By Matthew Clark

As I write this blog post I am now halfway through my time here in Maastricht on exchange, I thought it would be a good time to share about my time at UCM and in Maastricht.

Accommodation

University accommodation in Maastricht is slightly different to how things work back home.  The university has no student accommodation or Halls of Residence whatsoever, so most students find their own private accommodation through housing or rental agencies, often living in rented private accommodation with strangers.  

I booked my accommodation through an organisation called UM Guesthouse.  Most exchange students organise their accommodation through this company as it is harder to rent a private room for a shorter stay.  The UM Guesthouse company has different buildings across the city.  My Building (C-Building) is a former hospital building that has been repurposed for student accommodation.  The building is attached to a newer hospital, and in some corridors you can actually look through a glass door into the hospital wards.  A very…unique experience!  My floor is very diverse.  We have students from South Korea, China, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Peru, Sweden, the USA and of course New Zealand.  There is not one other New Zealander in my student accommodation, in fact, I am the only Kiwi that I know of here!  

Campus and Classes at UCM

My exchange institution, University College Maastricht (UCM), is a part of the larger Maastricht University, and operates like a faculty that is a part of the larger university.  It is officially referred to as a Liberal Arts and Sciences bachelor’s programme.  I did not know this before coming to UCM, but for most university courses at the University, you take very few or no electives.  If you would like to study Psychology, for example, you will only take Psychology-related papers, and your 3 years of studies and papers are already predetermined before you ever take your first class.  For students wanting to study more than one topic of interest, this is less than ideal.  UCM allows these students to study multiple topics of interest and papers offered by the wider University and qualify with a useful degree!

Entry into UCM is very competitive.  Students wishing to study here for a full Bachelor must write a letter of motivation, send their CV and complete an interview as part of the process.  The acceptance rate is less than 15% I am told.  

I am really enjoying my studies.  Like at Waikato, I am enrolled in 4 courses this semester.  Unlike Waikato, the Semester is split into two ‘Periods’.  You take two classes per period, each period is a 6 week teaching block.  The courses are content heavy and more intense than a Semester-long course at home.  I have taken two Psychology papers in my first Period – The Psychology of Personality & Intelligence, and Memory.  I would recommend both papers, especially Personality & Intelligence.

Without going into too much detail, the course delivery is different to Waikato.  There is less of an emphasis on lectures and more of an emphasis on academic reading and discussion-based learning in Tutorial classes.  The name of the learning model they use is ‘Problem-Based Learning’.  In each tutorial, a Problem, Issue or Topic is presented.  As a class, key ideas or questions are identified to help answer or solve the Issue, and then academic readings are either assigned or researched.  At the next tutorial, with the information you have, you discuss and debate the problem as a class.  I have personally found this style of learning very beneficial for my communication, public speaking and academic research skills.  One key to the success of this learning style is the preparation of the class, as the quality of discussion is only as good as the quality of work put in.  This can be an issue if you have quiet classmates or if there was a big student event the night before!

I’m loving my time in Maastricht at the moment.  With the end of studies for my first Period, I have a week off to explore and travel.  Watch this space…