The entire Eurekaweek largely centres around the student associations. Whether or not somebody finally plucks up the courage to enrol somewhere does not purely depend on the enthusiasm of the promotion teams. Information from the student associations about their members shows that the choice of a student association even seems to vary according to the study programme.
Medically skilled rowers
One of the largest student associations in Rotterdam is Skadi, which offers a combination of parties and rowing. The composition of Skadi ‘s membership is striking for several reasons. First of all, medical students certainly form by far the largest group, and there are many more of them than economics or business administration students. Why are so many medical students members of Skadi? “The combination of sport and fun works well”, thinks Jet Schenk, third-year medical student and member of Skadi. “First, some tough training and then eating together at the club afterwards. Besides that, rowing is a real students’ sport and is therefore really popular, which is great. Lots of people have parents who used to row, so they have been brought up with it”, she adds.
Fourth-year fellow student and member of Skadi, Miguel Jansen, has another explanation for the popularity of the rowing club. “Being a member of Skadi combines well with Medicine and once a few medical students join, it becomes more and more popular within this group”, he thinks. “It’s also possible that medical students are more enthusiastic about sport than the average student”, Miguel adds.
“Sport has become very trendy in recent years. Having an untrained appearance is not done”, says third-year Economics and Law student, who is a member of Skadi. “Every gram of fat has to be worked off and you have to have a well-toned body. This applies to both men and women. Maybe medical students have a better idea of what’s good for them. They are probably more conscious of this because of their studies.”
Rotterdam School of Management in the majority, except at RSG
At three of the four largest social student associations, Business Administration students and International Business Administration students are clearly in the majority. This also struck a first-year IBA student who wants to enrol at RSC next year. “There are lots of Business Administration students at RSC, many more than IBA students. This is due to the large group of international students who often don’t become a member of a student association.” Only one in ten members of RSG studies at the RSM. This is therefore the third group, just a little smaller than Medicine and Psychology, who share first place at this student association.
Top 5 surprisingly similar at the student assocations
At Laurentius, RVSV, RSC and S.S.R.-Rotterdam, most of the members study Economics, Law or Business Administration. Actually, it is quite logical: these are the largest study programmes at Erasmus University. However, a third-year Economics and Law student has other ideas: “The large and less difficult study programmes are well represented at the student associations.” A fellow student offers another explanation: “Certain kinds of people become a member of such an association: for example, economists are perhaps a little more vocal and are more likely to become members than econometricians.”
Not much fun for Medicine
In spite of the fact that Medicine is one of the largest study programmes at Erasmus University, these students are not in the majority at any of the social student associations. Only 3 per cent of the members of the RSC are prospective doctors. A seventh-year Economics and Law student doesn’t think this is illogical. “If you look at it from a purely geographical point of view, the Medical Faculty is far away from all the student associations.”
If medical students do become members, they are three times more likely to become members of Laurentius than of RSC. “There are probably more medical students at Laurentius, because most medical students are women and female students cannot become members of RSC”, thinks an Econometrics student who is a member of Laurentius. The figures confirm his suspicions: at RVSV, Medicine is the second largest study programme. “There is also a special get-together for medical students at Laurentius”, he adds.
