After a quick breakfast at the Generator, we started our day touring University Van Amsterdam’s business campus. Our tour guide, Thomas, is a Dutch student ambassador studying Business Administration. He explained that about 18,000 students are enrolled in the school of business administration, and a total of 40,000 are enrolled in all schools within UvA. It was interesting to learn about how school culture in Amsterdam differs from the United States. Thomas explained that although UvA has a top ranked business school, little is done to advertise the program. There is simply less competition with admission and enrollment rates among colleges in The Netherlands compared to the United States. The class structure that UvA provides is incredibly similar to our class structure at Pitt. Thomas explained that every class he’s enrolled in has 2 2-hour lectures every week and one small class with about 30 students. In the small class, students give presentations and participate in activities that dictate their overall grade. I was surprised that international undergraduate education seems to be so similar between the United States and Europe.
It was fascinating to see Thomas’ reaction to learning that some US students graduate with 200,000 dollars of student loan debt. Our guide explained that students from The Netherlands studying at UvA pay only 2,000 euro for a year’s tuition while international students pay up to 20,000. While this is incredible, Thomas explained that Dutch schools do not offer meal plans or on-campus housing for local students. This reduces tuition costs but ultimately increases students’ cost of living.
After the UvA tour, we ate lunch in the school’s cafeteria. I purchased a falafel wrap and sparkling water! Once we finished eating, my friends and I grabbed coffees from a cute coffee shop nearby before heading to the canal cruise.
After a quick train ride, we boarded a small boat and set sail on the canal. There were a few bumps along the way (our driver wasn’t the best haha) but it kept the ride entertaining. We slowly cruised through the endless canals of Amsterdam in gorgeous weather. My friends and I managed to claim a seat at the back of the boat so we were out in the open air for the ride. It was lovely to cruise through the canals we had walked by every day for the last 2 weeks!
