Students in Maastricht: Share Your Experiences

Yesterday I received an email from a young woman living in Colorado who is considering a move across the pond to our very own Maastricht to attend University. She’s interested in studying Neuropsychology, but isn’t in a position to visit the Netherlands before applying to the school and making a commitment to attend.

So what do you do? Email a blogger of course.

I’m quite honored that she’s emailed me and I’ve answered her questions as best I can, but I came to Maastricht as a trailing spouse; a much different experience and purpose than moving abroad for school. So I thought I’d put her questions out the blogsphere for help. If you are or were a student in Maastricht (especially if you are also from abroad), we’d love if you could share some of your experiences in the comments below. Or, if you don’t want to post them here, email me and I’ll pass them along. So without further ado:

• What has your experience been like as an International student in Maastricht (particularly at Maastricht University)? Do you have any advise for a potential student coming from the United States?
• What are the pros and cons of living in Maastricht and/or attending Maastricht University.
• How livable do you feel Maastricht is if you do not speak Dutch?
• How’s the weather?
• Are there other Neuropsychology programs in the Netherlands (or probably elsewhere) you’d suggest she check out?

Please share your comments below and pass along these questions if you know someone who can help. And if you’re not a student, feel free to chime in too. The more the merrier.

One Response to “Students in Maastricht: Share Your Experiences”

1. Judy says:

   September 29, 2010 at 9:33 pm

   Not a student, but I have worked at two Dutch universities and met people from the rest and Maastricht is definitely different from the rest of them. First of all, the question is whether she wants to pursue neuropsych from a scientific or psycho-social point of view. If she’s more interested in science, then just about any other Dutch university will be better for her than Maastricht. Maastricht is very strong in the “softer” sciences, which include things like business admin and cultural studies.

   But I do feel that Maastricht is more liveable than other Dutch cities if you don’t speak Dutch. People are more likely to speak English–you’ll find that, in smaller cities (Nijmegen, Zwolle) it’s almost impossible to get by if you can’t speak Dutch, whereas in the Randstad, most people speak English. But Maastricht isn’t really Dutch, so there’s a mix of languages here and everybody defaults to English if all else fails

   Generally, I like Maastricht better than I like Nijmegen. The city is more relaxed, and it’s beautiful, and there’s topography. For such a small city, it’s got an incredible amount of shopping possibilities, and the food is fantastic (as long as you don’t get Dutch food). For me, the downsides of living here are more personal and have to do with my job.

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