Why Aberdeen should have been your first choice

We won’t lie to ourselves, the University of Aberdeen is not up there with the Cambridge’s and the St. Andrews. But why would we want to be?

Can they get overly sweaty in Institute at the weekends? Do they study in a massive glass cube with holes in the middle of every floor? Have any of their friends ever been unlucky under a seagull on their way to a morning lecture? No.

Plus, they’re surrounded by real posh people, not us pretend ones who are more fun. Its fair to say that us new Aberdonians have never looked back after choosing to come up North and well and truly live out the Aberdream.

Our societies hit it hard 

When else would you find yourself rolling down union street in the rain? Or downing a pint as a punishment for not being the first one to down a pint? Or wearing kids swimming goggles and rubber rings, handcuffed to a stranger? Freshers week is for getting over excited, joining too many societies and seeing how many pub crawls and intitiations you can manage.

Seaton Park makes us happy

Especially on sunny days, and yes we do have them!

Even a nine am lecture can be made slightly more bearable in your first year at Aberdeen Uni with a glorious morning walk through the park. Sometimes there are even musicians who sit on the benches, so you can walk with a backing track and pretend you’re in a movie.

Imagine being a fresher not at Hillhead

With over 2,500 students living there, Hillhead Halls are the place to be during your first year. There’s always some kind of drama going on, like the mystery of the hole in the wall of Block A, or the bra hanging in the window of Block G.

Flat parties ensure that under-agers get the full messy student experience, and dually act as excessive pres before a night out on the town for the over 18s.

King’s College is prettier than any Oxbridge building

Not to be all architectural or anything but no one can deny that some of the buildings on our campus are stunning. You wouldn’t believe how much more inviting lectures are when you’re walking down little cobbled streets and through ancient archways to get to them.

The Sir Duncan Rice Library brings some new to that old. Going up to one of the top floors and studying with a view of the sea won’t make studying itself any easier, but it will make those moments of procrastination highly enjoyable.

We have a beach

Few could argue against the perfection of Aberdeen Uni’s location. A twenty minute walk and you’re on Beach Boulevard, where the sunsets and sea breezes are enough to wash your stress away. We even have an amusement park. What more could you want?

Waste away your Sundays on the 2p machines in the Codona’s arcade, eat ice cream along the front and fish and chips on the ferris wheel whilst looking out to sea.

…and a town within walking distance

The same twenty minutes in another direction and you’re right in the city centre. From gardens to galleries, shops to shows, museums to markets, there really is something for everyone.

If you’re in the mood for a bite to eat between shops, rest assured that whatever you’re in the mood for, somewhere in the centre will cater for it. Also, being such a student filled city, the student discounts are widely available to be used and abused.

We don’t need a union when we have the Bobbin

We don’t see us not having a union as a downfall, with The Hub and library on campus for all your meeting and eating needs. Even better than this though is the infamous Bobbin.

Imagine your ideal student pub and there you have it, a road’s crossing away from campus. Forgotten to charge your phone? Just ask the bar for a charger. Fancy some properly good pub grub but dont want to have to take out a second student loan? Choose anything on the menu. With pub quizzes, a cosy atmosphere and retro interior, who needs a union?

We get to be basic at Starbucks

Whether you’re a classic PSL white girl or a caffeine craving someone who cut it short and did an all-nighter to meet a deadline, Starbucks is there beside Kings College just for you.

If thats not your thing and you’re more into pizza for example then pop to the Hub for a Papa Johns. If thats not your thing, maybe you’d prefer Mexican food, theres an Old El Paso. If thats still not your thing, Baskin’ Robbins will fulfil any ice cream cravings you may have. Do you see where I’m going with this?

An Instagram never looked better than in the sports village

Our sports village and aquatics centre have literally everything, pools, squash courts, trampolines and equipment for sports you’ve probably never heard of. Of course theres also a gym for fitness fanatics or people who want to pretend they are for Instagram.

Visible from campus, what better to do with your gap between lectures than go to a little Zumba class or do a couple of lengths of the competition swimming pool.

Forget “Hive till Five”, try “Embarrass Yourself on Union Street in the Early Hours of the Morning”

Student life and night life tend to come hand in hand. Aberdeen poses a wide range of clubs and bars, from those you’d never dare go into, to those you dont go a week without visiting.

If you’re an ex-private school kid or posh small town inhabitant, Nox is there for you to dance around in shirts and ties and see how many VKs you can have on the go at once.

Or have you always wanted to get a photo with a C list celeb from Geordie Shore? Me neither, but in Underground, you still can.