2019 Leiden applicants thread

OP

I applied for IRO on Tuesday and got a conditional offer (A level grades CCC) today. Really pleased as this is my first choice.

Has anyone else applied?

Reply 2

Szcz

Original post by Breward

I applied for IRO on Tuesday and got a conditional offer (A level grades CCC) today. Really pleased as this is my first choice.Has anyone else applied?

Does getting an (conditional) offer and accepting it mean that generally speaking I am already in, or I still have to wait for the info whether the selection procedure will apply or not?

Reply 3

OP

Anyone else going through IRO selection at the moment?

Hey there

OP

Hi Szcz, Are you going through selection? What country are you from? I am applying from the uk. I plan to do my motivational letter at the weekend, a re-jig of my personal statement.

Reply 6

Szcz

Original post by Breward

Hi Szcz, Are you going through selection? What country are you from? I am applying from the uk. I plan to do my motivational letter at the weekend, a re-jig of my personal statement.

A Pole living in France, hi.
Yeah, I have already submitted letter. Only 400 words, not that painful, huh? :smile:

I must admit, the whole proces is a bit confusing, first you get the offer and later you are asked to participate in the selection. UCAS was countless times easier to go through

Reply 7

Hi Im doing the selection and placement too but am a bit confused. Just submitted my letter and downloaded the pdf. Do they want me to do something if the pdf??? It said at the top of the page that survey is completed but they still give me the option to submit it again. Is it submitted?

Reply 8

sunflower47

Original post by international3

Hi Im doing the selection and placement too but am a bit confused. Just submitted my letter and downloaded the pdf. Do they want me to do something if the pdf??? It said at the top of the page that survey is completed but they still give me the option to submit it again. Is it submitted?

Hello !

I submitted my motivation letter yesterday (or hope I submitted) and have the same problem. Thats why I am a bit nervous now. I also got the chance to submit my motivation letter again. Everything was empty again, so I submitted it again. I just wrote an email to them asking if they received my letter. Did you hear anything from them?

Reply 9

Original post by sunflower47

Hello !

I submitted my motivation letter yesterday (or hope I submitted) and have the same problem. Thats why I am a bit nervous now. I also got the chance to submit my motivation letter again. Everything was empty again, so I submitted it again. I just wrote an email to them asking if they received my letter. Did you hear anything from them?

I got an email from them and they said that ya I did submit it. That’s actually what should come up if you submitted it. Also you should have a green tick next to submit letter on the left hand side of the page. Hope your successful with your test and letter! 😊

Reply 10

sunflower47

Original post by international3

I got an email from them and they said that ya I did submit it. That’s actually what should come up if you submitted it. Also you should have a green tick next to submit letter on the left hand side of the page. Hope your successful with your test and letter! 😊

Great! Mine is submitted too. Thank you! I wish you good luck too. :smile:

Reply 11

Tafoe

1

hey! I'm also going through the selection procedure and I kinda regret finding this thread AFTER I submitted the letter haha. I was kind of confused since the administration is pretty complicated and until today they still asked me for a diploma in my usis page (i haven't graduated). do you have that kind of problem too?

Reply 12

Tafoe

1

Original post by international3

I got an email from them and they said that ya I did submit it. That’s actually what should come up if you submitted it. Also you should have a green tick next to submit letter on the left hand side of the page. Hope your successful with your test and letter! 😊

how long do you have to wait until you received the email???

Reply 13

Original post by Tafoe

hey! I'm also going through the selection procedure and I kinda regret finding this thread AFTER I submitted the letter haha. I was kind of confused since the administration is pretty complicated and until today they still asked me for a diploma in my usis page (i haven't graduated). do you have that kind of problem too?

The one thing really that is confusing me is how they’ll determine who they choose. I feel like it will be highly based off the motivation letter since in terms of the online test I feel like most people will have an understanding of the war report except just the stats that will pose a difficulty. Also since you can have the sheets in front of you during the test I don’t see how it’ll be marked

Reply 14

OP

Hi All
It's good to see I am not the only one doing selection on here.

Letter submitted on Monday and green tick received!

As for how they choose: 40% on predicted and grades achieved to date, 40% on motivational letter and 20% on online tests.

So the lowest weighted part of selection are the online tests. I think many of the applicants will be put off by section and will not submit or meet the deadline. With the high drop out rate on Dutch degrees, this might not be a bad thing. Doing selection shows committment and gives an insight into the course.

We have to get in the top 600. But the 600 is for 3 courses: Political Science IRO (in English taught in The Hague), Political Science (in Dutch taught in Leiden) and International Politics (in Dutch taught in Leiden). This makes sense, as 600 on one course is too many.

Is IRO at Leiden your first choice uni? Where else have people applied? I have applied to UvA and 5 unis in the UK.

Reply 15

Original post by Breward

Hi All
It's good to see I am not the only one doing selection on here.

Letter submitted on Monday and green tick received!

As for how they choose: 40% on predicted and grades achieved to date, 40% on motivational letter and 20% on online tests.

So the lowest weighted part of selection are the online tests. I think many of the applicants will be put off by section and will not submit or meet the deadline. With the high drop out rate on Dutch degrees, this might not be a bad thing. Doing selection shows committment and gives an insight into the course.

We have to get in the top 600. But the 600 is for 3 courses: Political Science IRO (in English taught in The Hague), Political Science (in Dutch taught in Leiden) and International Politics (in Dutch taught in Leiden). This makes sense, as 600 on one course is too many.

Is IRO at Leiden your first choice uni? Where else have people applied? I have applied to UvA and 5 unis in the UK.

Thank you for the information on how they decide who gets chosen. I myself have been accepted to UvA for political science and as I’m from Ireland have applied to a few colleges there too. Leiden would definitely be my first choice for the Netherlands. All of my colleges in Ireland are for Law.

Reply 16

hoiallemaal

Hi! I am Dutch and have been living in Leiden all my life, so I don't know a lot about the application process for international students, but if any of you have a question about the city or any other more general questions I might be able to help.

Reply 17

OP

Thanks hoiallemaal. I am sure we all have loads to ask.

I visited The Hague last year to do student for the day. It is a stunning city and the beach is amazing, but everywhere seemed so quiet. Is there much to do? Is there much nightlife/pub scene/things to do with friends?

Do students have to buy loads of books or can they be borrowed from the university library? Friends of mine in the UK have not bought a single book for their course, is the NL the same?

Why is the drop-out rate so high in the NL?

What is the University of Leiden's reputation like in The Netherlands? What will job prospects be like with a degree from Leiden? Is there lots of work around or is really hard to find jobs after a degree?

What is the best way to find student accomodation privately in the Netherlands? Do you know if the rooms available on ROOM.NL are for a year or the duration of your course?

I really want to learn conversational Dutch, will it be easy with everyone speaking English? Are there classes available?

Thanks in advance.

Reply 18

hoiallemaal

Original post by Breward

I visited The Hague last year to do student for the day. It is a stunning city and the beach is amazing, but everywhere seemed so quiet. Is there much to do? Is there much nightlife/pub scene/things to do with friends?

The Hague is quite a big city so there is a lot to do, however it is not really a student city, so the pub and clubs are mixed with students and other people. Leiden on the other hand is really a student city. The students are a big chuck of the population so there are lots of places only students can visit.

Original post by Breward

Do students have to buy loads of books or can they be borrowed from the university library? Friends of mine in the UK have not bought a single book for their course, is the NL the same?

In NL most people buy their books or they get an illegal copy from the internet, however most of the books you need for your course will be available in the library, so if you use that source you could save a lot of money. But it is unlikely that you will never have to buy a book. Also buying second handed books could save you money.

Original post by Breward

Why is the drop-out rate so high in the NL?

Because of multiple reasons. First of all is the selection process for most courses at university relatively easy/non existing. I think most UK students will notice that there offer conditions for Dutch universities are much lower than for equally good universities in the UK. So one reason people drop out is that they don't pass there first year. You need to pass at least a certain amount of classes to be allowed to continue to the next year. I have the impression that passing classes is harder than at UK universities. In the UK there is a system where you can get 3rds, but in NL you need at least a 5.5 to pass (I think that is compareble to a 2:2 in the UK). But that is absolutely no reason to worry, if you actually study you will pass your classes. The second big reason is culture. In the Netherlands it is not weird if you start with a study and do a differt study the following year if you didn't like it as much as you thought. It is also not as frowned upon to stop with your study and do another one the following year.

Original post by Breward

What is the University of Leiden's reputation like in The Netherlands? What will job prospects be like with a degree from Leiden? Is there lots of work around or is really hard to find jobs after a degree?

Good. Leiden is the oldest university in NL and can have a little bit of an elite reputation (it is tradition that the Dutch royal family studies in Leiden), but not even close to oxbridge. The differences in NL in reputation between universities are quite small, because there is a seperation between universities and HBO. Which course you study, how well you do in it and what your extra curricular activities you do, are much more important in finding a job. The economy is currently doing very well, so basically everybody with a university degree will find a job, but if a new economic crisis happens than things that make you stand out from your fellow students matter.
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Original post by Breward

What is the best way to find student accomodation privately in the Netherlands? Do you know if the rooms available on ROOM.NL are for a year or the duration of your course?

Finding accomodation is hard in NL. I'm pretty sure that the rooms on ROOM.nl are for whatever duration you want (max. duration of your course). However you need wait time to get a room on room.nl, so register as soon as possible. If you want to life with other people in a house you can also have a look on this website: https://leidenstudentenstad.nl/nl/wonen/kamers-in-leiden it is in Dutch but google translate might help. Having just a room is a good start, once you are studying you can find a better room if you like.

Original post by Breward

I really want to learn conversational Dutch, will it be easy with everyone speaking English? Are there classes available?

Yes every university offers Dutch beginners classes for which you can sign up. Dutch people are willing to speak English, but if you tell them you are learning Dutch they will really like that and are willing to help you/speak some Dutch with you.

I hope I have helped and haven't made to much mistakes in my English

Reply 19

OP