Help with your minor choice

In the third year of your study, you have the opportunity to expand your knowledge by taking courses from other studies. You could, for example, already start preparing for the Master’s degree you want to do after your Bachelor’s degree, and you will also have the space to take courses that you find really interesting outside your own curriculum. So, there are plenty of possibilities!

Because you can go in so many different directions, it is sometimes difficult to keep an overview. That’s why there is this concise minor guide to get you started!

How do you choose the right minor?

As mentioned before, in your minor period you are very free to choose your own ‘subject package’. However, if there are so many possibilities, how are you going to make a choice? With this small step-by-step plan we hope we can help you by making this choice.

Who are you?

First of all, find out about your interests and qualities. After all, your minor is a period during your study where you are completely free in your own choice. If you take a moment to find out what kind of subjects and courses you found interesting during your study, you will be able to already highlight some minors but also strike out a lot of minors!

Widen your interests, or specialize?

Of course, you can also choose to follow CIS courses during your minor. In that case, you choose to specialize in your own field. For an overview of the courses offered within CIS, you can always take a look at Osiris. If you want to broaden your knowledge, you can choose to follow courses from other studies or even other faculties. For example, do you want to specialize into marketing after your Bachelor’s degree? Then you can choose to take some TISEM marketing courses for your Premaster in your minor. Within TSHD, many CIS students choose to take a minor in Online Culture. Here you can, for example, take courses such as Digital Culture and Society of Language, Culture and Globalization. Of course you can go in many more directions!

Your own future

Do you already know which Master’s you want to do in the future? That’s nice! If you want to follow a Master’s program that does not fit your current study, you often have to follow a Premaster’s program first. If you already know in time which master this is, you may be able to use your minor space to follow the premaster. So, you can save yourself half a year! Furthermore, it is also good to orientate yourself on the labor market to see what employers are looking for. For example, are employers looking for communication employees who also have the necessary knowledge about online marketing? Then it’s smart to develop yourself during your minor period and adapt your choice of minor to that. So take a good look at what you want to do in the future and choose a minor that matches that!

Practical issues

Before you make your final choice of minor, you should also get to know the requirements of your minor. For example, you may only follow a certain number of first-year courses. You can find the application form for your minor on the Tilburg University website: https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/nl/studenten/studie/studievoortgang/major-minor/humanities. Here you can indicate which courses you would like to follow and why. After that, the examination board will decide whether this application will be approved or not.

For more information about specific minors, you can always contact the Daily Board of Flow via info@svflow.nl or the study advisor for CIS Bachelors (Carole Donders), CSAI Bachelors (Marion van Heijingen), CSAI Masters (Suzanne Warmerdam) or CIS Masters / DSS Masters (Nikki van Stipdonk).

Studying a minor abroad

Have you ever wanted to study abroad for a semester? You have that opportunity with your minor. Our studies have several partnerships with universities worldwide, from Germany to Australia. To apply, there are 5 deadlines per year. The deadlines for the upcoming year are:

  • Thursday the 5th of November 2020, at 11:00h (NB: this is the only deadline for Fall 2021 with ISEP)
  • Thursday the 4th of February 2021, at 11:00h
  • Thursday the 1st of April 2021, at 11:00h (NB: this is the last deadline for Fall 2021 exchanges)
  • Thursday the 1st of July 2021, at 11:00h
  • Wednesday the 1st of September 2021, at 11:00h

Locations

Before you sign up, you must, of course, choose your location. You have to select 3 locations (first choice, second choice and third choice). These can all be in the same country, but also all three in different countries. You are free in this choice. All locations can be found in the Mobility Online Search Portal. If you have any doubts about the locations, you can always take a look at our experience platform!

A few things to think about when picking a location:

  • Check your budget (some countries are of course more expensive than others)
  • Check the courses that are offered
  • Check if you meet the language level
  • Check if you can receive an allowance or scholarship

If you have questions about locations you can always contact the Study Abroad & Exchange Coordinators. You can send them an email (studyabroad@tilburguniversity.edu) or stop by their office (A403).

Application

Now that you have selected your locations, you can start your application. This consists of the following two steps:

Step 1: creating an account

You start your application by creating an account in Mobility Online. You can log in with your Tilburg University username and password. You can fill in a form here, after which your own account will be created for your exchange.

Step 2: finalize your application

After you have created your account, you will be asked for various details such as your name, contact details etc. You will also have to enter your three locations here. For each location you have to write a motivation. In this motivation you must be able to motivate why you want it and which subjects appeal to you (10 per country). You do not have to complete all this at once. When you have completed it, your details and motivation will be forwarded to the Study Abroad & Exchange Coordinators. They will then check if you can actually take the specified courses, if you meet the required language level and if there are any other requirements you have to meet at the chosen universities. Good luck!

Minor at another university in the Netherlands

Offers

Taking a minor at another university in the Netherlands is not done very often. However, this may be the ideal opportunity to broaden or deepen your knowledge. Some universities offer studies that are not given in Tilburg, or are specialized in a certain subject of your study.

Finding a minor at another university can be difficult, and with 14 Dutch universities the choice is vast! That is why it can help if you know what kind of minor you are looking for. In addition, a number of universities have made an overview of all the minors they offer:

Admission requirements

Pay close attention to the admission requirements for a minor, these may differ per university and per discipline. If you want to take courses at another university, that university calls you a “minor student”. If you are looking for information about minors at other universities, it is useful to search for that word! This is because the application procedures for taking a minor at another university differ per university. For example, you have to register for the University of Amsterdam as a minor via Studielink. At the University of Utrecht you have to create an Osiris account. Often every university has a step-by-step plan on its website that explains exactly how you can register as an external student. Below is a list with links to these step-by-step plans: