Roskilde University - RUC (reviews)

When I started my studies at RUC, my expectations were a mixture of high academic standards with a high degree of competition, what I get at the end of the day was something completely different.

On the plus side, RUC, has infiltrated my critical perspective in a major way. In a sense that I have embodied the collaborative approach in addressing a problem. I love about that.

What I didn’t like is the lack of systematic grading system that is in place. The lack of clarity can be frustrating for students looking to get a feedback on their paper.

I spent 5 years at RUC, doing my Bachelor and following with my Master degree. In general, I really like the problem oriented project group work method of teaching. It helped me in many cases to go out of my comfort zone, develop my professional and personal skills. However, the administrative work is very unstructured, sometimes I’ve been in situations of confusion regarding my course and other administrative support that I needed.

RUC has a very nice campus near Trekroner station (Remember NOT Roskilde Station), with a small lake that has rafting competition every year. I enjoy the project-based learning, which mean every semester, you will work in group to conduct a research on a topic that is entirely decide by you and your group, which suit best for students with strong curiosity and desire for autonomy .
I was in the master study of Social Entrepreneurship and Management, which is a new program, maybe that’s the reason of the messy administration (Mixing up of re-exam date, Flowing classroom for lectures etc). You better take up the initiative to keep track with the secretary about the things that he/she has to prepare for you.

I just started my Master’s programme (in Social Entrepreneurship) at RUC a few weeks ago but as I also took part in a supplementary summer course I already have a basic idea about studying here. From professors and teachers to the library staff everyone is aware and very proud of the RUC way of teaching/studying which even has a name: ‘problem-oriented project work’. The basic idea is to work in groups on projects that are focused on real-life problems from the current world and can have a meaningful contribution to society. Teachers are here for us to show the theories, methods and tools that are our there but it is our job and responsibility to do something with that toolkit. None of the professors are going to tell you that ‘this is the way it is, you just have to accept’. Instead they encourage us to question former terminologies, concepts and models from a critical perspective in order to be able to move forward and create something useful later on. RUC is seen to be a very ‘liberal’ university even in Denmark so there might be minor issues regarding administration but that’s also part of the approach of you as a student being responsible for your own education. If you don’t like something or think that you have been treated in an unfair manner, you have to speak up and go after it yourself. But of course everyone is very helpful and will do everything to solve the problem 🙂 The university is in a beautiful green area, about 30 minutes from Copenhagen by train and has well-connected systems to support your studies.

The best part about this University is ability to work in groups and challenge your communication skills. This education require a lot of self studies that after all are examined during case studies. Advantage of this university is an opportunities between attending the courses or being part of project creation.
The disadvantage for me are group evaluation during examinations, all group members rely on each others and it in not based on your individual knowledge but group preparation.
The course description is always easy available and include evaluation of previous students. Value of students opinion is really powerful and it is using by the University to implement their propositions.

Generally speaking this University is worth to recommend, if you are looking for self studies then it is not a place for you. They believe studying in groups will give you better communication skills that you can use in your business life.