I feel like OP simply lacks of the intellectual consistency and proficiency that are needed when you purse your degree at UZH. I do not want to offend OP by any means but it is definitely a very demanding place that requires a lot from its students. Not everything is at your disposal just on the spot and without any kind of personal engagement.
Dear LuxPerpetua,
if you are willing to re-read my last post, I have openly declared that I actually graduated from this university, so the public criticism I am engaging in with these posts runs against my immediate interest, given that it would make potential job givers less impressed with me having a degree from this university than they would otherwise be.
The sole point of these comments of mine is to inform people who come from outside Switzerland that they might find this specific public Swiss university rather underwhelming, if they are used to what I now consider to be objectively higher standards.
On top of that, I also declared that I came very close to graduating magna cum laude, meaning that I came out of UZH with an overall respectable GPA, which would have been even higher had it not been for shortcomings that I wouldn't ascribe to my own person.
Did you somehow miss this element while reading my posts?
I am not really sure what to make of the statement that UZH "requires a lot from its students", given that I have also studied at universities in Northern Europe, and if anything, I noticed a paucity of intellectual and emotional engagement in the Swiss educational model, as shown for example in the complete absence of seminars.
There is only this much information that students can obtain from lectures and self-study, and in my experience, the absence of seminars makes the whole teaching process less memorable, more reliant on pure memorisation, and rather distant from practical applications (students are supposed to enter the job market eventually).
To make an example, it seems to me that students are visibly less prone to ask thought-provoking questions in a lecture hall, as opposed to a seminar room, and in a purely theoretical discussion, as opposed to ones based upon specific issues.
Furthermore, is the university perhaps entitled to ask without giving? Are the students (people who pay to be there with their money, time and effort) not allowed to expect teaching services and educational facilities of the highest quality that is reasonably available?
Is it too much to expect online services to also be available in English, when a whole degree programme is openly advertised as being taught in that language?
Is it too much to offer students a sufficient number of study places at the university's libraries, even during peak periods? Is it too much to equip at least some of said places with up-to-date computers, given that not everybody has the habit of carrying their own laptop everywhere they go?
Is it too much to ask designated supervisors to check on a monthly basis a student's draft thesis, so that the latter does not make any mistakes that could be easily avoided with enough transparency regarding formal and substantial criteria?
I have no idea what you could possibly mean with "not everything is at your disposal just on the spot and without any kind of personal engagement" (what exactly is "personal engagement", what makes you think I did not exhibit it, what exactly do you think I demanded "just on the spot"), but your quick-paced and uncompromising dismissal of my position seems to indicate you have some pro-UZH bias.
You claim that you "do not want to offend" me, and yet your entire rebuttal consists in an ad hominem that fails to address any specific point of my criticism in its substance.
Are you sincere when you say that you do not wish to offend me, given that you are openly accusing me of lacking "intellectual consistency and proficiency"?
I have been reasonably open about my status, would you also be so kind to clarify whether you are a student, a prospective student, an alumnus or teaching staff?
I am sure you understand that it is important to be open about any possible conflicts of interest
[Edited by Carlyle95 on Jan 12, 2024]
[quote]I feel like OP simply lacks of the intellectual consistency and proficiency that are needed when you purse your degree at UZH. I do not want to offend OP by any means but it is definitely a very demanding place that requires a lot from its students. Not everything is at your disposal just on the spot and without any kind of personal engagement. [/quote]
<div>Dear LuxPerpetua,
</div><div>if you are willing to re-read my last post, I have openly declared that I actually graduated from this university, so the public criticism I am engaging in with these posts runs against my immediate interest, given that it would make potential job givers less impressed with me having a degree from this university than they would otherwise be.<br><br></div><div>The sole point of these comments of mine is to inform people who come from outside Switzerland that they might find this specific public Swiss university rather underwhelming, if they are used to what I now consider to be objectively higher standards.<br>
</div><div>On top of that, I also declared that I came very close to graduating magna cum laude, meaning that I came out of UZH with an overall respectable GPA, which would have been even higher had it not been for shortcomings that I wouldn't ascribe to my own person.
Did you somehow miss this element while reading my posts?<br>
I am not really sure what to make of the statement that UZH "requires a lot from its students", given that I have also studied at universities in Northern Europe, and if anything, I noticed a paucity of intellectual and emotional engagement in the Swiss educational model, as shown for example in the complete absence of seminars.
There is only this much information that students can obtain from lectures and self-study, and in my experience, the absence of seminars makes the whole teaching process less memorable, more reliant on pure memorisation, and rather distant from practical applications (students are supposed to enter the job market eventually).
To make an example, it seems to me that students are visibly less prone to ask thought-provoking questions in a lecture hall, as opposed to a seminar room, and in a purely theoretical discussion, as opposed to ones based upon specific issues.</div><div>
</div><div>Furthermore, is the university perhaps entitled to ask without giving? Are the students (people who pay to be there with their money, time and effort) not allowed to expect teaching services and educational facilities of the highest quality that is reasonably available?<br>
Is it too much to expect online services to also be available in English, when a whole degree programme is openly advertised as being taught in that language?<br>
Is it too much to offer students a sufficient number of study places at the university's libraries, even during peak periods? Is it too much to equip at least some of said places with up-to-date computers, given that not everybody has the habit of carrying their own laptop everywhere they go? <br>
Is it too much to ask designated supervisors to check on a monthly basis a student's draft thesis, so that the latter does not make any mistakes that could be easily avoided with enough transparency regarding formal and substantial criteria?
<br></div><div>I have no idea what you could possibly mean with "not everything is at your disposal just on the spot and without any kind of personal engagement" (what exactly is "personal engagement", what makes you think I did not exhibit it, what exactly do you think I demanded "just on the spot"), but your quick-paced and uncompromising dismissal of my position seems to indicate you have some pro-UZH bias.<br>
You claim that you "do not want to offend" me, and yet your entire rebuttal consists in an ad hominem that fails to address any specific point of my criticism in its substance.
Are you sincere when you say that you do not wish to offend me, given that you are openly accusing me of lacking "intellectual consistency and proficiency"?<br>
</div><div>I have been reasonably open about my status, would you also be so kind to clarify whether you are a student, a prospective student, an alumnus or teaching staff?
I am sure you understand that it is important to be open about any possible conflicts of interest</div>