Amsterdam: a very popular student city, but why?

Fri 10 Mar 2017

Amsterdam is a multicultural city

Amsterdam’s population is one of the most diverse populations in Europe. In Amsterdam you can find people from around 180 nationalities and around 45 per cent of the population is an ethnic minority. It is even expected that within the next 10 years, half of the population will have been born abroad or will have parents or grandparents who were born abroad. Living in such a multicultural city has a lot of advantages in my opinion. An example is that due to this multiculturalism almost everyone in Amsterdam speaks English very well. This makes it easy for you as an international student to get around the city and communicate or get in contact with locals and other expats very easily. People in Amsterdam are also very open minded. I think this might be due to the multicultural vibe in the city as well. Often people are interested in your culture and the country that you have been living in or the travelling that you have done. The people in Amsterdam are open to other opinions, norms and values and will accept you just the way you are. Finally, due to the diverse population a lot of nice restaurants, shops and religious centres opened up in Amsterdam.  This means that you do not have to miss your food or products that you normally buy at home, you can find it all in Amsterdam and even try some new ones if you are interested! 

Amsterdam has an interesting labour market

From the early ages the Netherlands has been well-known for its trading culture. And even until this day this is very important for our country. Due to the importance of trading and the location of the Netherlands in comparison to the rest of Europe a lot of big companies are located in the Netherlands. Some of them even have their headquarters located in Amsterdam, such as L’Oréal, Nike and KLM. Location is not the only reason why big companies set up their offices in the Netherlands. They also appreciate the Dutch working environment which is very open, multicultural and business –oriented and the stable economy of the Netherlands. The multicultural, stable and interesting labour market in the Netherlands and Amsterdam can lead to some interesting opportunities for you as an international student. You might for example be able to do an internship at one of the big multinationals or conduct a research for them. This will be a great addition to your CV!

Amsterdam is centrally located in Europe

Amsterdam is very centrally located in Europe, which makes it easy to travel to the UK or mainland Europe. Amsterdam is a good starting point if you would like to explore Europe during the breaks that you have in between terms.  From here it is only 3 hours to London, 5 hours to Paris and 6 hours to Berlin. Since Amsterdam is so centrally located it also means that it is easy for friends or family to visit you and see where you live. Tourists are also coming here a lot, which allows you to be in contact with people from other cultures on a daily basis and will broaden your view on other cultures and the world.

Amsterdam offers high quality education

Higher education in Holland has a worldwide reputation for its high quality. Dutch educational institutions score highly in the rankings. Twelve Dutch research universities are among the top 200 universities in the world and thirteen are among the best in Europe. This shows that the academic quality of Dutch institutions is well recognised. Studying in the Netherlands does not only look good on your CV, but will also help you to develop skills that could be very useful in your further studies or your future job. You will for example learn how to give a presentation, how to lead a debate, how to conduct research and how to write an essay and you will be taught by teachers who have a high reputation in the field that you are studying in. Furthermore the Netherlands has a very open educational climate. There is not much of a hierarchy between teachers and students. You can easily ask the teacher questions and they will be more than happy to help you. This will help you to understand the content that you need to learn even better and will help you to develop even more. On the other hand teachers in the Netherlands also expect you to study hard and put in the effort. As a student in the Netherlands you need to be independent and work hard, but this will lead to great results!

By Kayleigh Vedder ([email protected]) , an Administrative Assistant at ONCAMPUS Amsterdam

I hope this article has helped you decide if you would like to study in Amsterdam. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

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