F.A.Q.
1. How is the weather in Netherlands?
2. What kind of clothes should I bring with me?
3. Is it necessary to sign up at the city hall?
4. Is it mandatory to have a Dutch health insurance?
5. Where should I apply for housing?
6. Which is the best international student house?
7. How is the studying process for Bachelor studies?
8. How is the studying process for Master studies?
9. Why was I accepted for a Pre-Master, when I applied for a Master’s?
10. Will I be able to know my way around the city if I don’t know Dutch?
11. Where can I buy a bike from?
12. Is it possible to get a side job while I am a student?
14. I heard I can apply for a student mentor. Where can I apply?
15. What activities are organized for new students?
16. Where can I buy (second-hand) furniture if I have an unfurnished room?
17. How is the social life in Groningen?
18. I want to learn Dutch or another language. Are there language courses available?
21. How can I get in touch with current students and people from the faculty?
22. What is this website about?
23. I like playing sports. What can Groningen offer me?
24. Where can I find detailed descriptions of the courses that I will be taking?
25. Can I take out a loan to pay my tuition fees with?
26. I have other administrative question. Where else can I get an answer for it?
27. How is the grading system in the Dutch education?
1. How is the weather in Netherlands?
The weather in Netherlands is very “special”. You can have all 4 seasons in the same day, and the weather changes fast from sunny to rainy, from clear sky to strong wind in less than one hour. It mostly rains a lot, especially in autumn, therefore be prepared to get used to the rain. Since the weather changes so fast it is useful to use a weather radar to know when the rain is coming, so you can avoid getting wet on your bike. You can find the weather radar from Groningen at this link
2. What kind of clothes should I bring with me?
The weather in Groningen is very tricky and constantly changing even in the same day. Our advice is to “dress in layers”, meaning that you should wear something light first (like a T-shirt) and then have different sweaters/jumpers/hoods on top of it. This way you can easily adapt to the constantly changing temperature during a day. Water proof clothes for riding your bike in the rain are also welcome. Forget about the umbrella, it mostly won’t help!
3. Is it necessary to sign up at the city hall?
If you are staying more than 4 months in the Netherlands or you want to open a Dutch bank account, it is required to register at the city hall. In order to do so, you must already have a rental agreement signed and a series of documents ready. The exact procedure and the documents required for the registration can be found at this link :
http://www.rug.nl/prospectiveStudents/information/registrationTownHall
4. Is it mandatory to have a Dutch health insurance?
If you are a EU member, and you have the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or an insurance that can cover Netherlands and is recognized by the Dutch authorities, then you do not need to have a Dutch health insurance. All the other non-EU members must have a Dutch health insurance. More details about the procedure and how you can apply for an insurance you can find at this link :
http://www.rug.nl/prospectiveStudents/information/healthInsurance
5. Where should I apply for housing?
There are two alternatives of applying for housing in Groningen: international student houses or the private market. The decision is up to you, and it should depend on your preferences, budget and personality. FEB will initially tell you to register via Housing Office http://www.housingoffice.nl/ for one of the famous international student houses. Housing Office will find a room for you in one of the student houses depending on your preferences and the rooms available for the time. We made an overview of all the international student houses in Groningen, and you can find a detailed article about each house at this link:
http://www.feb-international.com/index.php/practical-matters/accommodation
Of course there are other alternatives if you don’t want to live in a student house. The only disadvantage is that you will have to look for a place yourself, and be extra-careful with the offers you get. Here is an informative article about all the housing alternatives in Groningen:
Recently a new group for housing announcements gained a lot of popularity on Facebook. Simply look on Facebook for the group : Free Housing Announcements in Groningen , and join it to see all the offers students have for students.
6. Which is the best international student house?
It is hard to tell, because it mostly depends on your preferences and personality. Some houses are smaller and everybody will be like a family, some houses are so big that you will meet new people everyday. Some houses have shared facilities, some have full or partial private facilities. Every year is different, depending on the people that live in each house, so we cannot say for sure which is the best international student house. But, we made an overview of the international student houses in Groningen, which contains video testimonials of students who lived in each house. This way you can make your own impression about each house.
http://www.feb-international.com/index.php/practical-matters/accommodation
7. How is the studying process for Bachelor studies?
The Bachelor’s programmes offered at the FEB are very interactive and modern. Group work is a very important part of the studies, and therefore most courses have different sorts of group assignments and presentations, apart from the usual exams. The faculty also pays a lot of attention to evaluating students’ opinion regarding their experience and perception of quality of the courses, so students get to express their opinions through surveys after the end of each course. This data is used by the faculty to constantly monitor and improve the quality of courses and the overall programmes. Some of the Bachelor’s courses can have over 300 students enrolled per course, but this is never a problem since aside from the lectures given by our professors, there are also workshops (usually around 15-20 students) where the learning process is very interactive.
8. How is the studying process for Master studies?
Being a Master student is different than being a Bachelor student. You won’t have many courses per week, and the main focus will be on self study. There will be very few lectures, and the professors will mostly not lecture you about the material you have to learn for the subjects. You will mainly have tutorials/seminars in small groups, in which you are required to present a certain material to your colleagues, actively participate at the class by asking questions and making remarks regarding the material studied. The professors principally have the role of moderators in the tutorials, and they are there to answer to eventual inclarities you have after studying the material.
The study material you will have mostly consists of articles from famous journals, and at some classes even books. The list of materials for each course can be easily found on Ocasys, http://www.rug.nl/ocasys/, the portal in which each course is explained in detail.
For most of the courses you make, you will be required to write a final paper on a topic of your choice. The paper has to be based on the existing literature, therefore you are required to look for the material yourself in the existing databases and find articles and books related to your topic.
Exams are also part of the courses, but not all the courses necessarily have an exam. The passing grade for the exams is 5.5 (out of 10, in which 1 is low and 10 is the highest grade).
The final outcome of your Master is of course, your master thesis. It is an extensive work, which will mostly take you one semester or more to finish. According to your specialization, you can link your thesis with an Internship at a company or an organization, and gain practical experience together with your studies. But that is not mandatory, and in most of the cases finding a relevant internship for your topic is extremely hard. There is no strict deadline for finishing your thesis, and this will mostly depend on you, your thesis supervisor, your motivation and ambition. Most of the people take more time to write their thesis than their programme initially plans. That is not a problem, but keep in mind that if you do not finish with all your courses and thesis by 31 August of each year, you will have to re-register and pay a certain amount of tuition again.
* The information above is general and can change depending on each specific Master Programme.
9. Why was I accepted for a Pre-Master, when I applied for a Master’s?
Most of the Master programmes require you to have specific knowledge in order to get accepted to the intensive courses of the Master. If you apply for a Master and you are offered a Pre-Master, don’t worry, means that the admission board considered you still have to gain some specific knowledge before starting the actual Master. That is most of the times not a bad thing, and is in the end more beneficial for you, because once you will do the Master, after the Pre-Master, everything will be more easy for you and you will not have to struggle so much with understanding the system and the courses anymore.
You are generally offered a pre-master when you want to switch from one field to another, without previous background. For example if you had a Bachelor in Finance, and you want to do a Master in HRM, or if you have a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering and you want to make a master of Business Administration, and you will surely be first offered a Pre-Master. The pre-Master includes all the courses you need to make in order to easily understand the courses you will be making in your Master, and they are mostly Bachelor courses. Each Pre-master has a specific number of credits you need to make in order to be finally admitted to the Master. If you fail to make those specific credits, you should better stop, and reconsider your choices and preferences.
10. Will I be able to know my way around the city if I don’t know Dutch?
Good news! Nearly all the Dutch speak good English, therefore you don’t need to worry about not knowing Dutch. Mostly you won’t even use it (if you don’t want to) because everybody can speak English to you and you do not need to worry about not being able to know your way around the town. Simply ask somebody and they will surely answer you nicely in English and will be willing to help you!
11. Where can I buy a bike from?
There are different ways to buy a bike in Groningen:
- get a bike from the police office. Every first and third Friday of each month, the police office sells the bikes they found stolen for only 25 euros. It is very good deal and you can find very good bikes at this reasonable price. Just be sure to be on time at the Police Office in the morning, preferably before 6AM, to catch a place in the line of people waiting to get a bike.
- second hand bike shops. A list of tips and places to buy bikes from can be found in this article http://www.feb-international.com/index.php/practical-matters/lokomotion/92-bikes-bikes-eg-where-to-find-prices-
- for sale in Groningen, group on Facebook: join the group on Facebook and you will see a lot of people posting different announcement, bikes included. Or simply post that you need a bike on the group, and wait to see what happens.
Tip: do not spend more than maximum 80euros on your bike. It is not worth it, if it is more than this price. Buy strong locks for your bike, because bikes get easily stolen in Groningen and you don’t want to spend money on a new bike so often. Also purchase white and red lights if your bike doesn’t have them, in order to avoid receiving a fine from the police for not having nights in the night.
12. Is it possible to get a side job while I am a student?
It is possible to get a side job while you are a student, but we recommend you to not rely on finding a job in Groningen to sustain yourself, because there are not so many jobs for students here. Most of the jobs require you to know Dutch, and are mostly in bars and restaurants as bartenders/waiters/delivery/washing dishes. Keep in mind that you are not allowed to work more than 8h/week as a student, and for most non-EU, Romanians and Bulgarians, a work permit is still required even for this jobs.
The best jobs you can get are as student assistants/teaching assistants/research assistants at the FEB. Once you get your Nestor account ready, check for vacancies in the special section. Keep in mind that you can mainly apply for these positions after your first semester here.
Again, we do not recommend you to rely on the fact that you will come here and support yourself by finding a job. It is on your own risk!
13. How to get to Groningen?
There are different ways to get to Groningen depending on where you come from. Here is a detailed article about how to get to Groningen by different means of transportation:
http://www.feb-international.com/index.php/practical-matters/lokomotion/how-to-get-to-groningen
14. I heard I can apply for a student mentor. Where can I apply?
ESN Groningen, an organisation for international students in Groningen, offers mentors to new students free of charge! They will assign a mentor to you upon your request, and that mentor can help you a lot during your first days here by giving you tips and advice on whatever issues may be of your concern, or just showing you a good place to grab a beer J Read all about it on the ESN website: http://esn-groningen.nl/content/mentor-system
15. What activities are organized for new students?
If you are planning to come here a little early (before the 15th of August), you can sign up for the KEI week. This is an organised week full of activities for new students. There is going to be a lot of parties and opportunities to make a few friends from the very start of your student experience. Besides that the University of Groningen organises a welcoming ceremony for all new international students. The information about that will be communicated directly to you by the University. You can also find up to date information here: http://www.rug.nl/prospectivestudents/information/uponarrival/introductoryProgrammes
ESN Groningen (http://esn-groningen.nl) also organizes a fun introduction week for international students filled with a lot of social, cultural activities and parties. Find up to date information on their website.
16. Where can I buy (second-hand) furniture if I have an unfurnished room?
There is an IKEA store in Groningen, which can be very useful for buying some furniture, cutlery, etc. that you may need. Second hand furniture can be bought at very good prices from three stores with the name MAMAMINI. Searching these names on the internet will give you quick access to their websites, working times and addresses. Both IKEA and MAMAMINI offer delivery services for a certain extra cost.
There is also a Facebook group where students sell their stuff: https://www.facebook.com/groups/203402449673669
17. How is the social life in Groningen?
In a city with a population of around 180 thousand, and over 50 thousand students, there can only be one answer to this question: Amazing. Most bars and nightclubs are located on the Poelestraat, Peperstraat and in the vicinity. Going out is possible and fun every day, but the most busy days are Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In those days the party always goes on until the morning. Remember to lock your bike with at least 2 locks when going out at night.
18. I want to learn Dutch or another language. Are there language courses available?
There is a wide variety of courses available in the University Language Centre. You can either study Dutch or any other language that you choose from a wide variety. You can get the most up to date information on the language centre website: http://www.rug.nl/talencentrum/
19. I was accepted at the programme, but I am still not confident about my English. Are there courses for improving my English?
Bachelor’s programmes include some courses of English during the first year in order to ensure that all students are on approximately the same level of English. If English is not your first language, studying during the first days/weeks can be stressful but everyone gets used to it very quickly, especially since all students meet the pre-requisite level that is required for admission. If you still do not feel confident about your level of English, you can enrol in an English course offered by the language centre. That will usually cost you a certain fee depending on the course. Information is available on http://www.rug.nl/talencentrum/.
20. I have very specific questions regarding my study program. Can I get specialized help from the Faculty?
The admission’s office with which you are probably in contact already can help you with some simple questions regarding the studies in our Faculty. For detailed questions regarding specific study programmes you may get in touch with the student advisers. Their contact information can be found here: http://www.rug.nl/feb/Informatievoor/studenten/Studieadviseurs/index
21. How can I get in touch with current students and people from the faculty?
The best place to do so is on the faculty’s facebook page. We are also active on that page, so we can answer your questions.
22. What is this website about?
This website is maintained by international students and is aimed at prospective international students of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen. We share our experience here and hope to make your stay in Groningen more enjoyable by answering some of the questions you may have. The most popular content on the website is regarding practical matters and accommodation in Groningen. We have video reviews of all major international student houses in Groningen, which may make your accommodation choice a lot easier! Explore the different sections of this website, and if you still have questions, you can post them on Facebook.
23. I like playing sports. What can Groningen offer me?
There is an outstanding sports centre in which all students can become members at a very reasonable price. More information here: http://www.feb-international.com/index.php/student-life/sports
24. Where can I find detailed descriptions of the courses that I will be taking?
This is the address of the online catalogue of the University of Groningen: http://www.rug.nl/ocasys/feb/. You can browse by clicking ‘Show programmes by faculty’ and selecting your study programme.
25. Can I take out a loan to pay my tuition fees with?
It is currently possible for any student with an EU nationality to take a loan with a maximum amount equal to the annual tuition fee for EU students. This loan is paid monthly and can be repaid after your studies. It is provided by the Dutch government. More information is available here: http://ib-groep.nl/International_visitors/default.asp
26. I have other administrative question. Where else can I get an answer for it?
Here is the list of the FAQ for prospective international students:
http://www.rug.nl/feb/studentsupport/index
27. How is the grading system in the Dutch education?
The grading system in the Dutch education uses grades from 1-low to 10–high, with 5.5 as passing grade. The thing you need to know is that although the grades are from 1-10, 10 in nearly never given, and 9 is very hard to get. Therefore, if you are a good student, forget about getting 9s and 10s, or the maximum grades, and be proud of yourself when you get an 8. It is difficult to digest this grading system at the beginning, and you might feel frustrated and not appreciate by your teachers at start. Don’t take it personally, and do not be so hard on you….you will get used with this particular grading system eventually!