Starting the AI bachelor at VU Amsterdam is exciting, but it can also be a lot. This post covers the practical stuff: what to do in your first week, and how to get through the rest of year 1 without burning out.

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Part 1: Your first week

Your first week is less about algorithms and more about logistics. Based on what the Class of 2028 ran into, here are the things that trip people up.

Sync your timetable IMMEDIATELY

Before anything else, go to rooster.vu.nl, find your schedule, and hit the sync button in the top right corner. You can subscribe with Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple Calendar. It auto-updates when rooms or times change, which happens more often than you'd expect.

Don't rely on checking the website manually. You will miss a room change eventually.

Canvas group sign-ups close FAST

This is the #1 thing that catches new students off guard. Several courses require you to sign up for tutor groups, practicum groups, or project groups through Canvas (People → Groups). The problem is that some deadlines close on the very first day of teaching, or even the day before.

For Introduction to AI, tutor groups are mandatory. Miss the sign-up and you get randomly assigned to whatever slot is left. For Computational Thinking, your practicum group IS your project group (worth 40% of your grade), so you're basically choosing your project partners on day one.

Check the Groups section the moment a course appears on Canvas. Set a calendar reminder for when courses go live.

Join the Mentor Program

The VU Mentor Program is free and specifically for first-year students. They run study prep sessions before exams, game nights, and peer mentoring with students who've already been through Year 1.

Most people don't know about it, which is a shame because it's one of the easiest ways to meet people who actually know how things work. Between the Mentor Program, the Librae Community (café meetups and social stuff), and STORM (the AI study association), you can have a decent social circle before October if you just show up.

Don't skip Week 1 videos

This is especially true for Computational Thinking, which uses a flipped classroom: you watch videos at home, then do cases in class. The Week 1 videos sometimes don't appear until a day or two into the period.

Students who waited for "everything to be ready" before starting found themselves behind by the end of Week 1. Turn on Canvas notifications and watch things as soon as they're posted.

Course-specific gotchas

A few things that surprised students in Period 1:

• Introduction to Psychology has a guessing penalty on exams. Random guessing can actually lower your score. Read the exam instructions.
• Introduction to AI tutor groups are mandatory for passing. This isn't the case for every course, so it catches people off guard.
• Computational Thinking Quiz 2 is harder than Quiz 1 for most people. Know Kruskal's algorithm.

Set up your tools early

• VS Code: Jupyter is used in some courses, but VS Code is better for managing project folders. Install both.
• Python: Get Anaconda installed before courses start. You'll need it for multiple courses.
• Canvas notifications: Turn these on. Group deadlines, schedule changes, and assignment clarifications all come through Canvas.

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Part 2: The rest of year 1

Once you've sorted out the logistics, the actual academic challenge starts. Here's what I wish someone had told me.

The workload is real

The AI bachelor is one of the heavier programs at VU. You'll be juggling Logic and Sets for AI, programming (Python), psychology, and AI-specific content, sometimes all in the same week. Don't underestimate the time commitment.

My advice: treat university like a job. Be on campus from 9 to 5, go to all lectures, and use the gaps between classes to work on assignments. If you do this consistently, you'll rarely need to work evenings or weekends.

Form a study group early

Find 3-4 people in your first week and commit to working together. You'll learn faster by explaining concepts to each other, stay motivated when things get rough, have people to split the work on group projects, and actually enjoy the whole thing more. This is probably the single most useful thing you can do.

Don't skip the math

It's tempting to focus on the "cool" AI stuff and coast through the foundations. Don't. Logic and Sets for AI, Computational Thinking, and programming fundamentals are what everything else builds on: machine learning, intelligent systems, computer vision, NLP. A weak foundation in year 1 will cost you in years 2 and 3.

Use the university resources

VU has a lot of support that most students either don't know about or don't bother with:

• Study advisors: they're there to help, not judge. If you're struggling, go talk to them early.
• Math support center: free drop-in tutoring for logic and math courses.
• Student psychologists: mental health matters, especially during exams.
• Career services: start thinking about internships from year 2.

Take care of yourself

This sounds obvious but it's easy to forget when deadlines pile up. Sleep enough, exercise, eat properly, and keep a social life outside of your studies. Burning out in year 1 is more common than you'd think, and it's not worth it.