Top Tech in Aberdeen: What is Robert Gordon University Like?
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Robert Gordon is a career-oriented, clean, modern university in the suburbs of Northern Scotland’s Granite City: Aberdeen. But what is Robert Gordon University like?
We interviewed students and found some common themes:
- Students come to Robert Gordon University for a small-city experience. They don’t want to be tempted by the clubs, culture, and costs of a place like Edinburgh.
- Students want to get a job after they graduate! With an emphasis on high employability and work placements, this is the place for students who want their college experience and their future career to go together like peanut butter and jelly.
- Students rave (and really, we couldn’t find a detractor) about the support they get from professors. Need time? Want to be nurtured through a new experience in a new life in a new place? Students really emphasize that they felt that here.
From the city of Aberdeen to the accommodation, academics, local hangouts, and more, we’re breaking down how students feel about RGU so you get a sense of the true RGU vibe, and whether RGU is a good uni for you, regardless of what the rankings and league tables say. There are lots of universities in the UK, so if RGU’s a dud, go back to the drawing board and check out other Scottish and UK universities.
Robert Gordon University (RGU) Basics
Degrees: BA, BSc, BEng, LLB
Majors: 300 total degrees across the university spectrum including painting, architecture, engineering, events management, fashion, law, pharmacy, midwifery, and more.
Location: Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Cost for out-of-EU: £14,250 for most liberal arts degrees including arts, design, communications, and accounting. You’ll pay a little more at £14,950 for surveying and £15,950 for nursing and health sciences
On-campus housing cost: £3,939 for 39 weeks (£101 per week) for a single standard room at Woolmanhill (that’s not en suite) to £8,036 for a full year, or 49 weeks (£164 per week), in Crathie Student Village (that is en suite).
FAFSA Funds: Yes
Abroad from abroad: Yes. Second and third-year students in most programs (though not all!) can study abroad. Students can spend a semester at 100 partner universities around the globe as long as students can find comparable coursework. There are plenty of European and North American partners, but students can have trouble finding coursework in their area if they have their hearts set on smaller countries.
Student body: 18,000 students from 150 countries.
Five adjectives: professional, experienced, personalized, connected, analytical
Life in Aberdeen and Garthdee
Off the Beaten Track in Northern Scotland
Head up the River Dee a 40-minute bus ride from Aberdeen’s perch on the North Sea, and you’ll find a mod campus full of wavy glass buildings and leafy suburban trees. You can gaze over the river at the hills beyond from the library’s famous Green Tower.
What you won’t see from here are Aberdeen’s grey stone city buildings.
That’s because Robert Gordon sits on a sprawling campus southwest of town. To get to anything resembling ancient Scotland, you’ll need to hop on the bus or brave the main road (which doesn’t come with bike lanes) down to the city center. It’s a quick drive, but it’ll take you more than an hour to walk there.
That’s ok with many Robert Gordon students who enroll for the strong work placement program (they can even study abroad for a semester and not miss out on work placement). Students come to RGU for the ROI, and have to settle for both the campus and the city of Aberdeen itself being a little off the beaten track.
How to Get to and From Aberdeen for Students
Fun fact: Aberdeen has no direct flights to the US, but United once considered a nonstop route to Houston to serve the oil industry traffic currently flying through Heathrow in London. Sadly, it never materialized. But students should be aware that if they plan their future career in the oil industry, Robert Gordon might be an outstanding choice, with programs in industry-specific engineering, law, and data analytics.
But for the time being, Aberdeen is about 3 hours from Edinburgh or Glasgow (check out the train and the megabits for options). That’s a bit afield from the transportation hubs you may want as an international student.
When you get there, however, Aberdeen is a walkable city where students get a break from the hustle and cost of the more famous Scottish cities. RGU students enjoy a quiet, studious atmosphere, personalized attention, and an all-around smaller university experience.
If you’re looking for access to a small city and hear the river instead of your neighbor, RGU might be right for you.
I chose Robert Gordon because of its employability record. The career center was available after graduation, and that was a good service because there’s a chance I will want to stay in Scotland after my work placement. I will have a CV that’s focused on Aberdeen by the time I graduate and Robert Gordon has ties with many local enterprises in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen City Center Hangouts
For students who are looking for a little more excitement, Aberdeen’s city center can deliver. There’s the Aberdeen art fair, Aberdeen Restaurant Week, the annual Christmas market, the RGU film festival, the famed Maritime Museum (free!), and the windswept beachfront.
There are clubs galore for night owls to explore: for music fans, the Tunnels reign supreme among them. It’s an underground vault spanning two underground passages where acoustics and ambience merge. You’ll be able to catch some big-name acts in an intimate setting thanks to Aberdeen’s historic underground passageway system.
Hit up Ma Cameron’s afterwards. The Tunnels don’t offer nearly as many options as your local pub. This cozy oldest pub in Aberdeen is a better place for you and your friends to take some BuzzFeed quizzes and discuss the future of Scottish politics.
With its plaid carpet, fireplace, and rooftop terrace, it’s a popular watering hole for students from RGU and the University of Aberdeen. You can even bone up on your Trivial Pursuit (1980 edition). What better way than to finally learn all those old Oscar-winning films?
In addition, lots of RGU students mix into University of Aberdeen student hangouts in the city center. Find them at the Bobbin for a pint or Krakatoa for live music in a pirate-themed atmosphere.
Garthdee and Further Afield from RGU
RGU is in Garthdee, an area of Aberdeen that can feel far removed from Aberdeen’s nightlife, especially if you’re a first-year American without a car. Garthdee, after all, boasts few business. Among them, you’ll find practical offerings like a Sainsbury’s grocery store and a Boot’s pharmacy, but no litany of nightclubs, restaurants, or clothing outlets.
Garthdee is home to just over 5,000 residents. The old railway trail and a bike can make Aberdeen (which is really quite an accessible city) feel smaller for students, and can help RGU students in particular access the beautiful, student-friendly city center.
Going further afield is also a huge draw for students wanting to get out into Scotland’s biggest natural areas on the weekend. Aberdeenshire has hiking, mountain biking, and trail running galore, much of which is reachable via public transportation.
Start in town by jogging the River Dee Loop past the boat pond at Duthie Park. Graduate by heading into the Countesswells Forest for a taste of the rugged natural areas that surround Aberdeen.
One of the perks of RGU’s campus is the riverside location and its walking paths.
What is Robert Gordon University Like on Campus?
RGU’s campus is suburban but compact – over 57 acres you’ll find new buildings that play home to roughly 16,000 students. That includes a free gym and pool with plenty of classes (but you’ll pay extra for to use the climbing and bouldering walls). With small facilities and growing interest, that can mean crowds at busy times. But for those who want to get in some laps in between classes, the price can’t be beat.
Robert Gordon started out as a hospital in the mid-1800s. “Hospital” is a bit of a misnomer: the original institution paid the male children of indigent and poor parents to be educated for the trades. It eventually grew into a technical college and, finally, a multifaceted university in 1992. It consolidated on the Garthdee campus, increased enrollment, and built a reputation for reaching out to local industry and facilitating student access to the real world outside university gates.
Its brand-new facade likely helped it win accolades like the Guardian’s “Best Modern University in the UK.”
The RGU campus is very nice, modern, and maintained. But Garthdee itself is pretty dead. It’s out of the way and there aren’t many shops. For overall convenience, the city center is better for student life.
There’s a trade-off. While old campus facilities mean more university activity in Aberdeen’s city center, today, student housing is about all you’ll find in bustling Aberdeen. Many students prefer to stay in the student accommodation closer to town while riding the bus to campus daily. They’ll gain a vibrant student social life, shopping, and weekends out. Some split the difference: they live around Holburn and split their time between the Garthdee campus and central Aberdeen.
Student Accommodation
Aberdeen is much more affordable than other Scottish cities for housing, and off-campus options often rival the university’s student accommodation. Make sure to ask about insulation, as concrete block buildings get cold up in northern Scotland, and consider your daily commute.
There are plenty of private accommodation options: Aberdeen is a city where very few students talk about the housing crunch that others face.
While getting first-choice university housing and superstar apartments can be a race, Aberdeen seems to accommodate most students who seek housing. Students say new housing has already popped up in the city, and more is on the way.
Woolmanhill, is the hub for student life. But many students choose to live off-campus. Aberdeen is small and you can commute by bus from anywhere you choose to live.
First years can live in 4 total residences. Two are specially designed pink “Tower Houses,” modeled after the medieval architecture that dotted the remote Scottish countryside for centuries.
Popular Wollmanhill (which houses, by far, the most students of any campus accommodation) is near the city center of Aberdeen, so prepare to bus or bike it to campus. The vibe is cinderblock chic and tiny, but lounges have newer kitchen facilities and televisions. There’s security to help keep the noise down, but even so, this giant dorm is party central for freshers.
Hands-On, Teaching-Savvy: RGU Academics
Professors who care about their subjects and students is a running theme among the students we interviewed. Is it universal? Probably not. However, we found students were excited to gush over the attention they get from professors at Aberdeen. It may be the reason why the university gets high student satisfaction scores.
Aberdeen’s small-ish scale does lend itself to hands-on learning and active teaching. The school has become known for engaging students and getting them over the finish line. As a result, it ranks #2 in Scotland for student satisfaction.
Robert Gordon appeals to students who already know they want to be doing something with their degrees. They want a job in their industry, they want to be involved in a startup, they want to be entrepreneurs. They don’t want to only study theory.
To get some practice and confidence in their fields, you’ll find RGU students in electronic and electrical engineering spending part of their second year in a group project to design and build and underwater Rover. Fashion and textile design students spend the same year taking on client projects and designing the course Fashion Show. Architecture technology students take advantage of physical and computing labs to develop new ideas.
It’s all about hands-on application at this former technological school. Students who come here want the experience, and they can stuff their CVs with client work even within their class modules. As a result, RGU turns out confident workers, especially in specialized tech fields.
RGU let me combine my degree with engineering in more concrete ways than Aberdeen and get work experience. The facilities were state-of-the-art. For the energy industry, you can’t beat it. But if your area of law or sociology is also in the energy industry, RGU can be the best academic choice.
Student Support and Student Services and Societies
Perhaps because of its small student body, RGU also prides itself on going above and beyond to know and support each student.
- Support staff made the gym free during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to nurture student health.
- Career support is a standout, offering lifelong services (and yes, you can Zoom them).
- An appointment-booking and Helpdesk app ties students to services. While not everyone gets simple, fast resolution, the idea is that students don’t have to surmount hurdles to even reach help at the university. They can access wellness, disability, accommodation, and international support (as well as real humans) without making time to meet limited office hours.
The Student Union is small but adequate. It supports 50 student societies and can be an accessible, cheap place to hang out and grab a beer with friends on campus. There’s student radio, TV, and a magazine for media hounds. There are also multiple daily events to match the offerings on much larger campuses. All the basics are covered: pub quizzes, club dance parties, volunteer fairs, movie nights, and pizza & paint.
Robert Gordon doesn’t have the academic reputation of Aberdeen. But it does have a reputation in the field. That can make it a place to focus on the future for a very few students. But don’t be fooled. Its high employment placement is for very specialized students and those are the students who are happiest here. The student experience isn’t as traditional as many students would like.
Peer support groups have helped set up Nightline, so you can call late with your worries, or if you just want to talk to a peer. You can also meet with a peer in person. For international students, there are intercultural discussions and cultural exhibitions. There are even celebration parties, so grab your favorite local food and meet some other students who are also feeling like a fish out of water.
Not your cup of tea? There’s societies from feminism to poetry, Gaelic football, kickboxing, trampoline, engineering, gaming, and drama. The offerings are more sporadic than at larger universities, so you might have to start your own special niche club. Robert Gordon’s move to Grathdee put a damper on evening club activity that may not have been the case had the largest student accommodation been closer. Know that students here often go out of their way to “have it all,” and sometimes that means travelling to class or to social activities.
Apply to Robert Gordon University
Only interested in RGU? You can apply directly to the school online.
Applying to USA schools? Use Common App.
Applying to multiple UK schools? You can apply to up to 5 other international programs in the UK through the application portal UCAS. Submit transcripts, test scores, a letter of recommendation, and a personal statement by January 26th for fall admission.
RGU asks American applicants to have a 2.8 GPA plus an SAT of 1000 (500 on each section), an ACT of 24, 3 related AP scores of 4 or higher, or an associate’s degree.
Looking for More Universities in Scotland?
Robert Gordon is a niche school for students looking to get involved in industry, and especially in job placements in industries where Aberdeen shines. That can be an amazing reason to choose a foreign school and experience its university life: there’s nothing like going right to the epicenter of your dream field and learning from the best.
However, you may be more interested in experiencing Scotland, not the world of Northern Scottish industry. You could check out the University of Aberdeen (Ranking / Guide) or more internationally-known, top universities like the University of Glasgow (Ranking / Guide) or the University of Edinburgh (Guide).
And if you’re still getting started on your Scottish Uni Journey, make sure you learn the differences between Scottish and English universities and check out the price tags of Scottish schools on your shortlist.
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Jessica Share
Jessica is the writer, Ph.D., and mom-of-an-abroad-student-in-the-UK at the helm of College Abroad Guides. When she's not asking college students where the coolest place to hang out in their city is, she's figuring out how she can make $60 imported Greek oregano potato chips and £50 British bacon potato chips appear on her doorstep for the cost of a local bag of Lay's.
