In campus life we pose four different students a topical, interesting and important question. We inquire whether students believe the educational system of direct Bachelor-Master admittance should be altered to a performance based system, where Bachelor marks determine if you are eligible for the Masters program.
Hoang L. Nguyen, MSc. Finance (20 years), Vietnamese
Yes, I believe they should implement a performance based system. I think the minimum average grade makes sure that the student can handle all the working load of a master program, which is very heavy. Some people may defend that grades cannot reflect one’s true potential. In my opinion, grades reflect not only potentials, but also attitude and skills to manage time, and their ability to balance between study and extra activities. If the committee select students that are not capable, it is not only a waste for them, but also their family, the school and society. In addition, as an international student it is required in most cases that we complete the GMAT, a test which takes roughly three months to study for. If as a Dutch student this is not required, that is not as big a deal if they have had some sort of qualification level to obtain in order to take part in the same master program.
Tessa Teuwen, MSc. Supply Chain Management & MSc. Finance (26 years), Dutch
For Master studies to select their students is not particularly a bad thing, for Master studies to select their students solely on their grades is a bad thing. Personally I believe that students are more than just their grades. The experience you gain from going abroad, doing a board year or taking extra courses cannot be expressed in grades. However, these teach you practical skills and give you the opportunity to develop yourself in different ways. For Master studies to select their students solely on their grades is only going to shift the attention away from these experiences towards the grades. It is going to create students who score a 7 on average, but do not benefit from the gains of these experiences. Personally I believe that these experiences are more valuable than the difference between a 6.5 average or a 7 average. In case Master studies want to select their students, they should take into account more factors than grades solely.
Chanisa Sayatanan, MSc. Economics (22 years), Thai
I think it is okay for Dutch peoples’ admittance to not be based on grades, or for any international people that finish schooling at a Dutch university. Since Dutch universities tend to have certain standards, if those people who already received a degree in Dutch university apply for a Masters program, then they are already qualified and it would not be a problem to study further at the university. For international students or students that have studied elsewhere, it would on the other hand be appropriate to require them to have reached some certain grade level. Because different countries have different standards of education, grades could be one of the easiest ways to proof that you are qualified to study a Masters program in The Netherlands. However, I do not think grades should be the only tools to judge the capability of the applicants but it obviously should be as one of the requirement criteria. Coming from a partner university allowed my application to be easier as Tilburg University has already deemed the University to be of a certain quality of learning, which I think is a great help for foreign applicants.
Jordy van den Bogaert, MSc. Dutch Law & MSc. Tax Law (25 years), Dutch
No I do not think it is a good idea because the Bachelor qualifies you to do the Masters program. That is how it works in the Dutch education system. If you cannot access the Masters because of low grades then that would mean the Bachelor does not match with the Masters, and that is the whole purpose- to act as a prerequisite. In your Bachelor you have more general subjects, very limited to what you can choose, and in your Masters you specify and do the courses you want to work in. So the Master is less like an extra level, and more of a deepening of your program. I think that the 6 is a pass, and that it shows you are good enough to do the Masters, otherwise why would it be a pass if it was not enough? In terms of international students, I think the GMAT and standardized tests help equal everyone out, as Bachelors across the world vary a lot. It acts as a benchmark for them. But we do not need that as our Bachelor is the benchmark for the Masters.
