Program Reviews

VU Amsterdam is the perfect place to study abroad. Amsterdam is a beautiful city full of history, and at VU you can learn both in and outside the classroom.The program itself went above and beyond my expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed both my courses. The professors were caring, friendly, and truly cared about our success. The excursions were fun and the staff always put our interests first. I would recommend everyone to join this program.

Amazing opportunity I had last summer: The "New Venture Creation and Entrepreneurship" course VU offers! The quality of the lectures, the campus' environment, the professors' commitment and the diversity of students positively surprised me.
Amsterdam is a beautiful, active and historical city. VU insisted on taking us to different places around the country, making our learning more dinamic and interesting. Besides, they were always relating the places to our course projects/assignments, what provided us a more intense experience.
I was also glad to have the opportunity to meet and talk to some important/sucessful entrepreneurs of the business world that have been brought by the Summer School during the weeks. They volunteered in the program to present us their life's story and show us the practical part of the field.
Finally, the program also gave me some good friends from all different parts of the world: Italy, France, Spain, USA, Uganda, Turkey, Armenia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Romenia, China, South Africa, Scotland, UK and Colombia that added a lot of fun moments and good laughs to my trip.
I'm thankful for all the Amsterdam Summer School team for making this amazing summer my best experience abroad.

I was already very interested in (Critical) Discourse Analysis and the course did not disappoint me at all. The lecturers presented their research in a very accessible manner trying to involve the students at all times. The focus on research was clear. We had to chance to use the same methods that the researchers used when doing their research and we were presented with new software that we used and were welcomed to also use it to analyse our own data.

The discussions were interesting and everyone in the group was very critical and participative which made it very stimulating. The topics were varied and so were the frameworks used. I learnt so much in two weeks. Both from lecturers and students. It motivated me to pursue higher academic goals after my Research MA.

For a whole day we heard about the research other students were doing. It was inspiring and stimulating.

The day trip to the Hague was also a lot of fun and we learnt about the Dutch political system. The game where we had to create different political groups and make a coalition made us aware of the language we would use in such scenarios and the importance of it in negotiations. I would strongly recommend this course to anyone that aims at having a more critical and socially engaged approach to research.

Going to Amsterdam to take a Dutch course there, I didn't image coming out of the course learning more than just how to introduce myself in Dutch. I learned far more then I could've ever imagined by immersing myself in the culture and the people that surrounded me. By going overseas to study you're able to learn in a new academic setting that allows you to challenge yourself. Additionally, you're expanding your mind just being surrounded by people from a different culture. The amount of kindness and happiness that I found in Amsterdam rubbed off on me. Going overseas one can find people waiting for them with open arms and ready to share their culture.

Being back in your home town you're surrounded by the same people stuck in the same routines which often times blind sides you from taking a moment to enjoy life. Traveling and studying overseas has helped me to take that moment where I ever I am to appreciate the people i'm around, the food, the culture. Going over seas has been a life changing experience, i've learned about a new culture, language and have made my own personal growths.

Amsterdam is a lovely city. Beautiful canals, nice people, museums and loads of fun all in one place.

I took a Dutch language and culture course, because I thought it can help me to fit in better, know the place in depth and get the most out of the overseas adventure. In two weeks time, I am happy to be able to order drinks in Dutch and to understand some phrases around myself.

And VU's team was supportive in the summer programme. The pick-up service, opening party and introduction programme were satisfactory. Overall, this is a pretty well-built programme.

I had a lot of fun studying a neurodegenerative disease course at VU. The content and lecture material was current, new and exciting as well as informative and challenging to the students. Housing organised by the Summer School at the Student Hotel was brilliant - I thought. Rooms were clean, individual bathrooms, gym and lounge areas within the main building. And most importantly, a bicycle to ride to uni! Also got to meet some really amazing people who's rooms would be a couple doors away.

Staying in Amsterdam, I had an absolute blast. Everything was close to get to, central wasn't too far and there was always something to do. The classes also finished at a reasonable hour so students had free time to explore the city. The course was enough to study for and learn from, but not too much that it became a burden. So, you get to work hard AND play hard~

Definitely recommend!