Universiteit Leiden

In general it was a good program. I acquired very good writing and presentation skills. The city is nice to study in.

Leiden University has nice campuses, generally good teachers and challenging subjects.

The class topics' variety and their contemporaneous relevance, the open-mindedness, the accessibility to the lecturers were what I liked the most but which I couldn't totally enjoy and make 'profitable' because of the heavy load of work (still happening during the pandemic). The pity is that you hardly can have a student job or put your learning into practice for instance by working in an NGO-civic group etc.  The international atmosphere and facilities were great too.

The courses formed theoretical basis for understanding the world broadly, whilst also informing me of their application at a micro level. After the first year, we focus on an area of study, mine being North America (US, Mexico, Canada). The economic, cultural and political makeup of North America are taught to become an expert in the region. The International Studies course was excellent, with many hours of contact time between the tutor and the student per week, the course in excellent value for money (Especially compared to UK universities which cost three times the amount for a third of the contact time).