The university provides high-quality study programs and covers various fields. I graduated with a Political Science BSc and was highly content with my decision to choose the University of Amsterdam.
Even though the courses were challenging and required a lot of individual commitment and effort in order to pass the assignments/exams, the professors were really helpful and most of the time highly dedicated to their job. It is definitely a high-level university for a relatively low price!
However, the university is quite disorganized and should definitely improve its communication strategy, as the teaching staff and administration were often late and unresponsive.
Although the campus is tiny, it is well-equipped, with large practical labs, a sports/game room, and a library. The library has a wide selection of books, so if you want to read, you’ll have fun there.
The course content is highly advanced, and students who are interested in learning a lot will enjoy themselves here. You will also become fond of the facilities, which include a library, labs that are well-equipped, a game area, etc. Teachers try to mentor and assist students with challenging ideas because they have a lot of expertise in their field. Although I would prefer that all colleges offer modern courses that are effectively used in industry, such as Maven and Spring Boot, The term tests are extensive.
UvA has high standards for their standards and expects high motivation from students to study by themselves. Although this can be difficult for students in the first year, it is easy to stay on top of your classes by developing the right schedule for you.
The teachers are usually very knowledgeable and helpful if you go to them for help, especially in smaller tutorials.
View morethe school and program are amazing, with great professors but the administration is a bit all over the place and makes things a bit more difficult for students. Wish there was a bit more support from the administration.
View moreThe programme is engaging, especially because of small classrooms (15-30 students) and plenty of group work. Lectures are moderately interactive and focus especially on the newest developments and trends in the field. The content of most materials and lectures is rather theoretical, sometimes I feel that we miss the connection to real-life cases. The lecturers try to compensate for this with more practically oriented assignments which increase your engagement with the learning material.
The workload is very manageable and a vibrant campus contributes to a pleasant student life experience.
Note: small classrooms apply to the Public Policy and Governance track, others (especially International Relations) may have larger student populations.
Starting with the positive:
Great facilities, there’s plenty of places to eat, socialise and places to study. Everything at least in the R campus, is modern and light, which helps with work.
This isn’t directly related to the school, but living in Amsterdam is an opportunity to grow and become independent.
The negatives:
Unfortunately, I have many negative things to say about UvA. The education is mediocre. I was so excited to go to this university, but I found out rather quickly that classes were rarely motivating and engaging. Passing grades are 5.5, which sounds easy to achieve, but it’s not. The workload is high, with NO FEEDBACK, or help. The mark-schemes don’t make sense, so theres no way to improve, it doesn’t matter how many people you ask for assistance. Really this university is selling international education when it’s not. On top of that, the bachelor’s selection is extremely limited, so in order to change degree, I will now also have to change university. In light of the former, perhaps it is a good thing.