Master abroad?!

In August 2014, I moved to Stockholm to start studying for my master’s degree at the Stockholm School of Economics. It has been a great year, and I am more than happy to share my story with you. Rather than focusing on how amazing Sweden is (believe it or not – it is!), I will write about my decision to start my Master’s degree abroad rather than staying in the Netherlands. I am not trying to convince you to do the same, but I am hoping to inspire you with my story such that you consider a Master’s degree abroad when deciding where to continue your studies.

Let me start with a short introduction of myself. My name is Sander Verberne, and after finishing the BSc. Business Economics at Tilburg University and a great time at Asset | Accounting & Finance, I am currently studying a double degree in MSc International Business and CEMS MIM at the Stockholm School of Economics. During my Bachelor’s, I did an exchange semester at Universidad Pontificia Comillas ICADE in Madrid in fall 2011 which was the best semester. Upon return in the Netherlands, I had 1.5 years of my Bachelor’s degree ahead of me which allowed me to start thinking of the next steps.

As part of this process I turned to a family friend with vast experience in HR. His advice was threefold: 1) choose your studies based on what you like, studying topics that you are interested in increases motivation; 2) distinguish yourself from your peers by means of for instance, extracurricular activities, internships or your studies; and 3) make sure you get international exposure as globalization plays a major part in business nowadays.

During my year in the board of Asset | Accounting & Finance, I continued my search for a Master’s degree. Since I considered going abroad, I knew that I had to start preparing my applications early as deadlines are generally up to one year in advance. Hence, I visited some fairs and met with agencies that helped students to start their studies abroad. Eventually, I found out about my current program when a student at the Economic Business weeks Tilburg told me about CEMS. In short, CEMS is a Master’s degree that is jointly offered by 29 business schools worldwide and is to be taken on top of a regular MSc program. The program is focused on international experience and practical skills. Visiting a Master Information Session at the Rotterdam School of Management and contact with current CEMS students confirmed my interest in the program.

It turned out that finding out which program to apply for was the easiest part. In order to be eligible to apply, numerous criteria must be met and tests needed to be taken that tests English proficiency and cognitive ability. Specifically for the CEMS program a third language on level B1 was required along with recommendation letters from several professor at Tilburg University. After meeting the criteria and a half-day interview in Stockholm, I got admitted to the program in April 2014.

So I have been living and studying in Stockholm for over year already and my time in Stockholm is coming to and end since I will spend the last semester of my studies in spring 2016 at the University of Sydney. Looking back, I have had an extremely rewarding time. Pursuing a Master’s degree abroad is a completely different experience than going on exchange. Where an exchange is usually more focused on travelling and partying, staying abroad for a longer period allows you to live a “normal” life abroad. It has brought me a lot in terms of cultural understanding, theoretical knowledge and a tight international network. Therefore, I can definitely recommend everyone to look further than the Netherlands when choosing your Master’s degree and consider going abroad – you get an awful lot in return.