Jason Efstathiou

Review of BTK Group

I was studying Interaction Design at the then BTK....

I was studying Interaction Design at the then BTK. A semester ago, interaction design was simply "discontinued", and all of the students moved to the communication design department. The students were informed of this only weeks in advance, way too late for any application deadlines at other universities. There was no compensation, nothing. Ever since then, it's nothing but problems. Impossible schedules, overlap everywhere even with just 4 classes to attend. Many mandatory classes are 95% irrelevant to the fields of study I signed up and paid thousands of euros for now. Just yesterday, I was told I can no longer attend a mandatory class because if it was moved to another time slot 3 more people can attend it, and unfortunately "it's a matter of majority". Well, how about planning that allows everyone to attend the the classes they pay so much for?

Other than that, the school now has a horrendously overpriced cafeteria that doesn't even offer hot lunch (with an atmosphere that's debatably worse than an IKEA lunch area, oh and also for 2 whole semesters we did not have a Cafeteria at all). We used to have freshly cooked, amazing and affordable food in a charming, old building, with super cool parties and a great student culture. Now, the building looks like a hospital meets financial office, students get scolded for trying to display their personal art on the walls, and buerocratic processes like applying for a vacation semester have gone from a slight annoyance to impossible. The culture has gone from super hip and underground to... nothing, really.

The classes and equipment are definitely good, don't get me wrong. But unfortunately, the way this school is ran has gone from nice and personal to a total desaster. It's lost its charme, many good professors, and it certainly lost its image. The fact that a full study programme simply got scrapped, even one so very good, is just the last straw.