What are your daily working routines, and how can foreign students apply for VU in general?
My daily working routines consist of handling applications from international students that want to pursue a Master’s degree in Law at VU Amsterdam. Besides that, I also handle all communication with students that are interested in pursuing a Master’s degree at the same faculty. I am also involved with the organization of the introduction periods for international students, both in February and August.
Finally, I have been, and I still am involved in multiple side projects such as working with international student ambassadors, organizing events for scholarship students, and going to international fairs in countries such as Germany, Greece, Italy, Russia, Bulgaria etc. By attending these fairs, students from these countries can inform themselves about what we have to offer them.
International students can very easily inform themselves through our website or by simply emailing us. We have a very big team at the International Office that helps students from everywhere with not only their application but also other practicalities such as housing and visa. When students are sure that they want to go for it, they can apply through www.studielink.nl. The whole application process happens online.
What are the most common admission problems that you and the admission center have to deal with, and are there any possibilities of financial support at VU Amsterdam?
The most common issues are students that have a complex educational background. Before a student is able to gain admission to our university, he or she needs to make sure that he or she meets the admission requirements. In most cases this is very easily determined, but some cases can be very complex.
There are definitely possibility of financial support at VU Amsterdam. We offer multiple scholarships and provides a lot of information to students about other scholarships.
Is there any special story (regarding admissions) that has particularly stuck in your memory, Mr. Lindemans?
I would not mention one specific case, but there have been multiple cases where I have been able to help students that were in a difficult or doubtful situation, but that were very motivated. For these students, admission to our university was not guaranteed, but we decided to give them a chance. I can tell you that these students, that were very motivated, did not disappoint and obtained very high grades. Cases like this make me happy.
