Maastricht University - UM (reviews)

If you are looking for a huge international experience Mmaasteicht ia your place. Huge campus all around the city, party, student environment, very easy to travel and very good university where you can really learn and step forward in you career.
Enjoy!

I would recommend Maastricht university to everyone who wants to experience an international and intercultural environment. Something I find fascinating is the PBL, you won’t find such approach anywhere else. It really helped me to become more confident, aware of my own strengths and weaknesses, but also a good listener. It gives you the opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas, but embracing different perspectives and becoming more inclusive and open minded.
Another thing I’d like to highlight is the sustainability aspect. UM’s commitment to sustainability is something tangible in every aspect. Buildings that have been built with recycled materials, recycled cups, lots of vegan options at the mensa, and so on.
Overall, professors are friendly, willing to help students whenever possible and, from my experience, most of the time also a source of encouragement and inspiration.

This reflects my experience as an international student studying Marketing. I appreciated the problem-based learning (PBL) approach because it encouraged independent study and active learning. The frequent presentations were also very helpful, as they prepared me for future job interviews and workplace presentations.

However, the workload was often very heavy. In many cases, some tutors did not seem to have enough subject knowledge or professional experience. I was hoping to receive expert guidance, but many tutors were still students themselves or had only recently completed their master’s degrees. Because of this, they also had limited professional networks, which made it difficult to receive support when looking for a job after graduation.

I also did not enjoy the overall atmosphere. Group projects were challenging, and at times I felt that my opinions were not taken seriously. While teamwork naturally comes with difficulties, there were moments when I felt excluded, and I believe some of these experiences were influenced by racism or sexism. When these issues were raised with tutors, they usually tried to help and calm the situation.

Additionally, during the Iran war, the university did not provide financial support or flexibility for Iranian students regarding tuition fees. As international students paying around €17,000, many were unable to contact their families or receive financial support, yet the university showed very limited empathy.

Finally, as an international student seeking a marketing job, Maastricht offers limited opportunities, especially due to strict Dutch language requirements. If I had the choice again, I would prefer to start at a university in the north, where I could avoid moving cities and potentially find a job more easily and quickly.

One thing about Maastricht University is that it has extremely high standards when it comes to the learning level. They make sure that they equip their students with valuable knowledge and skills which will help them perform well at other institutions and in their work life. The reason for the success can partly be attributed to how they utilized their famous Problem-Based Learning (PBL). It is where the students are responsible fore their own learning and get to facilitate and lead the class. By having full ownership for a topic, you get more insight of it and also learn to plan for the lesson which brings about valuable skills. On top of that, it gives you the opportunity to be creative and think a bit outside of the box which I personally found engaging. Although, I will admit that it would be nice to have an expert input from an actual professor from time to time. And the amount of content that needs to be prepared ahead of each class can be overwhelming at times. But that comes back to the high standards set by the University in general.