Student review [#20385] for International Communication
at Hanze University of Applied Sciences - UAS

I really like that we have 4-5 subjects and that they are interconnected. The teachers are young and inspiring and they all know how to explain a hard topic with simpler words. I also like that we work in groups because you meet new people from other countries and cultures. We learn new techniques on how to communicate with other cultures and I also learned how to get better at communication with others. My favourite skill that I learned is in the subject “Tools” and is Adobe apps competency. The programme’s content corresponds with the trends in the world like politics, economy and need for computer skills. I like that we educate ourselves according to such important matters which is essential in today’s lifestyle.

What I don’t like is the excessive amount of theory. We have to read hundreds of pages before the exam and then only 30% of it is in the exam and it is the exact theory that we use when we do our projects. Another thing that I don’t like is the internship report in the third year. It is way too long having in mind we are working 8 hours 5 days in the week and trying to have some rest and social life at the end of the day. I think it should be shortened since it takes a lot of the time dedicated to social activities.

I think all subjects should be graded from 1-10 and not with Pass-Fail since 1-10 feels more rewarding when you have put so much effort into it. Taking as an example the internship report: I put 2 months of work into it and wrote 70 pages in order to get a simple Pass, which doesn’t really give me direction if I did okay or very well.

Groningen is the perfect city for students since there are a lot of students and it is very likely to find someone from your country which is comforting for people who are not used yet to communicating with intercultural people and in different languages. There are a lot of bars, clubs, museums and other interesting facilities. The Forum and the libraries are perfect for studying outside of your home. I always recommend Hanze to students who want to study in The Netherlands.

The school is very international speaking of students, but they can work on having more internationalism among the teachers especially for subjects that teach interculturalism. Groningen is awful when it comes to finding accommodation and it is always a battle to find a room/apartment/student room. I highly suggest Hanze build more student houses.

Career-wise, I think International Communication teaches students multiple important aspects and makes you realise what part of communications you like – business stuff, marketing, PR, doing speeches, etc.