Kevin Tseng is a Taiwanese student currently working on his Master of Science in Management at Nyenrode Business University, Breukelen Campus. He tells us about Nyenrode’s master approach, their impressive career services and alumni community, and the cultural and educational differences he noticed between the Netherlands and Taiwan.
The full-time Master of Science in Management program at Nyenrode Business University offers three “tracks” that students have to choose between:
However, you don’t have to decide on your “track” right away. Nyenrode Business University offers a very interesting pre-master program that allows students to take lots of different courses and weigh their options before making their final decision.
Kevin explains that “in the beginning of your pre-master phase, you can kind of approach [every field] and then find which interests [you] the most. Then, after [the] pre-master, you can choose which…track you want to pursue.” (04:55)
This is particularly interesting for international students because it provides them with time to familiarize themselves with their environment, university, and coursework before deciding on their focus.
Kevin opted for the Digital Business & Innovation track because “[he] likes technological things and [wants] to do something with data.” (04:22)
Coming from Taiwan, Kevin noticed lots of educational and cultural differences when settling into life in the Netherlands.
First of all, he describes the courses at Nyenrode as quite intense. He also feels that they take a more practical approach, compared to a more theoretical approach back in Taiwan. He explains that “the statistics course here…we only have [a month and a half] to finish the whole [course], but [in Taiwan] the content took a year to finish.” (05:53)
Kevin also comments that in the Netherlands “you have to [study by yourself] quite a lot compared to lecture time.” (06:19)
In addition, Kevin feels that “the most different thing is life here…campus life, people here, lifestyle here, cultural things.” (06:29) Because he’s a “city boy” from Taipei, he’s used to “always [being surrounded by] the highest buildings.” (07:01) Now he’s welcoming the change of pace associated with spending more time among trees and nature on the Breukelen campus.
Lastly, Kevin has noticed a big difference in how Dutch people interact with each other. Especially on the Breukelen campus, he feels that “people are so nice to each other…[they] always say ‘how are you?’ to you, but I think in Taiwan [people aren’t really like that].” (07:55)
Nyenrode is well-renowned for having an extensive, close-knit community of alumni. One example of this is the Nyenrode Alumni Union (VCV) platform, which aims to build and maintain strong interpersonal relationships within the Nyenrode network.
Kevin describes that “every [alumnus’] information is [on] that platform…for example, [if] you want to know more about the supply chain field, you can just type ‘supply chain’ and you pop up some alumni who work [in that field] and you can just approach them, even [within] a specific company.” (08:56)
Nyenrode also provides students with a lot of great resources that can help with career planning and landing their first job. Their Career Development Center provides “training [on] how to make up your CV…your cover letter, and even mock interviews for your internships.” (08:22)
All in all, Nyenrode Business University is a well-rounded learning environment that can help any student thrive.
