A few questions...

[El Danielle]

Hi! My name is danielle and I will be joining Aberdeen in 2010 to study medicine and there are a few questions I would like to ask about if any of you would be so kind as to answer!

First up, I'm very nervous about accomodation and was wondering where the best location is for those who study medicine, I've chosen the old fire station as this looked ideally my kinda place, but the more I look into it, the more New Carnegie Court looks appealing too!

Secondly, meeting people! I'm quite a shy person and was wondering when and what are the best opportunities to make friends (especially those doing the medicine course too.) Reading this back it sounds like such a stupid question but I am quite nervous and anxious to make friends since I dont think the party all night long is my kinda scene especially around exam time!

I'm sure I sound like some new pandantic first year but I'm dead nervous and, equally, cannot wait! Thanks in advance for any replies!

[tiffany09]

Hi Danielle (:
I'm Tiffany, I'm from Aberdeen and should be starting Medicine in 2010 too.
About New Carneigie Court (NCC) and the Old Fire Station - both these buildings were built by Unite which is a company doing student accommodation. With NCC the majority of the rooms are managed and distributed by the University but Unite do keep some. I'll admit both these buildings are far nicer than the majority of the halls but are a bit more expensive for it! Old Fire Station is actually completely run by Unite - the University doesn't deal with it at all.
None of the accommodation is particularly close to Foresterhill (the medical campus) and I'm not actually sure if all classes are there or not because of the new programme. Hillhead is the furthest away and then Crombie Johnstone is located at Kings Campus - the Old Fire Station is close-ish to this on King Street. Another Unite building is Mealmarket Exchange which is closer to town centre on King Street (with a large Morrisons right next door). Gosh, that was a bit of a blab, don't know if that really answered your issues there - if it didn't ask away! And just choose wherever you like the best, there will always be people around, and on a medical course you'll be seeing people lots - you'll never be left out or lonely I'm sure! (:
Fresher's Week, MedSoc, societies, classes and halls - you'll get close to alot of people on the course probably, since it is a much closer knit/small year group than other courses - just talk to people, go and sit next to someone new in a lecture, and hey everyone else is in the same position! I wouldn't worry - there will be lots of people not that crazy about going out all the time, and definitely not near exams!
I hope this (monster post) helped a bit, and if you're still worried or feeling lost nearer September I can always show you around little old Aberdeen :P
Hopefully see you in September!
xx

[Kensei]

About New Carneigie Court (NCC) and the Old Fire Station - both these buildings were built by Unite

A little fun-fact: Old Fire Station is not just a fancy name - it actually was a fire station once, and UNITE just took the building over

BTW - there's also Spring Gardens - yet another dorm operated by UNITE. Other than that, I think you described the accommodation situation pretty well, Tiffany

[tiffany09]

Haha, thanks for that Kensei, my mistake - bad choice of words there, meant that Unite built NCC but renovated Old Fire Station
Actually, I am a local From Aberdeen - been living in Dubai for almost last two years, looking forward to coming home in the summer! I'm sure you're not so impressed now
What about yourself? From Aberdeen or move there for Uni?

[El Danielle]

Hey, thanks a lot tiffany! You've been really helpful (same goes for you kensei!). Hope to see you in Aberdeen this september!

Oh, and wow tiffany! Dubai?! Very swish!

[Kensei]

@Danielle - don't mention it

@Tiffany - yeah sorry 'bout that, I realized u're a local 3 seconds after posting that message :P Still, your level of knowledge is quite impressive, considering that you never studied at Uni of Aberdeen (or am I jumping to conclusions too early? )

Nah, I'm not from 'round here - I'm what you might call an 'EU applicant' (originally coming from Poland), though I've lived in the Deen for 5 years now. That included studying psychology and working a few jobs so for a foreigner I guess I know the place quite well now (not as intimately as a local, though)

[tiffany09]

@ Danielle: You're very welcome You'll find it no problem when your there in September! And Dubai, not as great as everyone thinks - lol, safe to say I'm looking forward to going back, maybe it'll be better if I'm only there for holidays!

@ Kensei: Ah five years - you're good enough a local Haha, no quite right, just in last year in school and if I get my A-level grades I'll be a Aberdeen in September

[Kensei]

Judging by your previous grades, that shouldn't pose the slightest difficulty for you

[tiffany09]

Lol, thanks (:
But I'm getting concerned - just had two weeks holiday...essentially did no work, oh dear..!
Ugh I'm being driven crazy trying to sort out accommodation, ha! I can't organise/dont get allocated anywhere until after exam results in late August, hmm
So what do you think of the Matthew Hay - only got a quick look when I was back, interesting bright green lecture theatre

[Kensei]

The building itself is pretty nice, tons of space to chill in between lectures, our own little cafe, etc. - the clinical skills centre is well equiped and the lecture theatre seems to be custom-made to fit a class the size of 180-ish students, while staying spacious enough not to cause claustrophobia. At first I thought the green colour of the theatre will be distracting, but u get used to it after a while. I've never been to the anatomy floor, but from what I heard it's a bit 'crowded', i.e. definitely less space than we had a year ago in Marischal college... it's brand new and more 'clinical' tho, so I guess there's a trade-off.

btw good luck with flat/dorm-hunting :]