What Students Say
Likes
- Very detailed courses, and amazing faculty
- Course material covers the foundations while being relevant to the current industry standards.
- Option to work on projects external to the University.
Dislikes
- University does not provide housing (most of the time).
- Too many administrative procedures to follow for every task in the University.
- Evaluation of exams is super strict and there is no sign of any lenience which is quite impractical.
Course Curriculum
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The difficulty of the course is at a level where you can’t pass without understanding the material fundamentally. All assignments are a mix of theory and practical work.
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Classes are scheduled during the day, usually from 9 AM to 4 PM.
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There are around 200 students in each course, and 4 Indian students in my batch.
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The positive aspects are the depth of learning and practical exposure, but the workload can be heavy at times.
Admission Experience
- I applied to Technical University Munich for Computational Science and Engineering and the University of Amsterdam for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. I was accepted to both programs and chose the AI program at UVA, as it was a 2-year course with more detailed content. I wasn't accepted to TUM because I only had an IELTS score, while TUM required the GRE.
- I chose the University of Amsterdam mainly because it offered the AI program a more detailed and in-depth curriculum. Also, I did some research on the faculty here and I found that the faculty was actually involved in building various tools and packages for AI model training which I felt was amazing.
- The admission process was pretty standard. You have to hand in your CV, motivation letter & LORs. Some cases you have to go through an interview too. They also ask for attested certificate copies, but that can likely be done online now.
- If you're not accepted right in the first round of the results, you get waitlisted and based on your number in the waiting list you might receive an offer later.
- The university is quite prompt with queries and the visa process is handled entirely by the university.
- In terms of eligibility, you only need to take the IELTS or TOEFL for language proficiency, no GRE required, which makes things simpler.
- Overall, my experience with the application was pretty good. The only real challenge I faced was with housing. The university uses a lottery system for student accommodation, so it’s all about luck. If you don’t get selected, finding a place on your own can be really tough, especially if you're trying to arrange everything from abroad.
- I applied for the fall intake at the University of Amsterdam. I submitted my application in January and received the admission offer in April. The visa process was completed by the end of June. The housing results were announced in July, after which I started looking for a place and found the place in mid-August. I traveled to Amsterdam at the end of August, and the course began in September.
Faculty
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I don’t know the exact faculty-to-student ratio, but I’ve always had someone to help me when needed, so I guess it’s good enough.
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The teaching methodology is great, and it’s quite industry-oriented and accepted. The faculty is helpful, but finding jobs in the Netherlands is tough because companies prefer locals and don’t sponsor visas that easily.
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I can’t pick one, but a couple of my faculty members, like Eric Bekkers, have built AI packages that are used in almost all pipelines globally, which is amazing.
Campus Life
- The university has two campuses: Science Park (1098 XH) and Roeterseiland (1018 WB). I’ve only been to the Science Park one which i feel is a pretty decent campus with a library, a gym, and an outdoor volleyball court.
- The gym is paid and costs around €15 a month. It’s called USC (Universum: Sport & Fitness), and it’s actually quite nice. There’s a regular workout area, a dance studio, basketball, climbing, and a few other indoor sports as well.
- There are a bunch of events throughout the year, poster sessions, conferences, talks, and fun stuff like summer or Christmas picnics, and festival lunches or dinners. There are other extracurricular activities as well like sports tournaments, debate sessions, and gaming tournaments happening pretty often.
- Most of this is organized or listed on the SVIA website, which is like the student association here and organizes most of these events.
Part Time Jobs
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Getting a TA, RA, or DA position here isn’t that hard. Most students end up finding something provided they apply early and show their interest.
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The pay for these roles is around €14 per hour, and it doesn’t really change much between TA, RA, or DA positions. It’s pretty standard.
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There are also other kinds of on-campus jobs. For example, you can be part of the Board of Academics where you help give input on curriculum changes and other faculty-related stuff. There are a few admin-type roles too. These also have the same pay, around €14 per hour.
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For non-EU students, you’re allowed to work a max of 16 hours per week during the semester, and up to 40 hours per week during the summer break (June to August)
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Students usually earn between 14 to 20 euros per hour in part-time jobs. You can find these jobs mostly through LinkedIn or the university job portal. For non-European students, it’s a bit tricky because once you get a job, the company needs to sponsor a work permit, otherwise you’re not allowed to work.
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The application process is pretty straightforward, just have a good CV, apply, and do well in the interview. Most tech-related student jobs are quite flexible with working days and hours, so it’s easy to manage along with studies. Getting a job isn’t super easy, but if you start early and put some effort, it’s definitely possible.
Placement
- Most students don’t get a job right after graduating, it usually takes around a year to find a proper one since you need a company that sponsors your visa. Also, most companies here work with Dutch clients so they prefer people who know Dutch, so yeah, getting a job in 6 months is not that common.
- The average salary for freshers is around 2500 to 4000 euros gross, but if you’re lucky you can get something between 5500 to 6500 too.
- There’s no placement or job fair from the university, so you have to find a job on your own using your network, LinkedIn, or internships. I don’t have any placement experience, but some of my batchmates got into companies like ING, BUNQ, Optiver, Rabobank, Shell, Amazon, and Booking through their graduate programs.
Accommodation
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I found my accommodation through Indian WhatsApp groups and Facebook. My monthly rent is 800 EUR for an individual room in a house with shared amenities.
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One of the challenges with finding accommodation is that many landlords require you to be in the Netherlands for a viewing. It’s really competitive, and housing near the university is often unaffordable.
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I stay in Almere, about 20 km away from the university and travel by public transport. A few students are lucky enough to find student housing, which costs around 400-500 EUR, but it’s usually far from the university, and they either cycle or use public transport.
Exams
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IELTS/TOEFL is enough for admission.
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The required documents include your transcript, Statement of Purpose (SOP), Letters of Recommendation (LOR), and CV.
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Yes, the interview is usually with the Teaching Assistant of one of the mandatory courses. They check if you’re comfortable with the concepts and can keep up with the syllabus. It’s more like a conversation about how you’ve applied these concepts in your academic work.
Fees
- The fees for my course at the University of Amsterdam are 16,500 EUR per year, so for the entire course, it totals 33,000 EUR.
- The fees are charged annually, so I pay once per year for the whole year.
- As for my monthly expenses:
- Rent comes to about 800 EUR per month.
- Transportation costs around 150 EUR per month.
- Food and groceries add up to roughly 300 EUR per month.
- But yes, if you finish your master's early you can claim a refund for the fees.
Scholarship
- There’s only one scholarship program at the University of Amsterdam, the Amsterdam Merit Scholarship (not sure about the amount but you can find it online), but it’s super hard to get. You need to have a lot of publications to be considered, so it’s really competitive. Also, not everyone at the university is in their twenties, there are people in their thirties or even forties doing the degree, so the competition is even tougher.
- None of my friends or me got the scholarship, and when you apply for it, you have to write a short paragraph in your motivation statement explaining why you are worthy of it.
- I’m not sure how many students get it each year, but it’s definitely not easy to get.
