Annabel – Radboud University – The Netherlands
Semester 2, 2024
Bachelor of Social Work
Hello! My name is Annabel, and I studied social sciences at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands however at QUT I study a Bachelor of Social Work. Personally, I found it very hard to find a university in Europe that offered social work courses that correlated enough with the social work courses at QUT, so I HIGHLY recommend you keep your electives and use them for exchange if you are studying social work. This is because you can choose ANY two subjects for these elective courses and then you only need to find two more subjects for your social work courses, for these I recommend looking at ‘social science’ courses on the host university website. I found similar courses in Scotland and Vienna, Austria if you are not wanting to go to Nijmegen, however I had the best time and here is why…
Settling into Nijmegen and Accommodation
My accommodation was organised through Radboud university, they were very helpful and the process was very easy. You pretty much apply for accommodation during the application process to the uni and they ask what type of accommodation you would like as they have multiple types regarding price range and set up of rooms. I asked for the cheapest option which included me sharing a room with someone else, as grim as this sounds, this turned out to be a blessing as me and my roommate became besties and travelled together after exchange. So don’t feel quick to dismiss this experience as it saved me money and I gained a friend for life. The only thing is there is a housing crisis in the Netherlands at the moment, so they only send you one offer and if you do not get an offer you have to find your own accommodation. However, it seems like they prioritize their exchange students during this process and there are so many student accommodation blocks all over the city.
The uni offers an orientation week that you have to pay for and is a bit pricey so I chose not to be a part of it, however if I could go back I would most definitely do it. This is because you get put into a mentor group and do a bunch of cool and fun activities together and learn about the city and things to do. My roommate told me it was very fun, and she made a bunch of friends that she kept in contact with the whole semester. However, if you choose not to do it, I also easily made friends in my classes and through my housemates and their friends. Everyone doing the exchange program is very willing to invite you to events and there are also lots of student parties most weekends through the universities ‘ESN’ events were most exchange students go and meet new people. Alongside this you can also find weekend trips to different countries organised through the ‘ESN’ network at uni. Would recommend following them on Instagram ‘esnnijmegen’ as they post their events on there.
General Dutch culture, Nijmegen lifestyle/tips and Queer spaces
The Dutch culture is known to be ‘direct’ and a bit ‘uptight’, but I found most Dutch people to be friendly and welcoming. In Nijmegen most people automatically start speaking Dutch, however once you say you speak English everyone easily switches to English. You will have no problem with the language barrier here as they all have learnt English in school and most young Dutch people are heavily influenced by western culture. You will notice in other cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam that most people just speak English. It is quite expensive here for groceries, eating/drinking out and public transport so just be aware of that. But since it is the land of bikes you must get a bike!
Especially in Nijmegen, having a bike is essential to get around for cheap and cuts your journey in half as the bike lanes are set up so well. I hired my bike through ‘Swopfiets’ which is a large bike hire company, they are very easy to use and cheap. You can hire a bike for around 14 euros a month. You will never use Uber or a bus as the culture here is to bike EVERYWHERE. I loved living in Nijmegen as it was big enough that there was always something on and fun things to do but small enough that you could run into the same people if you go to the same places and so easy to get around. The nightlife culture in Nijmegen is very big and most nights last till 4am! Namely, ‘PAAK Vinyl Bar’ and ‘Bloemer Bar’ are great spots for weekend dancing and ‘Doornroosje’ is a great music venue that holds amazing day music festivals, DJ nights and have famous acts from all over. There is also so many nice cafes and restaurants in the city where you can study and go out for a nice lunch. In the summertime there is a ‘beach’ across the river where people love to swim and hang out. Nijmegen was also around 1.5 hours by train to Amsterdam, but I recommend going to Utrecht which is a closer, smaller, and a less busy version of Amsterdam. Nijmegen is also very close to the German border and all round close to most countries in Europe. I recommend getting cheaper flights from a city close by called Eindhoven but also Flixbus is the cheapest way to get around.
Nijmegen is known for being a student town and one of the most leftist cities in the Netherlands. Being a queer person who believes in social justice I felt extremely comfortable here and found many opportunities to get involved with political justice. There is a community run space called ‘De Klinker’ where you can go and volunteer in political justice/community events and they also have fun social events here.
There is a bar called ‘De Opstand’ which also hold fun weekly queer day/night events and there is also a bar/café called ‘Café De Plak’ which has been an amazing queer space in Nijmegen since the 70’s. They are a vegan café in the day and on weekends hold fun queer parties in their underground space. Most of these events are free but sometimes ask for donations. I went to all of these places alone and found them very welcoming and easy to make friends.
Uni life at Radboud University
I really enjoyed my Radboud experience. I always felt like there was help if I needed it and the teachers were all lovely. The workload and the general academic expectation was harder than in Australia and I also found the type of assessment to be tough. This is because they still use exams as a large portion of assessment which I am not well-versed in. For two of my classes I only had ONE big exam at the end of the course which was a lot of pressure. They also have a ‘guessing’ policy which means they do not count 10% of your answers to adjust for guessing which means you must get 60% to pass. You also have to pass EVERY piece of assessment or else you will fail the whole class. But they do offer a resit so you can have a second chance to pass. They also have a different system to Australia for how their semester is set up where one semester is split into two periods (imagine terms in primary school). So I had to do a minimum of 5 subjects and did 3 subjects in the first period and then 2 subjects in the second period instead of doing all 5 subjects for the whole 13 weeks like in Australia. If you are into sports they have a really great sport centre with so many different types of classes from Pilates to pole dancing classes. Very easy to get around campus and they have a cafeteria which has cheap options for lunch and also a SPAR on campus.
Final tips
- Try to give yourself a lot of time to organise and complete your learning agreement because mine took a few times back and forth to finalise.
- Don’t be afraid to go into the QUT exchange office at gardens point to ask them questions, I was in there almost every second week with a question, and they were very helpful.
- Definitely invest in a bike anywhere in the Netherlands. It’s a fun cultural experience and also convenient.
- If you can afford it, I recommend being a part of the orientation week.
- Try not to hang out in your room too much, go outside and explore the city and other cities nearby on the weekends!
- Even if its cold, you wont regret the adventures you will get up too.
- Try hard at uni and make sure you are doing all the work that needs to be done but remember this is a one-off experience so put time and energy into making friends, exploring Europe and being a part of other unique experiences that you cannot make at home.
- Most of all just have fun and be present! Its easy to think about the people you miss at home but soon enough you will be at home and missing the beautiful people you have met during this experience!
Find out more on how you can apply: Student Exchange
