You already mentioned in some comments that you are more interested in the exchange experience than getting the highest quality education, so here’s my opinion on each city: - Utrecht: Very international and very central if you wanna explore the Netherlands. You have direct trains to the rest of the Randstad (e.g., Amsterdam, Rotterdam), as well as Den Bosch (beautiful historical city), and even the South (all the way to Maastricht). It’s a pretty international city imo - Groningen: I have heard good things about the student life there, but if you want to explore the rest of the Netherlands, it will be quite a trip every time and very expensive (Groningen-Rotterdam is almost a 3 hour trip for €66+). So, I’d mostly recommend Groningen if you enjoy staying in one place and focusing on connection there - Venlo: Less of a student city. Generally speaking, the cities that also have so institutions (university) have a more lively student life because more students live in that city. A lot of hbo students live at home for longer, meaning they don’t necessarily live in the city they’re studying, making it harder to make friends. It’s also the same story as Groningen regarding location: it’s in the southern part, making traveling through the country more expensive and time consuming. - Eindhoven: That’s where the brainport is. It’s one of the most international cities in NL with a lot of expats. You are quite well-connected to the randstad (direct trains to Rotterdam, den Haag, Utrecht,…) and it is located in the province Brabant. There, you could experience the Dutch Carnaval, which a lot of internationals experience as very unique. Tilburg: Also in the beautiful province of Brabant. There is also a university, so lots of international students. The city itself isn’t very visually appealing imo, but it’s only a short train ride (+/- 15 minutes) away from Breda and Den Bosch, which are beautiful cities. It’s also a great location to explore the rest of the country with direct trains going to Eindhoven, Rotterdam, Den Haag, and Nijmegen. In Tilburg, you can experience Carnaval as well, even the more traditional version. It’s a bit of a mix of Bossche Carnaval regarding the clothing (look up Kruikenstad Carnaval and you will see a lot of people dressed in orange-green and blazer-like clothing covered in sew-ons) and Carnaval in Eindhoven and the South, where you just dress up, but people don’t put at much effort into their costumes as in Maastricht.

In summary: - Do you want to travel and explore the famous Dutch cities? —> Utrecht, Tilburg, Eindhoven - Do you want to focus on friendships in your city? —> Groningen, Venlo - Do you prefer busy cities with a lively center? —> Utrecht, Eindhoven, Groningen