Saturday, July 28, 2012
a hard decision: netherlands or scotland ? see my situation on details.?
a hard decision: netherlands or scotland ? see my situation on details.?
well, i'll be an exchange student next year and i have to choose among netherlands or scotland . which one has the best quality of life, education, and less homelessness ? THANKS!
Immigration - 2 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
In the Netherlands you should not worry about housing problems because many cities build houses explicit for students, practically on demand. Very nice example are these container houses. In fact student housing is a whole different market, working people should not be permitted there. For foreign students this should really be taken care off by the university. Where I live they sometimes provide fast Internet at rooms. There are several houses and bigger buildings for foreign students. So ask about for the possibilities. Many traditional houses in the inner city are rent to students who are members of a certain students corps. Should you have to choose between countries, then think of how trust-able and interesting they may sound to your future employer. This is also valid for places. To me, the Netherlands seem to be a better choice and Scotland much further away. For quality of live and being able to have a good time Holland is much more interesting and close to where you may want to be. From what I have heard, students are often placed in work-groups for accomplishment.
2 :
I disagree with Alfred on this one, and as an ex-student advisor for a Hogeschool here in the Netherlands dealing with International students, I can assure you that in many cities it is very hard to obtain cheap accomodation even if you are a student. Univeristies do not always arrange accomodation for either domestic or foreign students. This is up to the student to arrange for him/herself in principle. However they do sometimes have a person/dept to assist with info and some institutions have limited places for accomodation (but not all), or at least an info pack available to help foreign students. However expect the bare minimum as accomodation. Here for example is the page from the VU university confirming what I say http://www.vu.nl/en/programmes/exchange-programmes/accommodation/ and here is the page from NUFFIC which is the organisation dealing with higher education and a good starting point for foreign students http://www.nuffic.nl/international-students/preparation-stay/preparing-your-stay/housing I have lived in the UK as well as the Netherlands (although it was in England not Scotland, but I have been many times on hols to Scotland), so this is my take on the NL vs Scotland with regard to living and studying there. Quality of life - probably equal to be honest in regards to costs, socialising, and living in general. Scotland has a lot more space than the Netherlands (population dense) but the Netherlands has a far better public transportation network (which given that many students don't have cars is a plus) Education standards are very high in both and the qualifications are recognised from both countries (official translations required in some cases). So there is not much difference there. I have a Dutch HEAO and a British BA which are comparable. Accomodation - well as pointed out, the Netherlands has far less housing, but student accomodation in the UK is not exactly the Ritz either. This is more private rentals and very basic as well. To be honest I would also find it difficult to make the choice as both are really good places to live & study in. Therefore maybe you should look more into the actual courses available in English (you can see a listing here for the Netherlands http://www.nuffic.nl/international-students/dutch-higher-education/search-international-study-programmes) and see which courses suit you more, and base your decision on this Good luck in any respect.
Read more other entries :
