Study in Netherlands
Looking ahead
Sanah Vij talks about why she chose the Utrecht University School of Economics to pursue her higher education.
Tourism aside, the Netherlands continues to be one of the top destinations for Indians looking to study abroad, with its wide programme offering and study options.
While most people from her class were looking at the United States, the United Kingdom and even Singapore for their studies, Sanah Vij, a bright young student from the city of Bangalore, chose the Utrecht University School of Economics to pursue her higher education.
Why Utrecht? The programme she wanted to study was the main reason she chose to go to the Netherlands, but apart from that, “It was the experiences that were available there. The ability to travel, to see a new place and live somewhere I had never been before. It wasn’t a common choice, but the people I spoke to had only good things to say about studying in the Netherlands,” she says. In 2017, Sanah graduated with a BSc Honours Economics and Business Economics.
Sanah wanted to study economics and business economics and the only other options were a few colleges on either coast of the United States. But while she was doing her research on colleges, Sanah found that Utrecht matched up well. “It was ranked number 1 in the Netherlands and overall high in Europe. They had the exact course I wanted to take and the minor I wanted to do (social sciences),” she says.
She quickly realised that the Dutch approach to education was very different from others. “It is very straightforward, just like the people there. There isn’t a lot of hand-holding like I’ve seen in other places. You’re expected to keep up on your own and you choose how much effort you want to put it – there aren’t a lot of contact hours, especially after the first year and a half. However, help is readily available to you,” she adds.
Those few years of being a student in the Netherlands taught her how to be independent and to work to get where she wanted. It gave her the opportunity to do a Master’s now, in the UK. As an advice to others aspirants, she says, “They have a really nice career services department to help students with preparing for applications to jobs and universities. They run regular workshops through the year to teach you how to market yourself.”
THE RIGHT CHOICE
They have a really nice career services department to help students with preparing for applications to jobs and universities. Try learning the language when you get there – it will help you find a job, while you’re studying or after