Why did you decide to do a Master's after your HBO?
I chose to do a Master's after my HBO because I found the perspectives after my HBO bachelor too practical. I wanted to work more fundamentally. During my HBO bachelor I was always looking for the 'why?' behind the act and wanted to act as evidence-based as possible. This disappointed me during my HBO and with the work I studied for, so I applied for the pre-Master's.
How do you feel about the transition from HBO to a research university?
I moved to a strange city, a new school, but during the pre-Master's I did not feel alone. From the start I had to deal with committed people around me who guided me where necessary. You also have involved professors who are open to questions during and outside the classes. Then I had my fellow students, they too often came from HBO education and ran into the same things as me. The great thing is that the pre-Master's class is a mix of different backgrounds, so you complement and support each other.
How do you experience the level of the pre-Master's?
After the summer holidays I started taking the first lessons. Now, with some courses, you follow a kind of warm-up week or weeks, but the pace soon reached a speed appropriate for university courses and will not often go slower. This requires independence and good planning. Once I had mastered this and also got used to the amount of preparation that some subjects require, I still had to deal with the level of difficulty. Because I did not do the Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences, I lacked knowledge, that's what this pre-Master's programme was preparing me for, to make up for it. However, while taking the courses, I noticed that I still had some knowledge gaps. The difficulty of the courses directly depends on how thoroughly and when I filled in the knowledge gaps. Independence and planning also came into play here.
What appeals to you most about the university and why?
I chose Radboud University instead of other Dutch universities because I think Nijmegen is a nice city and friends have had great study experiences here. I heard those positive stories a lot less about my HBO education, for example. I also want to settle down in Nijmegen, so finding a (pre-)Master's here that suited me was icing on the cake.
Which Master's will you follow after the pre-Master's? And what do you want to do with that Master's degree?
I will do the Master's in Biomedical Sciences after my pre-Master's with the specialisation in Medical Neuroscience. When I have obtained my Master's degree, I see myself doing research into neurodevelopmental disorders (including ADHD) in women, because within this branch the woman-specific knowledge is limited. I also see myself doing research into both early diagnosis and prognosis of neuromuscular disorders (including muscle diseases).