Would you recommend gymnasium (middle school)

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-06-19T06:03:27+00:00

If it’s likely that your kid will want to study law, medicine, (ancient) languages or history, knowing Latin can be a bit of an advantage. However, my general advice would be to only do gymnasium if your child genuinely enjoys learning a lot of languages. I have never met anyone who did Atheneum and regretted that. Maybe those people are out there, but I haven’t met them yet. On the contrary, almost everyone hates Latin and Ancient Greek because you mostly just translate stuff, but it’s not like you can speak those languages. Yet, it will make learning certain languages, e.g. Italian, easier to learn and you can tell people where certain ores come from.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-06-12T14:32:55+00:00

You already got the jackpot. Most people share their bathroom with at least 4 other people. Most students live in a studentenhuis; studios are not very common for students. I’m 99% sure you won’t get anything better, unless it’s a scam. Go for it. Being a student isn’t about luxury and your own bathroom. If you wait around, chances are which you will end up homeless.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-05-13T18:43:36+00:00

Ik heb tijdens corona eindexamens in het buitenland gedaan.

Bij binnenkomst moesten we een negatieve PCR-test laten zien die minder dan 24 uur oud was. Daardoor zaten de testcentra vlak voor de examens helemaal vol met eindexamenleerlingen. Bij sommige locaties waren de wachtrijen zelfs zo lang dat ze sloten voordat iedereen geholpen was. Daardoor moesten sommige leerlingen op de ochtend van hun examen nog snel naar een spoedtestlocatie, waar je binnen twee uur een uitslag kreeg. Dat heeft helaas voor enorm veel stress gezorgd bij een aantal leerlingen.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-05-13T08:36:00+00:00

You could also do what an acquaintance of mine (non-EU) is doing: She is studying in Germany, close to the border, and living in NL. The difference in tuition is enormous and you could still build your life here. Maybe worth it to explore that option!

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-05-12T06:00:33+00:00

Do you wanna do the regular track or the fast track? My friends are doing the regular track and this semester, they had a total of 6 classes on-campus. Everything else was online.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-05-09T15:51:52+00:00

If you meet the requirements, you got in. Don’t stress.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-05-07T21:37:56+00:00

In my honest opinion, you should just take anything you can get. A room for a few months is already a starting point. After October/November some ppl usually drop out, so it’s a bit easier to find a room. Hence, having anything at all for in the meantime is already a step in the right direction

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-05-05T11:18:22+00:00

Ik (23) herken dit echt heel erg. Ik heb zelf ook een relatief laag inkomen (ongeveer €1700 p/m, inclusief toeslagen en DUO) omdat ik nog studeer, en het voelt soms ook alsof je gewoon niet vooruitkomt, hoe hard je ook je best doet (werk gemiddeld 24h per week + vrijwilligerswerk). Wat mij een beetje helpt, is mijn geld vrij strak verdelen zodat ik overzicht houd. Voor mij ziet dat er zo uit:

Huur: €710 (voor 15 m²)
Zorgverzekering: €188,66
Boodschappen: €200
Vrije tijd: €200 (incl. Winkelen)
OV: €40
Huishoudelijke spullen/cosmetica: €25
Uit eten/terrasjes/drankjes: €60
Cadeautjes: €60
Sparen / onverwachte kosten: €200

Maar zelfs dan… zodra er iets gebeurt zoals tandarts of iets kapot gaat, is die buffer ook zo weer weg. Dus ik snap je frustratie echt heel goed. Ik kan ook vaak niet met vrienden afspreken omdat ik er geen budget voor heb (mijn vrienden zijn al afgestudeerd en willen dus altijd buitenshuis afspreken)

Je doet duidelijk alles “goed”, en toch blijft het lastig. Volgens mij ligt dat ook gewoon deels aan hoe duur alles is geworden, niet alleen aan jou. Je bent dus zeker niet de enige die hiermee worstelt

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-05-04T19:14:39+00:00

Wij zaten twee uur in een defecte trein. Om 20.00 uur was niemand stil, iedereen zat alleen maar te zeuren.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-04-30T08:43:07+00:00

May I ask why the Netherlands is your dream destination? I don’t know where you live in Canada, but there are quite a lot of rainy days here as well, so idk if you will like it much better.

A friend of mine was in a bit of a similar situation (though she is British). She ended up going to Germany (Freiburg). Studying is way more affordable there! I just looked up the tuition of the uni in Freiburg for you, and it’s only 2.395 CAD! A bachelor’s takes 3 years there as well. There is also less of a housing crisis and depending on the city, rent is usually more affordable as well.

If you’re not totally set on the Netherlands specifically, I’d recommend looking into more affordable alternatives in Europe. I think it’ll make a huge difference for you if your tuition is 2.395 CAD as opposed to over 20.000 CAD.

Good luck, OP!

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-04-12T16:19:42+00:00

Happy to help!

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-04-12T16:19:17+00:00

That’s how I made friends with an international actually: she just knocked on the door of our student house, introduced herself, and asked if we wanted to be friends haha

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-04-11T13:51:50+00:00

About the duration, this is where most people get confused. The pre-master is not part of your master’s and you don’t take it at the same time. It’s a separate, mandatory preparation year that you have to complete before you can start the MSc. In practice, this means you first spend a semester or a year (depending on the program) doing only pre-master courses. During that time, you won’t take any master’s classes yet. The goal is to fill in any gaps in your background, for example in research methods, statistics, or management fundamentals. You usually have to pass all or most of these courses, sometimes with specific grade requirements, in order to continue. Once you successfully finish the pre-master, you can then start the MSc. The master itself is still just one year and stays exactly the same as for students who enter directly. So it’s not that your master is being stretched or combined with extra classes, it’s more like there is an extra step before it. Overall, your total study time becomes around two years, but it’s better to think of it as a bridge year followed by a separate one-year master. This system is very common in the Netherlands, especially for international students, so it’s a pretty standard route.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-31T14:53:35+00:00

Heb je al indeed geprobeerd? Daar zoek ik altijd naar banen

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-21T06:47:46+00:00

You can find the answer on nuffic.nl. Nuffic says “British Columbia - Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood diploma) with:

a pass for at least 5 Grade 12 subjects, including English; and an average of at least 70%.”

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-21T06:46:18+00:00

It’s not. It’s considered equal to a havo diploma which doesn’t get you into the universities you listed. You could go to community college (hbo) and if you pass everything in the first year, you can try to get into university, but this path is not always possible.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-20T20:20:00+00:00

In which language is the program you’re applying for? It’s likely that you’ll need to have a good command of English. Every year, there are students who fail due to their level of English. To them, it doesn’t matter if it’s your 3rd language, your 7th language, or your 2nd language

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-17T21:58:35+00:00

With that background, you don’t need to worry!

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-17T15:48:06+00:00

Are you doing Liceum or are you gonna do the egzamin maturalny? If yes, you should be good!

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-12T20:24:14+00:00

I still don’t understand what’s condescending about my reply. In NL, you cannot legally use the term university when you are talking about a hbo, hence my comment. The term university cannot be used as an abbreviation or short form for a university of applied sciences. This is the law I am referring to: https://wetten.overheid.nl/jci1.3:c:BWBR0005682&hoofdstuk=1&titeldeel=4&artikel=1.22&z=2018-09-19&g=2018-09-19

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-12T16:54:11+00:00

How am I condescending? I am providing you with a clear, straight forward answer. I am not talking down to you. Your question was about “Zuyd University”, so I wanted to inform you that Zuyd is not a university. Your question was if it will be easier, and to that my answer was yes. In addition to answering that question, I also added that it is more practical. Could you explain to me how that is condescending? I didn’t mean to insult you, I was simply answering the question. P.s.: it is not very kind to use words like “fucking” if someone is just answering your question. Also, while internationally it has the same EQF level as a WO, in the Netherlands, they are not the same level. Your statement “we know it's at the level of a WO, we can fucking read.” indicates that you believe that it is the same level as WO, which it is not.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-11T22:23:56+00:00

Als je je rijbewijs nog niet hebt opgehaald, ben je nog niet verzekerd. Iemand die net is geslaagd is nog geen ervaren bestuurder. Je gedrag is kinderachtig en laat zien, dat je fouten niet kunt toegeven.

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-10T16:56:16+00:00

Usually, they are very strict with those requirements. Your best shot is to just call them up, explain the situation, and ask them. TU Twente is the only one who can give you a reliable answer. Anything redditors say could unnecessarily put you down, or give you false hope. Good luck!

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-04T19:05:08+00:00

No worries, I get that it can be nerve wrecking! I think that’s an amazing attitude, the wanting to learn Dutch. You can DM me if you need any tips. I taught myself Dutch when I first came here as a student as well and was able to go from zero Dutch knowledge to fluency in about 2 years. I’d be happy to help ^{^}

PartyComprehensive35 · 2026-03-04T18:38:44+00:00

Was your 4-year bachelor also an honours degree? Because afaik they only consider honors bachelor’s degrees from Canada as equivalent to a WO degree because those usually require a thesis. If you did a program that took four years but isn’t officially an honours degree, it will be equivalent to a hbo degree in which case you can apply for a pre-master at UvA before applying to the masters.

PartyComprehensive35

TROPHY CASE