Utrecht University

I had one of my worst experiences here in my whole life. I studied sustainable development- international development, in the Geosciences school and WOW, let me tell you, the disorganisation is unsurmountable. Between lack of preparation of workload, teachers, and supervisors not responding, a complete lack of awareness of mental health, and honestly, just a lack of a positive environment. I like to work in positive environments, where people are not stressed all the time and the workload is realistic to everyone. This was not that. Supervisors and lecturers tend to want to test you and trip you up rather than educate you and guide you further. As a Master's student, I thought we were through with that kind of petty teaching and was looking forward to a more mature form of studying, yet we were talked down to, patronized, and ignored for the majority of my 2 years here. I would not recommend any person to put themselves through this nightmare of a course until it is restructured and organised. It is a waste of money, and even when your studies are delayed through the fault of the university - or in the case of COVID-19, they will still have no problems taking your money. I found that there was a degree on incompetence at every level, there is a systematic failure in how they run things. This includes the interactions with the board, who also do not reply or give reasonable advice, with the study advisor, who does not know the meaning of confidentiality or mental health, and the system itself where there is a lot of unnecessary, time-wasting procedures in place which are only a bigger distraction from the work itself, and often lead to a more financial burden. Do not apply here if you are a person who lives outside the box that the system expects you to be in because I'm warning you, this university is not prepared to deal with anything except what is written in the course guide, AKA the Course Bible.

The teachers are very good and good at encouraging students to think critically and form their own thoughts. The high-quality teaching environment helps the students to learn effectively and comfortably. There are hundreds of English course which allows international students to participate in class. This also allows the students in Utrecht University to learn with people with different background and nationality.

UCU takes a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach to learning, allowing you to experiment with an array of elective courses. There are great opportunities to go abroad on exchange or for summer programmes. With small-scaled classrooms, there is always room for open discussion and debate, moreover, students can get directed advice from professors they known on an individual basis. It has a pretty rigorous workload, but altogether very manageable!

I'm studying at Utrecht University for three years already; I started studying Pedagogical sciences, but switched to anthropology. I think it's a high-quality university because they have a really diverse and broad offer of both bachelor's and master's programmes, which include courses that are given by the best experts of the field. All courses are organized really well: all necessary information is easily accessible and always available on time. Not only do I think education of this university is excellent, I also think their facilities are really good and their support for student organizations is fantastic. For instance, I got a lot of funding for doing a board year at AEGEE-Utrecht, so it is possible that I can spend a full year in a full-time board and can finish my studies right afterwards. They also have many possibilities for students to have a right of say in the decisions the university is making, such as the student participation council, students council (with yearly elections), students council per bachelor's programme, faculty council, etc. Etc. However, I do notice that the university puts more effort in all beta studies than in all alpha studies, while all students pay the same fee every month. You can spot this difference amongst other things: buildings, facilities, support for study-related associations, equipment. They could improve this! Next to that, I think they could do a lot more for student housing. They accept more and more students every year, but they don't do much for student housing, which is a big problem, because there already is a huge shortage of student's housing.

I studied abroad at Utrecht University in the fall of 2019 and it was probably the best few months of my life. The city of Utrecht is absolutely beautiful, with its charming canals, architecture, and plentiful bicycles. It is not as big as Amsterdam, so it's easy to find your way around as soon as you arrive, as well as to navigate by bike or even on foot, but it's big enough to still feel very urban. It's got a charming, cosy feel ("gezellig," as the Dutch would call it), but still has so much to do. The classes I took at Utrecht University were led by highly-qualified and professional teachers who encouraged collaboration amongst students. I learned a lot from the local Dutch students and the other international students in my classes as we worked together. The classes moved quickly, but never at an overwhelming rate. I would highly recommend studying at Utrecht University.

(Valid for the University College Utrecht, faculty of University Utrecht):__Nice small classes with increasing student participation as classes get deeper and more specific. Closed campus (about 900 students), with great 1 semester exchange opportunities, and other courses off campus (and internationally). __The school is a bubble in which the majority of students live. It is an individual choice to suffer, embrace, or pop that bubble!__Lovely city, very welcoming for students with a great party scene, close to Amsterdam, plenty of job opportunities,…

I studied at University College Utrecht and I have thoroughly enjoyed my three years there. Obviously not all was perfect, as often course time slots clashed, which sometimes made it difficult to create you timetable, but overall I loved this uni, the people I met there, the opportunities it provided and the teachers.

Great university. The university college has all the advantages of being a small university in the sense that there are lots of opportunities to have a close relationship with professors and tutors, as well as in having a say in the decisions the university makes. These benefits are there whilst still being able to enjoy the benefits of a large university as it is part of UU and due to that, UCU student can still enjoy all the resources of that university.

Great university, great location, good programs and great tuition for eu students. The student life is great in Utrecht as there are many young people and therefore lots of events and activities happening geared towards this public. The professors at the university college are usually quite good and attentive to students needs. The tutor system is quire helpful in terms of setting up your curriculum.