Hi my name is Thijs Eggink. I graduated from the Bachelor of Science Tourism this summer. Since we were the trailblazers of the programme, we had to take a lot of initiative and used our creativity to look for well-connecting Master studies. In this blog post I will elaborate on how I chose my Master programme and share my experiences with you!
Currently I am enrolled in the MSc Human Geography at the Radboud University Nijmegen. Within this Master programme there are several specializations such as ‘Urban and Cultural Geography’ or ‘Globalisation, Migration and Development’. My specialisation is ‘Economic Geography’ which studies locations as spaces where economic activities take place.
Since the start of the BSc Tourism I have been trying to identify what specifically interests me in the field of tourism studies. The 1st year of the BSc Tourism programme explores many different aspects of the tourism phenomenon, such as economic, sociological and environmental issues. It became clear to me that I am most interested in economic sciences in relation to tourism. Based on this insight I took a very broad look at the possibilities for my minor and postgraduate studies.
Out of experience I can say that the minor is a very important and useful part of the BSc Tourism curriculum. The reason being that for some master programmes it is required to have a certain amount of ECTS in a particular field of studies to be directly admissible. In other words, your BSc minor forms the basis for your Master studies. Be aware of this and make sure to take the prerequisites of your desired master’s programme into account when composing your minor! I therefore chose ‘Development Economics’ as my minor at the University of Amsterdam.
Admission for my master programme in Nijmegen went quite smoothly. I contacted the study advisor of the master programme in January of this year. She asked me to send her the course descriptions and literature used in the BSc Tourism curriculum. Based on that information she told me that to be admitted I had to take an oral examination with the head of the exam board. This oral exam was not too difficult though; we mostly talked about my motives for choosing this study.
I am happy with my current master’s programme. Basically the entire programme is set up around the master thesis in the 2nd semester. The 1st semester courses are already linked to the master thesis. Two courses are related to ‘human geography’ in general and two courses are specifically related to my specialization ‘Economic Geography’. The thesis must be written under supervision of a company (in Dutch we call this a ‘afstudeerstage’). One of the main reasons for this is to strengthen the link between science and society, to connect academic theory with professional practice. Regarding my thesis: currently I am planning to write my thesis about changes in consumer behaviour in the airline industry. An idea, that is still under construction.
That’s my story so far after the BSc Tourism. For all current and future students: BE PROACTIVE.
You CAN shape your own career. Good luck!
(For a list of BSc Minors at Wageningen University, click HERE)
