Longer study duration, getting used to and difficult connection in terms of content

The curricula of psychology programmes in the Netherlands differ from each other. Experience shows that you will not get an exemption for all of our first-year subjects. Because in our bachelor’s programme you cannot start all of the second-year subjects if the first year is not fully completed, a transfer will always result in a longer study duration. In our experience, students who transfer to us after completing their first year elsewhere need another three years to complete the bachelor's with us. So, the transfer costs them a full year. (The only exception is students coming from the Psychology bachelor's programme in Leiden. For them, it is usually possible to make the switch after completing their first year with a delay of "only" one semester).

Unfortunately, study duration extension is not the only disadvantage of transferring: it will also be complicated in other areas. Of course, we will try to inform you as much as possible, but in practice you will still find that you have to get used to a new university: new lecturers, new fellow students, new campus, new computer systems, new rules. Whereas we gently introduce our new freshmen to the study and student life at the UvA, you will experience a somewhat less gentle transition: you will take courses with students who are already used to it. In addition, our second-year courses are (of course) exactly in line with our first-year subjects. If you received an exemption from the Examinations Board for a certain course, for example Statistics at first-year level, you will have roughly the same knowledge and skills at the start of our second-year course in Statistics (otherwise you would not receive an exemption, after all) as our own students. But you won't have exactly the same prior knowledge: you may have not have learned a particular subject where the lecturer assumes you have. Not a huge drama, but something to take into account.

In short: a transfer means study prolongation, getting used to all kinds of new things and regularly some content gaps in your knowledge. In general, we therefore advise against transferring. Nevertheless, there may be reasons why you do want to switch. Sometimes practical: you want to live closer to family, for instance. Sometimes substantive: you want to do a specialisation that the UvA bachelor's in Psychology does offer and your current bachelor does not. Sometimes it's about the type of education: you are currently studying at a programme that works with problem-based learning and you don't like it.

Your reason does not matter to us; you are welcome, but we would like to save you from disappointment about the Examination Board’s decision about how many courses you will be exempted for (usually less than students think), the study extension required to graduate with us (almost always a full year) and an overly optimistic view of a transfer (almost always more complicated than expected).

Practical

Between 17 June and 1 July 2024, you can submit a transfer request for the upcoming academic year. To do so, fill in the form below. This will request data that our Examination Board needs, including an upload of your grade list(s) with already passed courses. You will then receive the conclusion of our Examination Board by 15 July at the latest via one of our student advisers. Should you then actually decide to transfer, you can contact that same study advisor for help planning your courses, course registration, etc.