Central European University (CEU) in Budapest is ranked as one of the top ten in Europe in the field of international policy studies and political science in general and this is the fact that led me to apply for a master program at this university.
Given the fact that I graduated in International Politics at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade and that I wanted to continue to improve in this area, the obvious choice was CEU. It was also important for me the fact that CEU offers really good scholarship opportunities.
On the other hand, I wanted the international experience that would allow me to meet as many people as possible from different parts of the world who I wouldn’t be able to meet otherwise. My professor gave a very practical advice before going to the CEU which was that, if I get into CEU, I shouldn’t only socialize with people from Serbia, but try to meet as many people from different backgrounds and cultures. And he was right. I would advise prospective students the same. The best experience I’ve had was exactly connecting with many people from different countries spanning from Sri Lanka to Canada, and the opportunity to spend time at an international university such as CEU.
What distinguishes CEU from other universities in Europe is that it is accredited in the United States and the system that was adopted at the CEU is the US education system. The advantages of this system are that it is much more specific, in the sense that you have the opportunity to choose a large number of subjects and by that to create a program in accordance with your interests to some extent. This allows you to lead the improvement of your knowledge in the desired direction. Of course, there are compulsory subjects, but each student is allowed the freedom to choose the subjects. This system pays more attention to each student and their individual needs.
When you are there, it is important to focus on academic development, but also on improving yourself personally, meeting other people. I advise those who choose to apply for CEU to pay attention to existing subjects within the department when applying, just to make it easier to find those that are in line with their interests. When evaluating the applications, the Commission takes into account the research intentions of students, so it is very important to know which theme they want to deal with. If students’ intentions are consistent with the vision of the faculty, they are much more likely to be admitted. Also, it is very important for prospecting students to have in mind a research field as specific as possible, because that is a signal they are ready to deal with something specific and they have a good reason for applying.