Hi! I am an international student and I have been accepted to both Grinnell and the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and I am super conflicted on where to go, and them being on 2 different continents with different educational systems makes it all the more difficult.
In terms of financial aid, they are in the same ballpark, with Grinnell being slightly more affordable, but I can afford both.
Now, in terms of location, UvA beats Grinnell by a billion, with its wonderful location in Amsterdam. Nonetheless, college is more about learning than going out, so I don’t know how much weight this factor should hold. I am from a big city, however, so it’s going to be at least a little tough to transition to rural living.
Now, the most important question of all is prestige and quality of education. I know a lot of people get bashed on the forum for taking prestige into account, but at this point I am certain that I could get a great education at both institutions, even if it means more self-studying and more self-reliance. I am used to this method of having to manage in school without the help of professors because that’s the system in my home country. So, is the Netherlands’ most prestigious university better or worse than Grinnell? I have a hard time quantifying this, so if anyone has insight into how to see this, it would be great.
I honestly don’t know what to choose.