There is no doubt that the University of Aberdeen has become my home away from home. Overall, I have had a really rewarding time at the University of Aberdeen. My personal and professional development has been greatly influenced by the high calibre of instruction, the encouraging environment, and the availability of countless tools and opportunities. No organisation is perfect, but the advantages of the University of Aberdeen much outweigh any slight drawbacks. Anyone looking for a top-notch education in a friendly and interesting academic community should strongly consider attending this highly esteemed institution, in my opinion.

In my four years at Aberdeen, I got to know the staff extremely well, even though they had a huge cohort, and my peers definitely felt the same. They made it clear from the first day that they were genuinely excited about their topics, and this enthusiasm was matched by every member of staff that taught me. When I undertook my dissertation project in the fourth year, my supervisor met with me weekly to discuss the progress and any possible hurdles. I had a lot of personal trials with my father becoming suddenly ill in my last semester, and every member of staff who I was in contact with was empathetic, understanding and supportive, and they all made concessions to make sure I finished my degree.

The facilities were also great, and included regular practical experiences throughout the degree programme. However, many of the earlier labs seemed less relevant, for example in the essential course “Chemistry for the Life Sciences”. I did not seem to use any of the material learned in that course again in my degree, although many of my peers doing biochemistry did.

Moving between campuses was tricky, as was the case for all medical science degrees – sometimes on the main campus and others at the hospital campus. As this is quite a distance, it made it difficult to find accommodation which suited both locations, and so a fair bit of commuting was required of us.

Particularly now, being a student at a different university with less of a staff-student rapport, I really appreciate all of the staff at Aberdeen and how much effort they gave to ensure we had a rounded and supportive environment to learn in.