The platform included videos giving the online visitors a taste of the atmosphere on campus. It also explained practical matters such as scholarships, admission and visa requirements, and the current housing problems. Start looking for a room as soon as possible, was the urgent advice.

On the day itself, there were live sessions with opportunities to ask questions after the presentations of the study programmes. This way, prospective students could get a good idea of what Maastricht University has to offer and were helped move a step forward in choosing a study.

Most of the online participants intend to enrol in September and in the meantime they will have plenty of opportunity to visit the campus and get a taste of the atmosphere at UM. Later in the spring, students can join the Max Campus Experience, for which two dates will be set, and very soon, they can visit the Experience Days of the study programmes.

High figures

The number of visitors was roughly comparable to previous online editions, with prospective students coming from 83 countries. More than half were Dutch, the others came mainly from Germany, Belgium, Italy and France. Compared to previous years, the turnout of Dutch participants was very high whereas the number of registrations from Germany fell back somewhat.

A total of 380 visitors took the trouble to give feedback immediately after the session they had participated in. Most of them were positive, with an average rating of 8.9.

"The presentation gave me an excellent idea of Maastricht university and gave me many more reasons, why I want to study there," wrote a visitor to the opening lecture of the School of Business and Economics.

Positive comments

In general, the programme videos and live Q&As were highly appreciated, as were the sessions with practical information and use of interactive presentation software. Visitors also liked the wide variety of hosts and the personal nature of the sessions.

"They answered my concerns which helped me with the admission process and my worries. I liked how they address individuals by their first name, which brought a personal feel to this session. Overall a very successful session!" was the comment of an incoming psychology student.

Room for improvement

Of course, people also struck a critical note, about the sound quality or connectivity, for example. Others complained about background noise, the length of the videos preceding the Q&A sessions and the use of a chat in an interactive Mentimeter presentation. As for content: "Maybe include some more information about what Maastricht looks like."

The organisers will take all these points into account in the run-up to the next Bachelor’s Open Day, scheduled for 8 October. Hopefully, the event will be held at the university again. Finally, we would like to reassure the student who commented: “I wish I had more questions to ask!” The online platform of the Bachelor Open Day will remain open all week, until Friday 11 February.