Student review [#3063]
at Delft University of Technology - TU Delft

It’s very hard to give it a single score since in my opinion TU Delft ranks very differently in different aspects:

– REPUTATION / QUALITY OF EDUCATION
When you tell people you study at TU Delft, there are generally two possibilities of reaction: either people will be impressed and say something like “you must be very smart” or… well… they will have never heard about the university (which, if they don’t come from and Engineering or Architecture background, is more likely than you would want/expect).
It is certainly a famous university, ranks well in many fields and, as was said in a previous comment, attracts a lot of good researchers (which, in my department, are mostly payed by their home governments and not by TU Delft). However, (a) these ranks tend to give more weight to research quality than to education quality, which no tnecessarily go hand in hand; and (b) there are considerable differences in the quality of the education you will get depending on what department (and track, for that matter) you study. Personally, I have so far been quite happy about the level of education in my specific track: I’ve been pushed to my limits and with that I have learned quite a lot in a relatively short time. From what I see around me, in most departments, that’s the approach: making you study really hard, so if you’re not into studying 10 hours a day for a week for a single exam you probably want to look for another place. I finished my bachelor’s with cum laude at another university and here I’m satisfied with a 7 and very happy with an 8. At the same time, several friends of mine who study in a specific department (you’ll have to figure out which one by yourself) have complained for the very opposite reason, and I have heard of (non-European) people who even left the university because they felt it was not worth the money they were paying (more on this further down).

– STUDENT LIFE
Dutch students seem to enjoy it, especially during the BSc period. European students pay a fee that allows them to take more than 2 years to finish their MSc, which means they also get to take their time and engage in associations, sports clubs, etc. If you’re non-European like me you’ll probably want to finish it ASAP since every extra month at the end costs a lot of money, and therefore you won’t want to risk failing subjects – hence not exactly a busy social life (again, that depends on what department you’re at). Another thing to bear in mind is that, even if your courses are in English, more often than not in sports clubs, etc. the majority of people are Dutch and Dutch is the language. I had the opportunity to study in Australia for one year during my bachelor’s. The university was a bit below TU Delft in terms of academic ranking, but the opportunities I had as a student there are beyond comparison.

– SCHOLARSHIPS
To me it is quite clear that, as the Dutch government makes cuts to university funding, the institutions turn to non-European students to compensate – and, of course, giving scholarships is not exactly a priority in this case. However, at TU Delft this seems to go to a whole different level: perhaps because it manages to attract a lot of students from countries like China and India who are willing to pay full fees (and others who receive scholarships from their home countries), the university doesn’t seem to bother much about giving scholarships. Yes, there are a couple of them, but quite frankly they’re nowhere near what other (good) universities provide.

Bottom line:
If you like studying hard + you have a scholarship or money is not an issue -> TU Delft could be a good option
If you got a scholarship somewhere else but not a TU Delft -> go to this other place
If you didn’t get a scholarship but you can spend your own money -> take the factors above well into account

Good luck