Amsterdam is lovely, but not for study abroad December 07, 2022
By A student (Psychology, Wellesley College) - abroad from 02/07/2022 to 06/05/2022 with
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: Amsterdam - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
I would not consider it worthwhile. I learned about a new culture and got to see a cool city, but I would have preferred to have visited on my own time instead of while studying abroad.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Overall, the class content was good. What they lacked was a support system for international students. The professors were not available often, so I had to teach myself a lot of information. I also would not get any feedback on my performance so it was hard to know where I stood in the class. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
There was not really a program administrated at the university. There was not much put on for international students. What they did have was few or required payment which is not accessible to everyone. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I enjoyed where I lived. My room was nice and there were some restaurants and a grocery store very close as well as a metro station. I will say it is a bit expensive and far from the university, especially as someone that always had to take the metro. |
| * Food: |
The food was not to my taste specifically. There were places to get food on campus, but no free dining halls like at Wellesley which was hard to get used to. They did have food delivery services and you could cook for yourself but all of that is an extra cost that I was unaware of before going. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I did well getting around and felt welcomed in some sense. I did not necessarily feel entirely integrated as a Mexican-American women. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I did not have much experience with health care. I did get COVID and was looking for a doctor with the insurance the school gave me. Because there were no numbers in the Netherlands that I could call. I had no way of calling anyone. I just decided to quarantine and get food delivered to me. It was difficult for me, but that was the only experience I had. |
| * Safety: |
Overall, I felt pretty safe in Amsterdam. I did not go out at night because I was always by myself and just didn't feel comfortable, but not because of how I felt about the city itself. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
I thought Amsterdam was a beautiful city, but I felt little to no support. There was not really any programming to get to know other students, so I made no friends. I paid for many things out of pocket. Overall, the program itself needs some changes. |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
Considering I was advised to not work, I had no additional income and the money I received from Wellesley was almost all used to pay for my housing and storing my stuff. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100-$150 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Save up money beforehand and expect to pay for a lot of stuff out of pocket. Only buy what you need for food and housing. Expect to leave some stuff behind, so buy those things cheap. You can look for thrift stores or cheaper stores for certain things. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Direct Enrollment |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | The strain it would cause on my education, finances, and most importantly mental health. |
