Thread on PPLE in the University of Amsterdam

Hello! I'm also considering this! Since I'm from the Netherlands I can't really say anything about international students enrolling, but since it's in English I guess that won't be a problem. I've visited an information afternoon on this course and this is what I remember regarding your questions:

First, you'll have to apply through Studielink (I suppose that's like UCAS but Dutch), and if they consider you an eligible candidate, you'll have to do an inverview (I think they do Skype interviews for international students?).

The programme is 180 ECTS credits, which is the same amount of credits as almost every other three-year Bachelor's degree. Therefore, this degree supposedly won't take you more time than other degrees, however, it's possible to enroll in additional electives, so you'll earn extra credits and therefore also spend more time studying. According to studiekeuze123.nl, which is like a website with statistics for all degrees, you have about 12-18 hours of lectures/other classes each week.

Now this is just my personal opinion, but I wouldn't recommend studying in Amsterdam. Okay, the university is good, good education, good facilities, etc, but the city is a lot less favourable. It's just all tourism, everything is so busy, and finding cheap housing is close to impossible. Most people studying in Amsterdam either live with their parents, or end up in a small flat (often far from the university), in some poor neighbourhood. However, the UvA does have a housing programme and if you get lucky, you might get yourself a nice place.

I hope my answers were helpful to you, good luck on further deciding what to do!

Thanks so much for the reply! Are you applying for next year or did you already apply (receive an offer)? Ah, so an interview is 100% necessary. Do you have any clue what kind of questions they ask - is it specific to the course or just why you want to study?

Yeah I heard how hard it is to find accommodation! I myself have never been to The Netherlands but since I'll be having a year off (hopefully doing a foundation year in the UK while I wait), I thought I could maybe look for accommodation in Amsterdam early if I apply as soon as it opens and am lucky enough to get an offer! Hopefully the housing programme works out, but you have a point and it's not good to rely on it. What's the city like, though? I heard from a friend of mine studying in Maastricht that it's an amazing place for students and the atmosphere is great.

Hey I was accepted in this years Early Bird applications enrolling in 2017/18The process is as follows: You write a Motivation letter and send the relevant documents, then you are either rejected or invited to the next round where you have to write a short Essay(about 2 pages) on a question given to you which usually deals with interdisciplinary thinking, esp. in the fields of politics, psychology, law and economics. Then, again if you are invited, you go to the last round which is an interview with a Tutor afaik who isnt on the admissions board, asking you General stuff about your Motivation letter and your academic ability and also just General things about you. I think they accept somewhere between 150 to 200 students each year.The tutition is double that of other dutch programmes. Although you have the same number of classes, you have extra contact hours with Tutors who will assist you in deepening your knowledge and help you write theses for class.A friend of mine who already studies european studies at UvA told me that PPLE is at least within the University seen as *very* prestigious. But no idea how well known it is outside of the netherlands, seeing that the course is only 4 years old and the first Batch of students has yet to be proven.As to internationality, my friend told me that about half of the students are dutch and the other half are internationals.I think you have one day of the working week off, but I am not sure. I also think that application Deadline was 1st of May.

Hi,

I got accepted to the PPLE Programme as well. I don't really think they have a really difficult admissions process per se, but do ensure that you meet their minimum criteria. I would recommend you to take the SAT-1 and score above a 700 in Mathematics to meet their Mathematics proficiency (that's what I did) and doing well in either the IELTS or the TOEFL Exam.

There is definitely an interview during the admissions process but you'll be misguided if you think that interview is akin to the conventional college interviews. It is more like a friendly conversation vis-a-vis the academic curriculum at PPLE. I must add, it is voice only so no video discussion.

With respect to your letter of motivation, I would recommend you to be creative and think outside the box. You know in my case, my letter of motivation was really unorthodox. Be unique and be you. Try using some life experiences and drawing analogies between that and your hypothetical tenure at PPLE. Think of it as an intellectual expedition. I quoted Montaigne and blah blah. Basically, do a ton of research and compare it with your fellow peers.

Continuing along those lines, the essay is pretty darn simple. It isn't really complicated. My essay for that matter was very detailed and had a lot of verbiage. It was approximately 1800 words long and ironically the word limit was around 1000.

The PPLE Admissions office is I'm assuming, will look at your overall profile and make a holistic assessment. Thus, you should ratchet up your extracurriculars and take part in different social ventures.

Take my word of advice and don't focus on the acceptance and dropout rates. First focus on getting admitted. Keep your options open i.e. apply to the Erasmus University College, Sciences Po and a lot of other good Liberal Arts Colleges in Europe or beyond - so that even if one college rejects you - you have your options open.

I hope I did clarify some of your queries. I did get accepted for the 17/18 academic year - but I am not really sure of ultimately enrolling due to the lack of financial aid. Well, let's see.

Regards.

Thank you for this! I really hope that when I apply next year, all goes well. I'm really keen on PPLE although it looks hard to get in so I wanna be all set when I apply for 2018.

Congratulations for getting in! Where are you from? If you don't mind me asking, what subjects did you take and was your grade profile like?

Hey guys!

First of all, congratulations to you who got in! If you want to get in touch and discuss accommodation or anything else I would love that.

I received an offer from PPLE at UvA as well. I think that the people above me did a great job at explaining what the application procedure was like. The interview was definitely not to test your knowledge but more like making sure that you know what is going on ( lectures are mandatory, you take classes in all 4 subjects all throughout your bachelor studies, you need to study around 20 hours weekly on your own etc. ). Also they will most likely ask you personal questions deduced from your motivational letter ( for me it was something about the culture of the USA, because I was an exchange student there and also worked there for a summer). Lastly, you will get a chance to ask them questions.

Unfortunately, I am unable to answer most of your questions since I am only going to start studying there in September myself. But as for the acceptance rate, I remember wondering this myself when I was applying, this year they received 950 applications and accepted 200 students. But don't let that discourage you. Just remember to do your best!

My last tip: try watching PPLE webinars that are on youtube, it will provide you with the big picture of what the school is like and guide you through the whole application procedure. I found it very helpful.

I wish you the best of luck

Congrats to you too! If you don't mind me asking, did you apply to other universities? And have you already signed up for the university housing? Oh, and do you already know which subject you will choose as your main subject?

Looking forward to seeing you there

I know this thread is a bit dead, but if anyone is still reading this, how long did it take you to hear back after sending the application? I applied the end of last month and I can see through their tracking system that my status is currently "admission decision". I know the essay round is mid-January but do they get back to you before that? I'm pretty nervous and stressed just having this up in the air, I don't think I can wait till January lol.

I know this thread is a bit dead, but if anyone is still reading this, how long did it take you to hear back after sending the application? I applied the end of last month and I can see through their tracking system that my status is currently "admission decision". I know the essay round is mid-January but do they get back to you before that? I'm pretty nervous and stressed just having this up in the air, I don't think I can wait till January lol.

I want to apply too (so, haven't yet), but from what I've read (and being somewhat familiar with a Dutch uni), my best guess is they'll respond in January. Check your e-mail 2-3 times a week, just in case. Or turn on notifications for it on your phone or desktop, if you prefer. So, patience...

Don't fret too much. If you applied early, you likely have a higher chance of getting in. I'll be applying with a bigger applicant pool after! :P

Good luck with your essay.

I know this thread is a bit dead, but if anyone is still reading this, how long did it take you to hear back after sending the application? I applied the end of last month and I can see through their tracking system that my status is currently "admission decision". I know the essay round is mid-January but do they get back to you before that? I'm pretty nervous and stressed just having this up in the air, I don't think I can wait till January lol.