Applying to... University in the Netherlands 🌷

Each year Alice Smith Students progress to Universities and Colleges around the world. The Netherlands is a destination that is growing in popularity and several Alumni have gone to Dutch Universities including:

They are able to do this with the support and guidance from our dedicated Higher Educated Counselling team. In this blog we talk to Denice who chose the Netherlands as her higher education study destination.

Details:

Denice Wijnmalen / KLASS of 2020

Degree: Creative Business

University: The University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, the Netherlands.

When did you need to apply?

• I applied for many different courses in the Netherlands around the beginning of Year 13 because most of the courses in the Netherlands are numerus Fixus (Courses that only allow a limited number of students in the course) where the deadline of application was December/ January.
• It was important for me to do my research as the Universities are very descriptive and often tell you exactly what subjects you need to be studying at A Level, sometimes up to four named subjects!
• After researching what courses I can study that accepted Biology, DT and Psychology, I found creative business and it turned out the be the best course for me!

What's life like as a university student?

Academics

• There are far less classes than A Level classes per day. (I usually have two 2 hours classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and one 2 hour class on Monday and Thursday)
• Even though there are less classes, I have to do 40 hours of study a week (so 28 hours of self study)
• At Alice Smith they encourage you to prep before lessons but in university you NEED to prep before lessons.

Any top tips for application?

• Remember if you are applying to the Netherlands, always check the specific subject requirements as early as possible. If you have a particular course or University in mind, check the requirements in Year 11! 
• Most university sites will have an “Ask Me” function, which is really useful for asking what subjects they need if it is difficult to find on the website. 
• Join Studielink early! (Editor's note: In Studielink you can only register for courses you are interested in, after which it can take up to two weeks to receive your application portal direct from the University).
• Everything works out at for the best in  the end:)

We'll be exploring lots of other university destinations with our Alumni over the next few weeks and if you want more information on anything you see please contact our HE Counselling team by email.

And don't forget you can also catch up on our brilliant Academic Lecture series on YouTube.