What Students Say
Likes
- Balance between theory and practical projects
- Group projects with at least 5 members to promote real life teams
- Interdisciplinary projects between mechanical, chemical, sustainability engineers
Dislikes
- Crowded classes as the auditorium only had about 100 seats or so
- Expensive tuition fees for an international students
- Limited course availability for some electives (overall good)
Course Curriculum
- I would rate my course curriculum as difficult but not impossible. There were 80 credits or so from 180 that were theory; the rest were either practical projects or electives, for which you can choose to have practical projects or theory. This was the most positive aspect, as you could shape what kind of engineer you wanted to become from electives. However, there were some courses with limited seats; therefore, you had to think long ahead to apply to them quickly.
- There were about 10-15 indian students in my degree out of about 150 international students. Total we were about 300 mechanical engineering students. The classes usually started about 8:45 AM and lasted until 5 for some. Maximum lecture was about 3 hours.
Admission Experience
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I applied for the following universities:
- Eindhoven University – Confirmed admission
- Groningen University – Confirmed admission
- Twente University – Confirmed admission
- I applied to only three colleges in the Netherlands. These colleges were in Europe and close to where I was living (portugal) with slightly lower tuition fees compared to the UK, Germany, etc.; therefore, I chose this nation. I got into all three of them but chose TU/e. The reasons mentioned are below.
- I chose it due to its good location and ranking in the world for mechanical engineering programs. The admission criteria for me were grades and credits acquired for the IB diploma, where minimum credits for maths, physics and overall had a boundary that was required to be met. I also believe my high school degree (IB diploma) played a role in them choosing me over other candidates. Good overall experience.
- I applied via online studielink, a common site for all the university of netherlands where students can apply. Here you can fill in all the data about who you are and what achievements you have. I applied at the end of december. Since my final exams were in June, for IB diploma students we had a predicted grades system which we sent in January.
- The admission was finalised by mid-april. Mid-December – start the application on studielink, meanwhile teachers prepare referral letters and predicted grades for IB diploma students; the application is finalised by early Jan at the latest. April 1st week, you get a response if you are accepted, in the waiting line or rejected. May – you send documents for visa and administration; August – onboarding process for new freshmen.
Faculty
- The teacher-to-student ratio was about 1-50. However, we had so-called "assistant guides" who helped during self-study sessions where they answered some questions if you had any doubts and stuff. the teaching was mostly about having a lecture with normal slides and examples followed by a self-study session where we did some exercises on our own and people helped us to understand the topic better. And about once a week they would help with answering a few questions that people found difficult to understand.
- There was a monthly quiz or progress assignment that students were required to pass to get the credits after the final exam. I admired the faculty members of the material science group for their passion and willingness to help even outside the study hours for students to pass their exams and stuff.
Campus Life
- There is only 1 campus; however, it's huge and widespread. We have sports facilities, studios, an innovation center, a theater, a cafeteria, big parks, a library, etc. It's close to the station; therefore, you can eat in the city center and come back, as it's only 10 minutes away by walk. There were a wide range of clubs from anime, sports, boating, video games, car making, food, etc. It's a very social place.
Part Time Jobs
- Usually only about 10-15 students get teaching assistant positions per course; however, seeing there are multiple courses, this number goes up in total. I am not aware of the pay range, as I personally haven't applied or asked anybody about it. But I am sure they are paid similarly to interns so about 500 euros per course (1 quarter).
- Other positions are not that open to students or not that I am aware of. I believe only 20 hours per week is allowed as a maximum for working as part time and it is really difficult since you need to know dutch as well due to many dutch students therefore, locals take priority.
- I haven't seen any Indians around me (not that there were many around me) work. The usual process is to look for the opportunities online at the website where they list certain criteria for a part-time job, and more often than not, people usually meet them. You have to send a CV along with a motivation letter as to why you are applying for the position.
Placement
- From the agency, I have heard a lot of international students leave the country to work in germany, france or nearby EU states rather than the Netherlands. However, people in engineering can expect good job opportunities with a starting salary of about 3200 euros/month gross. People can usually find jobs via linkedin, and agencies like EuFlex, Yacht, YER technology, etc.
- There is also a yearly campus career expo which I highly recommend joining, with a lot of companies interested in hiring students. Major companies are TNO, ASML, DAF, VDL, etc. I am currently working at ASML myself, hired via EuFlex.
Accommodation
- Now this aspect is the most challenging and worst of them all so far. It is really a bad situation to find a place to stay. I had to look at multiple online sites, ask people and subscribe to multiple tools to find a place. Most efficient way is to look for agencies for these things and maybe facebook, some online posting sites. It is hard to find a studio or apartment within 1000 euros a month in eindhoven, Therefore, most people have only rooms with shared spaces like kitchens.
- I found a room with a private bathroom and shared kitchen for 740 euros/month rent in the outskirts of tilburg city. It is 1 hour away with public transportation from my college. I recommend looking for houses in nearby towns and cities (NOT IN EINDHOVEN) and using agencies' sites, not posting sites where you have to pay. There is only 1 good place in "kamer".
Exams
- As I did the IB diploma, there was no need for me to have any exams required. Only the grades (credits) system. My teachers had to prepare "predicted credits" for when I will graduate, which listed how much I will get for the subjects i was studying and overall.
- This, along with a teacher recommendation letter, was required. Also for my degree, i needed to have minimum credits for physics and math as well. A CV letter was also required to show your achievements and also who you are. There was no interview process.
Fees
- The tuition fees are a big sum for an international student, which can be paid in 1 full go or in 10 instalments from September to May. However, along with tuition fees, you also need to show that you can stay here with a financial statement as well, which states that you need to have at least 11,000 euros or so per year as living costs.
- The housing situation is quite bad so do expect higher expenses than when i was here. The estimated rent is around >700 for a room and a person should be fine with living on 150 euros for food per month. Bike is the best way of transportation for speed and cost. However, if you live in another city, do expect high public transportation costs.
Scholarship
- I personally did not receive any scholarship; however, I do think there are things in place for that. I have seen some people get around 3-4K euros of tuition fees removed per year but not the full extent of tuition fees, though.
- The amount of scholarship could be an estimate of about 10-15 on the generous side per year. There is a student transportation card available for students to use and also insurance is really good with about a 66% discount for students for normal insurance.