Why Maastricht?
January 2021 — Genia Foo
In today’s post, we asked a Dutch student, an international student and an exchange student to share with us their motivation to choose to study in Maastricht.
“As I have gone to international schools for my entire school career, I was already comfortable with this international environment and I wanted to continue being exposed to an environment like that. Knowing that there are excellent universities in The Netherlands with high rankings and that I could go on an exchange in my third year, I decided that I did not want to do my bachelors abroad.
Maastricht is close to my hometown (Eindhoven), meaning there will be short travelling time when I go home to my parents over the weekends. My sister also did her bachelors in Maastricht before me so I was already very familiar with the city and the university as I visited her often. Furthermore, I did not need to look for a room in Maastricht because I could take over my sister’s room since she was leaving Maastricht right before I started my studies.
The Problem Based Learning (PBL) system in Maastricht allows us to work in small groups and discuss different perspectives effectively and encourages students to be open-minded about various ideas. The international environment also helps us to become internationally minded and more accepting of individual differences.
I went to open days and experience days in Tilburg, Groningen, and Maastricht, and I felt most welcomed and comfortable in Maastricht. Everyone was very kind, open to answer any questions, and enthusiastic, which encouraged me to choose Maastricht University.”
“Growing up in a small city-state like Singapore, I always knew I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and study abroad. Studying in Europe intrigued me as the strong union connection could give me to opportunity travel and explore other cities in Europe during my spare time.
I first heard of Maastricht whilst googling for “triple-accredited universities in Europe” and Maastricht University was one of them. I started to do more research about the university and also found out that some high school seniors of mine have been here for exchange. They gave a great reviews of the university and highly recommended me to pursue my studies here. Knowing that Maastricht is a recognised university even while I was Singapore assured my decision. The reputable accolades also gives us a wide selection of partner universities for our exchange semester. Not only will I study abroad, but also study in a partner university elsewhere, giving me double the international experience!
With a melting pot of nationalities here in Maastricht, it was fascinating how I got to meet people from all over just in one place. This international classroom experience holds high value to me as it replicates an actual work environment in the future. Unlike many other universities, the PBL system in Maastricht is a unique and engaging way to study. The small groups discussion creates discussions of concentrated content from the variety of inputs of my classmates. As a business student, I believe there are many other soft skills such as presentation and networking skills I should acquire and the PBL structure creates a comfortable environment for me to hone these skills.”
“Despite not knowing the culture or being particularly well versed in the local language you feel welcome at Maastricht the minute you hop off the train with friendly faces waiting to help you out. I attended Maastricht in the Spring of 2020 as a part of the International Triangle Programme.
While it was not my first experience at an international university it would certainly prove to be my best. Before choosing Maastricht my primary motivators were the good university rankings, it’s location at the trijunction between Germany and Belgium — making it excellent for travel, a large English speaking population and a very interesting course catalogue. Moreover, the city is beautiful, cosmopolitan yet small and charming. All of this, albeit true, were cosmetic in comparison to the real gem of Maastricht which is it’s PBL learning approach.
Coming from a normal lecture based learning system I initially found PBL confusing, hard and at times even antagonising. However once I settled in, I realised just how effective a learning technique it is. The self-guided nature and intensity of those 2 month periods ensure that you work hard and learn the subject comprehensively. The small tutorial size makes sure no one gets overlooked while simultaneously creating a space where everyone knows each other and adapts to different teaching methods. I met some of my best friends in those tutorial meetings!
I realised by the end of my semester at Maastricht, I had become a more efficient presenter, a better researcher, a more studious student and most importantly a more effective learner. For those wanting to grow as individual Maastricht is the home for you.”
Though different students have different motivations, there are also some similar reasons why we chose to study in Maastricht. Hopefully these perspectives will give you a better idea of what studying in Maastricht is like and encourage you to study here too!
