Universiteit Leiden

I am writing this because I believe it is very important for new students to have realistic expectations about a bachelor's degree at a Dutch university. My desire to study at LU was to learn a lot about given studies and be educated in different spheres. However, I also expected from my university a certain protection from being "on the side of the road" unemployed and forced to work jobs unrelated to my interests after graduation. Unfortunately, 9 months after graduation, my experience turned out to be exactly that. My bachelor's programme did not offer skills that could land a job in these difficult times in Netherlands after studies. Despite successfully finding an internship, having a decent resume and graduating with a thesis, I have to leave the country and possibly begin from scratch with something different.
I write this purely for new students who might think that =a high-ranking university is a safe pathway, but at the moment it is far from that. WO university will teach you academic concepts, and for anything beyond that you need an HBO or online self-taught courses, whether it is programming, UX design or anything where you can be self-reliant might be a safe option for the future.

The fact that my degree is based on four areas of studies being cultural studies, history, politics and economics, allowed me to assemble multiple point of views to tackle one complex issue. However, endeavours such as decoloniality and/or inclusivity are not fully achieved yet based on my experience.

The majority of the courses are well-structured and in line with my expectations. The campus is in the middle of the city, giving access to a variety of cafés, and tourist spots but also shops and libraries.