University College Utrecht

Design your own curriculum

After graduating from high school in the Netherlands, I wanted to study a Bachelor’s programme that allowed me to develop myself both professionally and personally. I liked the idea of combining different courses, so University College Utrecht was the perfect place for me. It stimulates students to go further than their own field of study and motivates students to get the best out of themselves. You can really design your own curriculum, even by adding courses the college does not offer. The possibility to take off-campus courses was very valuable for me. I went on exchange in my fourth semester to take even more in-depth courses in corporate sustainability, and I also did a half year internship at a company to gain real-life experiences.

University College Utrecht prepared me for life after college

After my graduation, I was not sure what I wanted to study yet. I decided to postpone my Master’s studies for a year and started working at Deloitte Netherlands. Working there, I explored the opportunities in consultancy. After that, I took up the MSc Strategic Management at the Rotterdam School of Management. University College Utrecht really prepared me for life after college. The courses, exchange opportunities and internships, provided me with enough knowledge and experience for the job and the Master’s studies.

My advice to all prospective students would be: everything is possible at University College Utrecht, as long as you are prepared to work for it. Have conversations with your tutor, teachers and friends, explore your own opportunities and go for it. As long as it adds to your personal or professional development, University College Utrecht will support you in all ways possible.

Anthropology got me hooked

Like most students when they apply for University College Utrecht, I did not know yet what I wanted to major in. After dabbling in numerous introduction courses, anthropology got me hooked. University College Utrecht gave me the opportunity to use an anthropological lens to look at different things, from Performing Arts, to Cognitive Neuroscience to Development Studies, which turned out to be a big deciding factor for my future.

University College Utrecht is more than education

After my studies I got to work for the organisation where I did my traineeship, at Free Press Unlimited. I then got a job there as a Project Officer for the Knowledge & Quality team, and I got to combine what I have learned from my anthropology and development studies courses, especially when conducting qualitative evaluations with partner organisations.

To this day, when I think of the big achievements in my life, most of it can be linked back to my time at University College Utrecht. It gave me a sense of home in the city of Utrecht. It has also given me an array of friends from all over the world that I still regularly meet up with. And it gave me the chance to meet my partner, someone who is open-minded and shares this experience that is University College Utrecht.

In all aspects, from the intense course load to the dynamic social environment, University College Utrecht is more than an education, but an experience that shapes individuals.