Building Belonging Across 114 Nationalities: How the University of Antwerp Connects Students Before Arrival

Hear from the University of Antwerp

Want to hear the story directly from the team?

In this short conversation, Parul Goel, Coordinator, International Students Office, and Celine Kuysters, Marketing and Communication Strategist, share why building friendships before arrival matters, how students support one another through the community, and why the University of Antwerp trusts Goin to manage the experience.

Building Confidence Before Day One

For many international students, the biggest challenge isn't academics. It's arriving somewhere completely new without knowing a single person. That experience is something the University of Antwerp understands well.

As the team reflects:

"I wish I had a community before I got to Belgium. I came here as an international student and I wish I'd known people before I arrived because it was quite homesick."

Today, incoming students have a very different experience. On average, students build nine friendships before arriving on campus, giving them familiar faces to meet once they arrive in Antwerp. That early sense of connection has a meaningful impact on how students feel about starting university.

Across both international and domestic students, 93% say that having access to their student community reassures them that they have made the right decision to study at the University of Antwerp.

That experience is reflected in the words of Daniel from Cameroon:

"As someone moving from Cameroon to Belgium, connecting with other students before arriving makes the whole experience feel less overwhelming. It gives you the opportunity to make friends, ask questions, share information about accommodation, travel, and university life, and arrive already knowing a few people."

Supporting Students Without Creating More Work

For university teams, the busiest onboarding period often arrives just as many colleagues take their summer holidays.At Antwerp, this meant students were still looking for answers while staff capacity was naturally reduced.

As the team explains:

"We were hoping to achieve two things. One, onboarding support during the summer months, because that's when a lot of our colleagues are on holiday and students are emailing random offices asking for help. It's great that they can get that help from their own community. The second is conversion."

Rather than relying solely on university staff, students increasingly support one another.

Today, 87% of student questions are answered by fellow students, allowing incoming students to receive fast, authentic advice from peers who have recently experienced the same journey themselves.

The result is a community that continues helping students around the clock while reducing repetitive questions for university teams.

Giving Students the Freedom to Build Their Own Community

One of the university's priorities wasn't only helping students connect but giving them the freedom to decide how they wanted those connections to happen. Students create communities around the interests that matter to them.

Today, students have created nearly 50 niche communtiites, covering everything from practical topics to shared hobbies and identities.

Some of the most active communities include:

• 🏠 Housing
• 🗺️ Ask a Question About Antwerp
• 🧘 Workout, Yoga & Meditation
• 🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+

As the team explains:

"They get to create their own groups. We're not just saying you need to be in this group because you're a Chinese student. If a Chinese student wants to join the Finnish sauna lovers group, they can, or they can create one themselves. That's giving students more independence and responsibility."

That flexibility encourages students to connect around shared interests rather than assumptions, creating friendships that feel natural rather than organised.

For Nehir from Bulgaria, those early connections quickly became real relationships.

"I have already met with some of my classmates and other students and it is nice to know that there are people that you can get a coffee with, socialize and share experiences before the semester begins."

A Community the University Can Trust

Creating an engaging student community often sounds like it requires significant staff time. For the University of Antwerp, the opposite has been true. The university has confidence that students are being supported while Goin' takes care of the community experience.

As the team explains:

"From the university management side, it's great that we can hand over that part of the onboarding to Goin'. We know everything's taken care of, we don't need to be working on it day to day, and we trust them."

That trust allows staff to focus their attention where it has the greatest impact, while students continue building friendships and helping one another throughout the onboarding journey.

Supporting Student Conversion Through Early Connection

The University of Antwerp has also seen those early connections reflected in student enrolment.

According to the team:

"Before working with Goin' and after working with Goin' we did see an increase in the percentage of accepted to enrolled students. So we did see our conversions increase."

Today, 84% of international students who join the Goin' Community indicate they are more likely to choose the University of Antwerp, demonstrating how creating friendships and reducing uncertainty before arrival helps students move confidently from offer holder to enrolled student.

Friendships Start Before Students Arrive

The University of Antwerp recognises that today's students build relationships differently than previous generations.

As the team puts it:

"Friendships have always been important for students, but in this digital world they've moved from offline friendships to online friendships. The post-COVID generation is much more comfortable with online friendships."

For Batel from Armenia, that made all the difference.

"I was recommended to join the app by fellow Master Mind scholarship students, and being here has given me reassurance and a sense of community even before I move to Belgium, which makes me even more excited to be there."

As our conversation came to a close, we asked Parul Goel and Celine Kuysters what advice they would give to students preparing to start university abroad.

"It's crucial when you're an international student and you're going to a new destination to not to stick to what you know and really make yourself open to connecting with new communities. Antwerp has a very diverse classroom, which allows you to meet people from all over the world. It's an opportunity you don't have every day, and being open to new cultures is probably the most important thing."

That openness is exactly what the University of Antwerp hopes every student experiences before they arrive. By helping students build friendships, ask questions, and connect across cultures before day one, the university is ensuring students don't begin their journey as strangers.

They arrive already feeling part of the community.