Five years of Pre-University The Hague: alumni share their experiences
Pre-University College The Hague is celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2024-2025. Three alumni look back on their experience. PRE broadened their academic horizons and taught them a lot about themselves. ‘PRE made me feel more comfortable at university'.
The Pre-University College of Leiden University has existed in Leiden for over 20 years, but in the past five years secondary school pupils from the The Hague region could also apply for this unique opportunity. Former students Seyidali Bulut (23), Julia Plenas Bissolotti (20) and Maud van den Eijnden (18) share their personal experiences and explain what PRE The Hague has meant to them.
‘I was looking for a challenge’
Seyidali was among the first students to join the programme in The Hague, but it was evidently much earlier in his life that he liked a challenge. ‘Ten years ago, I moved from Turkey to The Netherlands. I started in an international schakelklas, where you learn the Dutch language in one or two years.’ Seyidali felt he had to learn the Dutch language quickly: ‘At some point you will have to compete with people who were born here, and I couldn't pass on any opportunity.’
Seyidali was determined to do more than just the standard school curriculum. He was on the student council and tried to become a class representative. ‘I was doing pretty well at school, so I was looking for a challenge outside of that. Some teachers even asked if I shouldn't "slow down" for a while, but I always thought, "No, it will be fine." And it was,’ he laughs.
When Seyidali received an e-mail from his teacher about the newly founded PRE The Hague, he was immediately excited. The programme not only offered Seyidali the chance to explore different disciplines, but also to learn more about himself. ‘One of the courses was about personal development. It helped me discover what I want, what I like, what my skills are and how to combine them.’
More comfortable at university
What made Pre-University College extra valuable for Seyidali was the social aspect. ‘As a secondary school student, the idea of university can sometimes be quite scary,’ he reflects. ‘I became familiar with the university early on. I got to know the institution, the buildings and other students.’
It made the transition to university less intimidating for Seyidali. ‘I also got to know several teachers to whom I could ask all my questions. This made me feel more comfortable at university.’
Seyidali decided to continue his adventure with a bachelor's degree in Data Science and AI at Leiden University. The friendships he made at PRE still stick with him. ‘We keep in touch and sometimes visit a city together.’
Discovering what you like
Julia (20) applied for PRE Den Haag in 2021. ‘I always wanted to go to university,’ she remembers, ‘and I loved that you could already do that while you're in secondary school.’
During PRE, she attended a weekly meeting at the university. ‘At first, I thought it would be a lot of work, but in the end, it wasn't too bad. We had a lecture in the first half, and in the second we discussed everything.’
According to Julia, the programme is very diverse, allowing you to discover what you like. ‘We dove into a lot of subjects: one time we would do psychology; the next we studied law. The lectures on law caught my attention and pushed me towards studying law.’
'During my workgroups I feel less nervous than other students'
For the seminars on personal development, Julia made assignments in which she got to know herself better. Sometimes this was personal and confronting. ‘I enjoyed it, but some assignments demanded a lot from me. Fortunately, you didn't have to share anything if you really didn't want to.’
‘I also had to do group assignments with people from other schools I didn't know. That's how I became much better at working together with others.’ This benefits her in her current studies. ‘During workgroups, I feel less nervous than other students because I am already used to that setting.’
Discovering what you don't want
Maud (18) is also happy with the experience she gained at PRE – although at first, she doubted whether she should participate. ‘I always have a bit of a tendency to overwork myself. I was already working 12 hours a week and the fifth year of secondary school is obviously a busy period.’ In addition to that, she looked up to the prospect of extra travel time and more homework.
Still, she decided to give it a chance, and that turned out to be the right choice: ‘I thought: let's try it, because it seemed like a lot of fun. It was difficult at times especially when deadlines overlapped with an exam week, but everything went well. And it was also a lot of fun.’
'Thanks to PRE, I had seen it all before'
Maud made new friends at PRE and the various subjects helped her to choose a bachelor's. Above all, she discovered what she didn't want to do. ‘International law is really not for me. I found the lectures on religions and food very interesting, but I did think: “this is not what I want to study.”’
In the end, Maud went for political science, because it is a broad discipline. And although she does not yet know what she wants to do next, she emphasises that it was easier to take the first step thanks to PRE. Whether it was English language skills, scientific referencing or stepping into a lecture hall for the first time, ‘thanks to PRE, I had seen it all before.’
Pre-University education at Leiden University
Leiden University's Honours Academy organises various programmes for secondary school pupils who want to be challenged and get a taste of science.
- In the PRE-Classes, students attend a number of meetings on a specific subject, such as astronomy, French or security studies.
- PRE Leiden is a two-year programme in which students sniff out several areas of science and set up their own research project.
- Established in 2019, PRE The Hague is a one-year programme at the Campus The Hague. Besides their introduction to socially relevant research, students get to work on a local problem and take personal development seminars.