What you must know about your first bachelor year!

After a fun introduction week, the academic year has now really started. Maybe you have done another study before, but maybe this is your very first time at a university. You will enter an exciting new phase in your life, and in this blog, we want to let you know what to expect in your first bachelor year. 

General information for first-year bachelors

The academic year is divided into 6 different periods. In 4 of those periods, you will follow two courses. In period 3 and period 6 which take place in January and June, you will follow 1 course. This means that in one year you will take 10 courses, where you can score 6 points per course. If you pass all courses of the first year,  you will reach your propaedeutic level. When you have achieved all your points within the first year, you will be invited for a propaedeutic year award ceremony. You will receive a certificate for achieving all your 60 points in the first year. You will also receive a gift voucher of €25, so be motivated to achieve this!

What if you don’t pass all your courses?

If you don’t pass all your courses, this shouldn’t be a problem. The next year you will have another chance to pass the course. There is, however, a maximum of the number of failed courses in the first year. All bachelor students must achieve 42 points in the first year, which means that you may not complete more than 3 courses. Previously, it was required to pass math in order to go to your second year. This course is called Quantitative Research Methods I for EBE students, and Business Mathematics for (I)BA students. For some of you it might differ whether this is still a requirement, however, it is still important that you pass this course so an advantage is that you may retake this course twice in your first year. For the rest of the courses, you may retake them once a year.

Resits

At the School of Business and Economics, we no longer have lectures or working groups the week before the exams. This means that you have one week to prepare well for your exams. If you don’t pass the exam on the first attempt, you have to retake the exam. The resit will then take place in the free week before the exams of your next period. It is useful to realize that this puts extra pressure on your next courses because you then have less time to prepare for it. So do your best at your first attempt at the exam!

Extracurricular activities

Did you know that you could follow every course given at the VU? As a VU student, you have the right to take extra courses outside of your own study if you would like to. You could do this if, for example, you have always been interested in another faculty. Another tip that might be something for you: as mentioned before, in period 3 and period 6 you only follow 1 course. If you like a bit more challenge, you could already take a second-year course in these periods. If you manage to pass the courses in your first year, this means that you can be free in your second year in January or June! The perfect way to take extra holidays, or to have more time for work or an internship.

Aureus

To make your first study even more fun, educational, and convivial, you can become a committee member of the Aureus study association! With 32 different committees, you will always find a suitable one for you. Aureus brings a lot with it during your studies. You can expect the following from our study association:

• ⁠ Experience in organizing events
• ⁠ Development on personal, professional, and team level
• ⁠ Free training and coaching
• ⁠ Great new friends and stories
• ⁠ Teambuilding activities
• ⁠ An extensive professional network
• ⁠ Monthly drinks & social events

Here you can read an interesting story of a committee member of Aureus.

 

We hope these tips were useful for you and that you now know better what awaits you this year.  What can be interesting for you is where you can take your rest during your first bachelor year. Here you can read about the best places on and around the VU that you didn’t know before.