdn.ac.uk/history/ugrad/washington.shtml

The Easter break lasts for one more week and then the campus will explode with activity again. The first week back is always very busy as AUSA (Aberdeen University Students’ Association – www.ausa.org.uk) is holding its annual elections, giving students a chance to choose who will represent them and who will fight for their rights. A lot of my friends are heavily involved in AUSA, but thankfully they are all standing for different positions so I do not have to choose between them. Being involved in AUSA is not only good fun, but it also looks very good on a CV later on. Last September AUSA moved into its brand new headquarters, allowing them to provide even better services for students.

As you can see there are many ways for students to gain valuable work experience at the University of Aberdeen. If students need some help looking for interesting placements and internships, or if they need advice on how to apply for jobs and such, then they can always turn to our excellent Careers Service (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/careers/).

Speaking of jobs and such, this will in all likelihood be my last ever entry for this blog, as my time as a student ambassador is coming to an end very soon. I have greatly enjoyed my almost six years on the job and will miss it very much. Thankfully, my new job is also at the University of Aberdeen so I do not have to say a final farewell to my work colleagues. I hope you, the readers, have found my blog entries both informative and entertaining and, of course, I hope that you will have as good a time being a student at the University of Aberdeen as I have.

Be well in all things,

David         

Regular readers of this blog are no doubt aware that I am thoroughly enjoying my time as a student at the University of Aberdeen. In the past I have written about the many friends that I have made and the many societies that I have joined over the years. However, there is one aspect of being a student that I have not really mentioned before, but that is nonetheless an important part of the student experience at the University of Aberdeen. As you will no doubt have guessed from the title of this blog entry, I am talking about the sense of belonging and the sense of community that go hand in hand with being a student here.

It is not the easiest concept to put into concrete terms. It is probably best described as the fact that irrespective of what you are studying or where you are from you feel that the University of Aberdeen is Your University and that you are part of a wider community. This feeling can manifest itself in many different forms. For instance earlier this month our boat club successfully won ‘Survival of the Fittest’, the 16^th annual boat race between the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University. While I do not personally have any interest in boat racing and have never been to a single boat race in my life, I was nonetheless pleased that ‘We’ won the race (and just for the record, this was ‘Our’ 14^th victory J For more info visit http://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/details-9979.php).

This sense of community is not just limited to the students, but it also includes all members of staff, from the friendly cleaners making sure your halls of residence are clean and tidy, all the way to our new Principal and Vice-Chancellor. Last Monday, Professor Ian Diamond took some time out of his busy schedule for a special Q&A session with students organised by our Students’ Association. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend myself, but I have been told that the event was well received and that Professor Ian Diamond enjoyed it so much that there will be more of these Q&A sessions in the future.

Until the next time, be well in all things

David

Well the past few weeks have been rather busy for me partially academically and partially socially. But before I could really get into my work for this semester, we still had the exam results to get for last semester. Happily I did rather well in my exams, much better than I was expecting, but it’s the feeling of relief after the anxious weeks of waiting that feels much better. After that was over, I had to settle into the courses for this semester, one of which we had to write an essay per week for the first 3 weeks! We had to read various books and then analyse their approach to History. I have to say, I don’t think I will enjoy this course anywhere near as the others I have taken in the past.

As well as the above course, I have to write my dissertation this term. I now have a set title, a bibliography and extended outline showing my argument. These are the first steps in the process and next is to actually start reading the books on my bibliography. I expect to use about 30 or so different books and journals and then I have my primary sources on top of that so I really should get reading!

On a more personal note, last weekend saw the first of my friends to get married. The bride was my first friend in Aberdeen after we were placed in the same flat in Halls, and she got engaged in that very first semester. But the wedding was also something of a reunion as I got to catch up with all of the friends who graduated last year, including others from our Halls. It just goes to show how well the Accommodation office placed us in first year, that 4 out of the original 6 from that flat in Hector Boece are still great friends after 4 ½ years!

But back in Aberdeen, this past week we held our BSc Applicant day which enabled all of the students who had applied for BSc degrees to come and have a look around and learn more about the courses they had applied for. It was (apart from the weather) a great success and I hope next weeks MA applicant day goes as well. If you have applied for the MA programme and would like to attend the applicant day on March 2^nd, you are still able to register at: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/maapplicantday/ereg/

The University of Aberdeen has two special events coming up that will be of great interest to everyone who has applied to start their studies in September 2011. The Applicant Days give prospective students a chance to talk to academics, visit various departments, have a look around campus, meet with current students, and generally find out all there is to know about the University of Aberdeen firsthand. It is a great way of getting a feel for the place and learning more about what university life is all about.

The first of these days, the Science and Engineering Applicant Day (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/applicantday) is on Wednesday, 23^rd February 2011.

The second of these days, the MA Applicant Day (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/maapplicantday) is on Wednesday, 2^nd March 2011.

I would highly recommend booking a place for one of the Applicant Days (you can do so by clicking on the links above) and I look forward to welcoming you to Aberdeen in the near future.

Until the next time, be well in all things

David

Right, who is excited about second semester?! I hope you have screamed ‘ME!’ at the computer. Well, I am definitely looking forward to my new courses; there is nothing wrong with being a little bit of a geek! Apart from doing some university preparations I have also been helping new postgraduate students to settle in at the Hillhead Halls. It was great to be back in student halls once again, I have even managed to practice my French with new Erasmus students. Welcome to all new students, I hope you have settled in well and are enjoying yourselves already! As Ashley mentioned, there are many amazing events this week and we all should have a little bit of fun before the essay writing will begin again. Go party, sign up for as many societies and sports clubs as you can, I promise it’ll be fun!

Many of you, who have applied to University of Aberdeen, have been getting in touch with us to find out about your offers. We were happy to have received so many applications, however due to such a large amount of applications it is taking a while to get back to all of you. But the University will be sending out the bulk of their decisions in February, with the exception of Medicine and the BEd. Unfortunately, if you have not applied on time late applications will not be considered.

We also received many phone calls from parents with regards to Parents’ Evenings; the letter has all the details on how to sign-up for an evening and also online evenings, there is also additional information can be found on www.abdn.ac.uk/parents-evening. However the letter does not indicate whether or not an offer will be made to the student.

There is also additional information about Saltire Scholarship, the deadline for this year is 17^th June, and applications should include the reference and transcript. The scholarship is open to Canadian, Chinese, Indian and US nationals. Details of the scholarship can be found at: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/international/scholarships.php.

I hope you all will get the letters you are waiting for very soon. Good luck everyone! I’m off to order books for this semester J