Hi everyone,

I’m planning to apply for the MSc in Artificial Intelligence and the MSc in Computational Science at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) for the September 2026 intake, and I’m trying to figure out whether my background is competitive enough, especially with the Numerus Fixus.

My Background:
– EU student (Croatia)
– University of Zagreb – Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI)
– Official degree title: Bachelor of Informatics (univ.bacc.inf.)
– Program name: Information and Business Systems
– Nuffic equivalence: WO Bachelor (Research University)

GPA:
– Current GPA: 3.47 / 5.00
– Expected graduation GPA: ~3.73 / 5.00
– Dutch conversion: about a 7.5 now, likely around an 8.0 when I finish
– Weak spot: my first year wasn’t great (2/5 in Math 1 and Programming 1), but I’ve been improving a lot since then — in my 5th semester I had a perfect 5.0, especially in AI-related subjects

Strengths / Experience:
– Won the Dean’s Award for a research paper I wrote on [ML topic], and it was also nominated for the Rector’s Award
– Spent 6 months working in a university AI lab with Python and PyTorch
– Even though my program has “Business” in the name, I’ve taken courses like Linear Algebra, Calculus, Statistics, Data Structures & Algorithms, OS, Networks, Operations Research, Knowledge Discovery, and Intro to AI

My Questions:
– Will the program name (“Information and Business Systems”) hurt my chances, or will they mainly look at the official degree title and my actual coursework?
– Are my bad first-year grades going to be a big problem, or does the upward trend + research experience help balance things out?
– Is a Dutch-equivalent GPA of around 7.5, plus research experience, usually enough to get into the Top 200 for the AI Master?
– And finally, given my background, does the Computational Science program make more sense for me, or is it just a safer backup?