Meet our current student: Nenad
November, 2019

Meet Nenad, 24 years old, from Frankfurt. After he finished his Bachelor’s at the Goethe-university in Frankfurt he started his Master’s in International Business — Strategic Marketing in September. We interviewed him about his experiences in Maastricht so far.
1. Name 3 things that first come to your mind when thinking about SBE
The three things that come first to my mind are internationality, the Problem-Based Learning system (PBL), and the workload. At uni, everyone speaks English as there are many different nationalities in my program. This counts especially for the tutorials where you meet in small groups to discuss the literature and topics of the courses. These tutorials are held according to the PBL system which basically means students teach students, guided by a tutor. This also means that the workload is quite high because you can’t just appear like at a lecture but need to be prepared. Otherwise, the tutorials would not work
2. What was your motivation to study at Maastricht University?
I made the decision for a couple of reasons. I wanted to study in English in a different country. It was important for me to move to a “student city” with lots of young people and not to the end of the world. Also, I looked at the rankings of different Business school as I wanted to go to a university with a good reputation.
3. Please describe your first 2–3 months in Maastricht in one sentence.
Work hard, play hard (laughing).
4. What positively surprised you about life at SBE?
Especially the close contact with the teaching staff. This is mainly due to the PBL-system. We discuss the content of the courses in small tutorial groups, guided by a tutor. Therefore, you directly receive professional feedback from the tutor. Also, the professors always stress that you can contact them — of course after you tried to find a solution on your own or with your tutorial group. Apart from that, the facilities at SBE are really nice. The lectures and tutorials are mostly held in modern rooms with state of the art equipment.
5. How do you get along with PBL?
In the beginning, it was a challenge to cope with but now, after a couple of months, I really got used to it. On the one hand, it is a lot of work, but on the other hand, the system motivates you to avoid procrastination and keep on track with your studies.
6. What did you find the most challenging about your time at SBE so far?
The workload is quite high, so you need to motivate yourself to stay on track. You need to read a lot of scientific articles to be prepared for the tutorials which also involve a lot of self-teaching. Moreover, I found the amount of group work challenging at first: many deliverables are group effort so you need to be a team player.
7. What is your favorite place in Maastricht (or at Maastricht university)?There are a few: for drinks, I like to go to Rumors, it’s a nice little bar at one of the coziest streets of Maastricht. For food, I recommend “I Love Burritos”. It’s right in the center and offers decent, affordable Burritos. If I want to have a coffee — “Koffie”. This café is close to SBE and also a good place to study.
8. What would you tell someone who is unsure whether to study at SBE or somewhere else?
Maastricht is perfectly located in Europe: close to Germany, Belgium, and France. So it’s the perfect starting point for trips to other European cities during the weekends. Although Maastricht is not too big, it has an international vibe: walking through the city center you almost hear as much English as Dutch. There are also a lot of different specializations for your Master’s, so you will most likely find a study track that suits you. Maastricht hosts also a lot of different student associations which make it easy to get to know people when you arrive here.
