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The Hague University (HHS)

259 reviews
3.98 / 5 based on 259 reviews
Useful  |  7
Gordon F
Syracuse University, Syracuse, United States
Law, Undergraduate, Independent
Overall
I wish I had known...
Netherlands is Hell, but the Haagse Hogeschool (The Hague University) is the Devils kitchen. Unless, you go there for the "Study of Life", do not go. Just... don't.
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In my opinion:
Stay home.
Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important
Academic reasons
4
Culture
3
Costs
3
Activities
4
Campus life
4
Party / people
4
Weather / location
2
Personal recommendation
Kill Yourself
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During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot
Became familiar with another culture
4
Traveled
4
Improved language skills
4
Met people from other countries
4
Became more independent
4
Partied a lot
2
Experienced a change in life
3
Advanced my studies & career
2
Final comments
If you happen to end up in the Hague and there is nothing you can do about it, and the dutch take advantage of you, which they will, take advantage of their laws, i.e. e.g. create a student association and employ yourself - because the dutch business model requires international organisations to establish themselves there, you can simply create one, apply for a grant -open ended, but depends on how well you can justify, e.g. up to 50K EUR for festivals or else- also then, you are employed and pay yourself with that grant first and then, since you are employed you have access to even more grants in holland, such as reduced housing, tuition, travelling costs etc.
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Useful  |  1
Gordon F
Syracuse University, Syracuse, United States
Law, Undergraduate, Independent
Housing
Type of housing:
Arranged by: Independently - My choice
If returning, I would choose: On campus
Why?
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Personal assessment
Cost
Facilities
Location
Cleanliness
Space
Personal comments
Housing in the Netherlands is a difficult topic to get into, but basically you have two options: 1) You manage to secure a place on campus, i.e. in a semi-gov. funded, but privately owned facility and pay loads; or 2) you have to deal with the dutch -who hate foreigners or at least want to take advantage as much as possible- who will rent out the shittiest european shitholes, which no dutch or other euro person wants and pay loads too, prices are comparable to New York/London, only that it is not New York/London. I suggest you move in with German folks, its way cheaper and the quality ... well the germans have laws about quality, so don't worry -but with the money you save you can travel by train or even plane to whatever school you go to -on those few occasions that you actually have to do something there.
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Useful  |  6
Gordon F
Syracuse University, Syracuse, United States
Law, Undergraduate, Independent
Student life
Describe host city:
Students equally interact with the local and student community
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Activities, Travel: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment
Nightlife: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Personal social experience
Activities
Nightlife
Travel
Overall
Personal comments
Well, the Netherlands was rich in "social experiences" for me. At the Hague University of Applied Sciences -it is not a real uni, "of applied sciences" is not a protected term in dutch or most european systems oh and so is the term "bachelor of", it is actually more something in between a high school, thus hogeschool in its original dutch name/form, and a community college. However, well the dutch are used to turning a bad situation into a "better" one, for themselves, thus they have adapted themselves to the floods of foreigners streaming into the country, mainly through the gates of education institutions -which need the cash from foreigners, as it forms an integral part in their business models, the dutch do not pay anything- and from those streaming floods then the economy there starts rollin', i.e. the housing, cafes, shops, nightlife, everywhere are tons and tons of cheap/shitty dutch businesses aimed at taking your money. The dutch have their own places, but they are unattractive to the foreigner, because there are only dutch people and they play really weird dutch music. Also, dutch people really either don't have to pay for entry or they get some off the prices you are charged, regardless. Travel, on the other hand, of course works pretty well, i.e. good infrastructure, however, of course you have to pay an unreasonably amount of money, before you can reach dutch borders and it gets better -again totally free for the dutch. Sports was so lala, the Haagse Hogeschool, has an underground sports hall, where rarely somebody goes, but recently the student associations -which are middle-man, working together with other local businesses- have tried to cater that need more regularly, but it is largely ignored by the microcosm of the Hogeschool.
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Useful  |  1
Gordon F
Syracuse University, Syracuse, United States
Law, Undergraduate, Independent
Languages
Language of instruction: English
Was learning English a key decision factor?
No, it wasn't.
Language difficulties
Social
Educational
Administrative / Institutional
Overall
Personal comments
The dutch really do not want you to learn their language, because that would affect their ability to trick you. On the other hand, of course, they will be speaking and understanding your language -the dutch are masters of taking advantage of foreigners, been to many, many places for even longer periods of time, but they are downright cunts like that, they have to be, their economy depends on it
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Useful  |  1
Gordon F
Syracuse University, Syracuse, United States
Law, Undergraduate, Independent
Expenses
Main source of funding:
Family
Other sources of funding:
Personal savings
Work opportunities:
I worked during my study abroad experience
Personal spending habits
The dutch have intricate systems in place, which, as at the end, will have foreigners pay more for everything. Even if you learn dutch, like me, and get into it, you will only realise the schematics behind it and that there is nothing you can do about it, unless you become a dutch citizen yourself, which would be very idiotic.
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Nightlife, Housing, Overall, Travel, Telephone, Food:
was more expensive than at home.
Accessibility of student needs
Second-hand text books
Second-hand household items
Computers / Internet
Administrative
Money from home
Personal comments
Also, if you are intending to be a law student at the Hogeschool, know that the teachers and founders of the young law program, have created an "institute" -which really isn't one- through which you have to buy your law and case collections, priced anywhere between 20 to 100 EUR each, and that you have to buy about 20 every semester, and that there is not work of the teachers involved, because these books are merely "collections", and that you are not allowed you use anything but these collections in the exams, and that they have no value whatsoever afterwards, because the following years will have updated versions, and are not allowed to bring 2nd hand collections or older versions, and lastly that, because these collections have no value to academia, nobody will want to buy them off of you. So you end up paying several thousands of euros to said institute, which will use the money to further the careers of your shitty teachers.
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Useful  |  15
Gordon F
Syracuse University, Syracuse, United States
Law, Undergraduate, Independent
Academic
Course recommendations
Well, what can I say. I was to naive/ignorant when I came to The Hague, believing that the Hogeschool or the Law program would actually benefit and/or make something out of being situated in the city of "peace and justice", because, they are not. Again, I found it to be a very entrepreneurial scheme like thing, working to attract morons like me to The Hague and into the hands of "teachers", thats right not "professors", not even "phd" holders,... "teachers" - you will have people with dutch bachelor degrees and some with international LLM degrees, who have been ejected or rather excreted from the lawyering market and now have decided to go into teaching. Since De Haagse Hogeschool is -according to dutch law and in comparison to any other countries standards- is not a university, anyone can start teaching there -when I finish my bachelor, I can go there and "teach", building my"career" from there. Anyhow, other problems are the extremely low requirements for passing a subject in the dutch education system in general, but at the Hogeschool, you could read over your material the day before an exam or else and be top of the class, which quite often isn't even necessary, because the teachers give you their power point presentations used throughout the course, and more than often, you will find that, because the teachers don't actually know their subjects, you will get a better grade by just learning the answers provided in this pp.'s. Quite often then everybody gets a 9 or 8 out of 10. Another problem is the student body: Prepare to be with ONLY eastern europeans AND asylum seekers from third world countries, which was an experience that I liked, but you know, for your study that does actually suck very, very hard.
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My academic experiences
Quality of courses
Variety of courses
Access to resources
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with international students
Interaction with local students
Personal comments
Well, anything I said above, just remember, regardless of whether your an exchange student or a full-time student, it's incredibly easy. Oh, I just remembered how bad the teachers command of english was, even if they manage to speak it quite fluently -in the netherlands movies and tv shows, don't get their own voice-over, so everyone can understand/speak basic english- so, even if they manage to speak it fluently, the ppt's, exam questions etc. etc. pp. are littered with errors of all kinds, really all kinds, so much so that at times you really don't know what you have been asked to do, i.e. you have to first get into the mind of the teacher and what he probably wanted to say, but in a multiple choice exam, which every exam in every hogeschool consists of to a varying degree, but at least 50%, you have massive problems, because you'll find that depending on what the teacher meant there are multiple answers... It is freakin hell, i tell you - you want to kill yourself for being so dumb and going to the netherlands
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My opinion of the university assessment
Exams at end of course
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course
Essays and/or projects throughout the course
Overall