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Lenda

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Everything posted by Lenda

  1. Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply! I have decided to stick with the EM program I think you are right and it was only a tough decision for me because I had been planning/hoping to do my master's in the Netherlands for two years now and my heart was very set on it and I was never expecting an opportunity like EM. I think I would regret passing up the opportunity though. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, but the right opportunity will come for you! I have heard of quite a few people applying to the same EM programme multiple years in a row and going from rejected to reserve to offered a scholarship! I've been rejected by most scholarships I have applied to and was quite discouraged by it at this point but I still got lucky and it feels like it all fell into place in the right way even though it isn't what I expected. Good luck to you too!
  2. In case anyone wants to provide an outsider's perspective, I am torn in a few directions emotionally on my decision, but the logical decision seems obvious. Basics: I graduated from an American uni in May 2020 and had to take a gap year due to exhaustion, covid, and not applying to many grad schools/funding the first time around. My goal has always been to return to the Netherlands to do my masters after doing an exchange semester there during my masters. After being much more prepared for applications this time around, I have been extremely lucky to be offered an Erasmus Mundus scholarship (which I never expected getting) for a Marine Environment master's. This is as much of a full ride as it gets. I also was offered a scholarship from Wageningen University for their MSc Environmental Sciences, but its only a tuition waiver, I would have to take out probably $15-20K in student loans to independently fund my living expenses (already have 30k in loans from my bachelors). The content of the courses are quite similar, with Wageningen offering a slightly more broad curriculum with less courses and the EM programme being more focused on the ocean, but I'm sure I could satisfy my academic curiosities in both programmes, even more so in MER though. A big plus for EM is that I can go anywhere to do my thesis, and I would most likely choose the Netherlands. The choice seems straightforward logically to me, but Wageningen was my top choice before getting the EM scholarship, as I never expected having such an opportunity a year ago. I have a strong emotional pull to the Netherlands, but I think a thesis there would satisfy that. The choice is strange for me and passing up Wageningen makes me feel I'm going against my goals/dreams of the last two years. I can't tell if a Dutch degree would give me much advantage in applying to a phd or job in the Netherlands after my masters as opposed to a fully funded EM program with study in 3-4 countries. Any opinions/insights are extremely welcome. Just trying to give each option thorough consideration.
  3. Hi Roberts13, I don't blame you for having this view of teaching in the west. I am from the US but have moved to Europe for many reasons, but surely including your worries about the teaching system. I don't have experience in any other teaching systems outside of the US and the Netherlands, but I think the impression you have is mostly coming from American experiences. Once your in graduate school and beyond in the US, you are expected to juggle learning, research, teaching, and administrative tasks all at once, and most can only manage with excessive work hours. I have found Europe to have a much less stressful academic environment, mostly because it isn't putting everyone in extreme debt/underpaying so many teachers, and there's much more respect for work/life balance. For other reasons and this, I have decided to pursue my master's in Europe because a traditional graduate program in the US probably would have burned me out like I got burned out at the end of my bachelors. That said, there are definitely positive teaching environments in the US, it's really just about luck and being the right fit for an institution/region/students. I wouldn't write off teaching in the west completely, but maybe try out a country that isn't the US first and make sure to thoroughly vet the institution/region for first hand experiences. There's definitely a reporting bias on here, you're much more likely to see posts from people who need to vent about a negative experience rather than brag about a positive one. Just my take as a recent graduate of a American university fleeing to Europe
  4. No problem, it's tough waiting but everything will work out the way it should! I applied for the master's for all academic disciplines and I'm from the US, so it might differ across countries/grants.
  5. No problem! I take every opportunity I can to talk up Groningen hahah but that’s great you’ll talk with the coordinator and I think EM students have more support than the average international student. What’s nice is Dutch Unis take care of the residence permit processes themselves. Maybe cause of covid finding accommodation will be a little easier but definitely start looking as soon as you can! I lived in SSH international short term housing in Kornoeljestraat 8. I think it may have been renovated since I stayed in 2018, but honestly the dorm was pretty crappy when I stayed when it comes to how nice it is. However it has a super friendly and open environment, everyone has their own room, and students from both the RUG and Hanze can live there so you can meet a ton of people. I made really wonderful friends there and I wouldn’t have changed my housing choice if I could. More expensive but nice places are the student hotel (not SSH) and upsilon (also SSH). Message me anytime if you have any questions!
  6. I haven’t read much of the forum but it seems like a lot of people are still waiting for their results. In case it helps ease anxiety, I was informed that I wasn’t selected for a scholarship about a week or two ago, well before the official result deadline. So maybe it’s good news if you haven’t heard yet? Good luck to everyone!
  7. I can't overstate this, but Groningen is one of the most wonderful student cities in Europe. I did an exchange semester there during my bachelor's and I am telling you it was bliss every day for five months. Book housing ASAP though. SSH is not the nicest accommodation but its secure, and those who wait too long risk having to camp out for the first few weeks, it's pretty brutal. Enjoy and message me if you want any other tips!
  8. Yep, checking the portal daily for any changes but haven't seen any yet.
  9. I was hoping those numbers in the portal weren't an absolute count of the number of applicants lol. It would make sense that there's more applications this year with corona keeping a lot of students unable to start their studies last year. Yeah I am very happy I made the switch. It was stressful at times cause I had to fit the whole degree into half the time period usually taken but it was completely worth it. I'm sure having some toxicology course work already is big help! There was one offered in the summer at my uni but it was too expensive for me to take another summer course. At least its just a monthish to wait for the results, the DAAD scholarship in Germany is taking 4 months to get answers out ?
  10. Thanks for the info! I agree that the right opportunity will come when it should. Go you for persevering another year! Like you said it’s already an accomplishment to get so close to selection. I actually looked for any info about how many applied last year but couldn’t find anything. My degree is biochemistry and molecular biology but I studied business in uni for a year and a half before switching to biochem. I wouldn’t say Food Technology is all that far from toxicology honestly, both are rooted in chemistry and not poisoning people hahah
  11. Hey thanks you too!! I think that’s pretty great you got on the reserve list, like you said luck can play a pretty big role. If you were placed on reserve you at least know they thought you were deserving/qualified for the scholarship, and that there just may have been too many other qualified people. I focused most of my time I had in the last month on my ECT+ app cause it’s definitely my top choice, but the anxiety has really started kicking in now that’s its submitted. I already took a year between my bachelors and masters and I don’t think i will want to put it off another year if I don’t get the scholarship, so I really hope my back up applications in Germany are successful if I’m not lucky here. May I ask how long last year you waited between finding out you were on reserve to finding out all of the spots were taken? And what’s your bachelors degree? Good luck and hope we both come back with success stories in April!
  12. Hi there, I submitted my application to ECT+ this morning and will try to get IMSOGLO done before the deadline this weekend. Then moving to the MER application. If anyone else is applying to these programs or is in them now, would love to hear about your experience!
  13. Hi, congrats on getting in and getting to start this year despite everything! I am applying to ECT+ for the 2021 intake and I just wanted to ask a few questions! How are you liking the programme so far? What uni did you start at? Did you get the scholarship or a self funded spot? Any tips on the application/what strengths in your application do you think helped you get in? Hope the programme has been going well despite corona!
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