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Should I go to Amsterdam University College?

I recently recieved an offer from AUC and I have to reply to the offer by the 16th of April.

I applied for the Science major and I like that the program is interdisciplinary, I get provided housing, I am an EU citizen so I get okay fees, and I am guaranteed a spot as long as I recieve my IB diploma.

But I dont know how prestigous or known AUC is, and I worry that when applying to a university for a master later on having gone to AUC (compared to a more prestigous university like Edinborough or Durham) might be a slight disadvantage.
Also, I am a bit worried that since the classes are small in AUC, I will be with a very small cohort of students. Additionally I worry AUC might be isolated from the University of Amsterdam and Virje, and from the rest of Amsterdam, and that AUC might be very claustraphobic.

The thing is I also recieved an offer for Biological Sciences at both Durham and Edinburgh. I know these universities are more prestigous, have a bigger student body, are closer to home, and in an english speaking country. I get uk fees, but I think its still more expensive then AUC (although I haven't checked).
But I am also hesitant about Durham and Edinburgh since I have to get high IB scores on my final exams. And I worry that if I decline AUC now and do poorly on the exams I will have lost the opportunity to attend 3 good universities.

If anyone who has attended AUC can give me their opinions I would be super grateful!

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post

by Hannah_Heart

I recently recieved an offer from AUC and I have to reply to the offer by the 16th of April.
I applied for the Science major and I like that the program is interdisciplinary, I get provided housing, I am an EU citizen so I get okay fees, and I am guaranteed a spot as long as I recieve my IB diploma.
But I dont know how prestigous or known AUC is, and I worry that when applying to a university for a master later on having gone to AUC (compared to a more prestigous university like Edinborough or Durham) might be a slight disadvantage.
Also, I am a bit worried that since the classes are small in AUC, I will be with a very small cohort of students. Additionally I worry AUC might be isolated from the University of Amsterdam and Virje, and from the rest of Amsterdam, and that AUC might be very claustraphobic.
The thing is I also recieved an offer for Biological Sciences at both Durham and Edinburgh. I know these universities are more prestigous, have a bigger student body, are closer to home, and in an english speaking country. I get uk fees, but I think its still more expensive then AUC (although I haven't checked).
But I am also hesitant about Durham and Edinburgh since I have to get high IB scores on my final exams. And I worry that if I decline AUC now and do poorly on the exams I will have lost the opportunity to attend 3 good universities.
If anyone who has attended AUC can give me their opinions I would be super grateful!

What did you end up doing?

Reply 2

Wired_1800

Original post

by Hannah_Heart

I recently recieved an offer from AUC and I have to reply to the offer by the 16th of April.
I applied for the Science major and I like that the program is interdisciplinary, I get provided housing, I am an EU citizen so I get okay fees, and I am guaranteed a spot as long as I recieve my IB diploma.
But I dont know how prestigous or known AUC is, and I worry that when applying to a university for a master later on having gone to AUC (compared to a more prestigous university like Edinborough or Durham) might be a slight disadvantage.
Also, I am a bit worried that since the classes are small in AUC, I will be with a very small cohort of students. Additionally I worry AUC might be isolated from the University of Amsterdam and Virje, and from the rest of Amsterdam, and that AUC might be very claustraphobic.
The thing is I also recieved an offer for Biological Sciences at both Durham and Edinburgh. I know these universities are more prestigous, have a bigger student body, are closer to home, and in an english speaking country. I get uk fees, but I think its still more expensive then AUC (although I haven't checked).
But I am also hesitant about Durham and Edinburgh since I have to get high IB scores on my final exams. And I worry that if I decline AUC now and do poorly on the exams I will have lost the opportunity to attend 3 good universities.
If anyone who has attended AUC can give me their opinions I would be super grateful!

I do not have connections to AUC but here are my thoughts:

First, you do not have to confirm until April, so you have time to think about your options.

Second, your focus should be on quality of education, academic community and social life. You are young and need to meet and live with loads people, making friends and having a great time. You may have it at AUC, Edin or Durham.

Third, you should think about the graduate opportunities. As a graduate of AUC, will you have strong chances post-university for employee, further education like Masters or PhD etc? As you pointed out AUC is not connected to Uni of Amsterdam, so its reputation could be lacking.

Finally, you should think about where you see yourself spending thr next 3 to 4 years of your life. If all the factors that govern your decision (e.g. cost, academics, social life etc) put all 3 unis on the same level, I would suggest that you come to the UK at Edin or Durham.

PS: a radical thought is you can defer your place at AUC for a year and go there, if you dislike Edin or Durham,