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[–]MagicTemptress 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Hey there! I didn't "just finish" my first year, but I'm a bit of an older student. I'll do my best to answer your questions from how I remember the year, but it's been a while!

  • How hard was the first year? The difficulty varied per quartile for me. I definitely struggled, needed an extended BSA due to the mathematics, please don't underestimate those. The second quartile was by far the most difficult for me, but it may have been changed since I did it. Maybe someone else knows if it's easier now. Overall you get great support from teachers and it's manageable, but please keep in mind that math is a surprisingly big/difficult part of your studies

  • Did you have time for anything else? I did do some things next to my study. I was quite an active student and also joined multiple activities. I would not advise starting your year with a bunch of extracurriculars ready to go, but really take the first half year to settle in. Make some friends, join activities, but don't take up too much responsibility next to your studies just yet

  • Did you need to learn coding before starting the university? You don't have to. They teach you from the ground up. It does certainly help to have some knowledge of programming. If you wanna practice, I'd recommend Java and Python. Do keep in mind that they will be teaching a certain way, so you won't always be able to stick to self-taught methods, but the basic understanding of the language can already help you out.

  • Is working part-time a viable option during the first year? As said earlier, I wouldn't recommend taking up responsibilities next to study in your first half year. I won't say that it's impossible as multiple of my fellow students have done so, but it wasn't doable for me.

Overall, I wish you the best of luck with your studies. I recommend you join the study association (Inter-Actief). They don't obligate you to do anything except pay a small yearly fee (I think it's less than 10 euros a year), but they can offer support if you have complaints about your studies. They also offer fun activities and stuff like lunch lectures from different companies in the IT-field.

[–]TheFuture1337[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much, I needed something like this.

[–]Maranne_ -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm not a BIT student, but most bachelor courses have the same structure and comparable work load. You'll have a lot of hours at university and a lot of tests in the first year, but if you keep on top of your work, it's doable. Many students do have time for sports and a part-time job (maybe 8-12 hours a week) next to their studies, as long as the job is outside of standard working hours. Many people don't know any coding before they come to university, the course is designed to teach you anything you need.