What is important in a study? And what is important when choosing a study? What should your son or daughter pay special attention to? I would like to make a few suggestions from my practice as a parent educator and teacher. A lot has to be right’ in a study. It is about your mind and your feelings. And if you are a graduating student you can find where you can do on-the-job training. You can work in government like in the post office. You need to finish the ‘post office hours‘ in order to complete your training.

What is important in a study? Is the topic really interesting?
The topic of a study must be really interesting. Does your child say he has found ‘a nice study’? Then am not satisfied. Education should be exciting enough to spend a few years of your life on. The first year of study is a difficult time for many people. You want to do biotechnology, but in your first year of study, you will have many broad subjects such as biology and chemistry. But those broad general subjects are necessary to slowly but surely grow towards the specialization. That is sometimes biting. There are less interesting subjects in every study program. Later, however, the training becomes more specialized and slowly but surely there is also more freedom of choice. Within the free elective space, a student can place exactly those accents that he or she finds interesting. It is important to look up how much free choice space there is. And ask your son or daughter to also look at the first-year curriculum. Where exactly are the differences between one program and the other? This is a common and important question as your son or daughter comparing studies.

How are the classes taught?
There are several ways to approach a topic. Which teaching format suits you? Some students like to attend lectures, other students prefer to do more self-study or project work. There are students who like to spend a lot of time at the institute and also students who prefer to have a few contact hours as possible. How are the classes taught?

How much guidance is there?
There are students who need a lot of guidance and students who prefer to find out for themselves.
What is important in a study? That a student is aware of how much help is available. How many teachers are there (teacher-student ratio)? Are there enough study advisers? Can you easily approach the student counselor? A persistent misunderstanding is that there is more supervision at higher professional education than at university. It is true that higher vocational education provides more structure in the beginning. But the amount of guidance that is available often has more to do with the size of the institution. do not rely on impressions, for each program you can find out what the teacher-student ratio is.

How big are the groups?
In some studies, you are in one room with hundreds. There are also courses that mainly work with small groups. How many freshmen are there? And how big is the college or university? What suits you? Do you like to drown in the crowd or do you like to be seen? Most students prefer not to have groups that are too large.

Theoretically or practically?
How does a student prefer to learn? Is it a bit more practical? Or could it not be theoretical enough for him? HBO is usually better for students who say: Very interesting… but what’s in it for me? A university student says earlier: Very interesting, but why is this so? And what else is known about this topic? Of course, these are black and white statements. There are very theoretical subjects at higher vocational education and very practical subjects at university. But what suits the student best?

Is the college or university well known?
Research carefully how this educational institution is known. Don’t rely on image. Look at rankings. How do the Keuzegids rate this institution and this study program? What does Elsevier say about this institute? If a study program is highly valued, the education there will be of good quality. A student must also have a good feeling about the institution.

What do senior students think of their education?
To the question: What is important in a study? it is smart to take a good look at what other students think of this program. A (prospective) student can of course simply ask other students that. A nationwide survey is also conducted among students.

Do you fit in with fellow students and teachers?
A student studies more pleasantly and better if he feels that he belongs’. I often hear from students who have been to an Open Day that they immediately had a good feeling. Or not at all. This feeling is important. The atmosphere at an institute matter.

What is important in a study? Feeling or understanding?
Some of the above information is easy to find, for example via www.studiekeuze123.nl. Look at the training and read the facts and judgments’. Do not rely solely on what the program says on an Open Day. If an enthusiastic employee says: ‘We are the best university in the Netherlands!’, Check whether that is correct. If someone says: our teachers are always ready for the students, check the teacher-student ratio and compare it with other study programs.
And the feeling? it is not about whether you feel good as a parent. the point is that the prospective student likes a study. At most, you can have the feeling that this training suits your child. And the feeling is certainly something to take into account … Study choice has to do with WHAT you study, at what level you study and where you study.