Ali Abroad

My Year Abroad at Uppsala University in Sweden

[uppsalasweden]

A short introduction and handy infographic

For any students struggling to pick an Uppsala nation right now - check this out! I love the infographic here, so handy and true! I wish it was available when I studied there. Gives you a good idea of what the reputation of each nation is: 

- by taggedforuppsala blogger

[animmigrantinsweden]

When you wanna know the difference between Påskmust and Julmust

[fresasparaelrey]

[Cake placed on a plate fall onto its side]

Swede: Shit now I won’t get married

[uppsalasweden]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-qZsBAwk1I)

A really insightful video about Sweden’s favorite pastime: FIKA! 

I miss having fika, for the coffee and pastries, but more so for the cozy cafes you can spend hours in just unwinding.

[useless-swedenfacts]

3 September 1967 was known as “Dagen H” in Sweden.  At 4:50, all drivers and bicyclists were required to stop their vehicles, slowly move their vehicles from the left side of the road to the right side of the road, and then wait patiently for 10 minutes.  At 5:00, they could resume.  Sweden changed from a country that drove on the left side of the road to one that drove on the right.

[uppsalasweden]

Hello Ali! First of all, thank you very much for your blog - it's been really helpful with planning my exchange at Uppsala University - I'm going there in August :) I have a question about winter and spring breaks there - are there any set longer breaks during the academic year? Thank you in advance!

Hello there! I’m glad my blog was helpful - and so happy you are going to beautiful Uppsala! And yes, there are breaks, quite long ones. For winter I ended up having about a month off, and there was also a break in spring. More specifically my winter break was December 18th - January 8th, and in spring it was about a week and a half in April. That being said the breaks really depend on the classes you are taking. Each class is usually a month long, so there may be a few days up to a week between one ending and another one beginning. Also, the lecture days are not always on the same days each week and only 2-4 days a week, so it may be that you have the last lecture for example on a Tuesday and the next one on next Thursday or something like that. At the end of the course (depending on the subject you study) you might only have to submit a paper online, so you don’t have to be at school physically at all, which means if you do the paper early you’ll have more days off. All this is great for travel, but it’s also easy to forget school should be your priority. Unfortunately schedules for classes are rarely published long in advance, but if you do need to make travel plans for breaks early and know the class you will be taking than I would recommend emailing the professor, they are usually very nice and understanding. Hope this helps, if you have more questions about anything at all let me know! And good luck in Uppsala!

[animmigrantinsweden]

How Swedes try to explain “lagom”

[swedenized]

[uppsalasweden]

person: how much do you want?

swede: lagom.

[uppsalasweden]

I also go to SFSU and I am currently in Uppsala for the year. I just wanted to say your blog is really great! :)

Whoa thank you so much!! This was so amazing to get such a nice message, I really appreciate you taking the time to send it. I hope you enjoy Uppsala and SF State as well, I miss them both dearly! Stay warm and try to combat the winter depression with lots of glögg and kanelbullar ;)

[uppsalasweden]

Hey, I'm so glad I found your blog, I'm at CSULB and applying to Uppsala for next year. Just a quick question. My deadline's really close and I'm suddenly panicking that Sweden isn't the best program. The IP application website seems to say you have to be accepted in a program (I guess I would be Global/International Studies as I'm a POSC/IST major) but the list looks quite restrictive of classes you can take. Did you find it difficult to transfer classes back over the CSU system?

My advice is talk to your advisor. Go print out all the information on all the courses you can find that might transfer over, even if they are very vague or don’t seem too related to your subject. Take them all to your major advisor, to your minor advisor if you have one, and also try the general education advisor. Once they fill in that form in the application where they sign off on what courses will transfer over to fill in which requirements that is the law! Then when you come back it will be really easy for them to look at the form and transfer the classes, and it’s very unlikely someone will tell you that the advisor was wrong. However if you go to Sweden and take a course that nobody has signed off on that is where problems begin, because you have to inform the CSU IP office and then after you come back submit some additional paperwork, so it’s kind of a hassle. Look beyond the Global/International Studies courses, if you have any general education to complete or some other extra courses Uppsala might offer something in English that will fit. Explain to your advisors that you are not sure if the exact same courses will be offered (because sometimes courses get canceled, it’s rare, but happens) and it’s better if they sign off on as many courses as they can, then you have more flexibility just in case. This is probably the most important step in the whole application. I had no problem with transferring the courses once I came back, all were signed off on before I left and I was able to double count some for both my major and minor. If the advisors sign off on them before you go abroad it gives you a sort of guarantee that you’re not wasting your time and also gives the CSU IP office a peace of mind that you’re actually progressing with your degree. Best of luck, I hope everything goes well and let me know if you have any more questions!!

[uppsalasweden]

Hi I'm considering studying abroad in Uppsala and I have a question hopefully you can answer... I think you said that there is a 3 week vacation and that during that time you went to visit your family... If you have nowhere to go can you stay in your housing during that time and if you can, do you have to pay extra for it?

Yes of course you can stay in the housing, and no, you don’t pay extra. Even if you leave for the break you still have to pay the month’s rent. A lot of people use that time to travel and see a bit of Europe, so maybe you will meet some study abroad friends who want to explore the continent with you. Also, the length of the break really depends on the classes you take, when one is ending and the other beginning. Best of luck, and let me know if you have more questions!

[useless-swedenfacts]

fika isn’t just food, fika is an experience

my friend in school today on the subject of typical swedish things (via useless-swedenfacts)

[uppsalasweden]

Any advice for living in Sweden

Wear leggings under your jeans in winter. Get as much sun as possible. Go drinking with Swedes, try snaps, hate it, then have some more. Stuff your face with kanelbullar. Try learning Swedish and eventually make peace with giving it up. Fall in love with everything Swedish to the point where blue and yellow gives you a feeling of nostalgia wherever you are.

If you want some more specific advice let me know!

[uppsalasweden]

I have so many questions! So Im a junior in American high school but i really want to study at Uppsala for college. Do you know if their bachelor programs for biology or bachelor of science are in English? Like are the courses in English? I can hardly understand the website. Also, how is the acceptance rate? Is it near impossible to get in? What would boost an international students chances of getting in? Please get back whenever you have time!!

Hi there! So the bad news is that from my insider’s knowledge I learned that Uppsala is actually moving away from English language courses for the Bachelor’s program and focusing on developing their international Master’s program. I just looked at their website and found no trace of Bachelor’s courses in English. This is not only a problem for people who want to study there full time, but even exchange students have difficulty finding courses that correspond to their level and the numbers of people going there on exchange are expected to drop significantly for next year. Here is a website of the Biology Education Center, which runs the Bio courses and as you scroll halfway it clearly states that the Bachelor’s program is offered only in Swedish. I don’t know about other universities in Sweden, but if you would like to do some research on that here is a good website to start with. I’m really sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you have any more questions about Uppsala or somewhere else in Sweden please let me know! Thank you for the ask!

[uppsalasweden]

Hej, bardzo Ci dziękuję za wszystkie wskazówki i uwagi opublikowane na blogu :) Jestem studentem, który w tym roku jedzie do Uppsali na wymianę. Tak jak Tobie, przydzielono mi pokój na Kungsgatan 27, dlatego chciałem się do Ciebie zwrócić z pytaniem: Czy jest możliwość przenocowania kogoś w pokoju? Czy trzeba ten fakt zgłaszać kierownictwu hotelu? Czy przy wejściu należy każdorazowo zgłaszać się do recepcji? Z góry dziękuję za pomoc :)

For non-Polish people the question is: Is it possible to have someone stay overnight at Kungsgatan 27? Do you have to check them in at the front desk of the hotel? 

I hope it’s okay that I answer in English.

There is a separate entrance to the student rooms, so you don’t go through the hotel lobby, they actually don’t like it if you do. Therefore, if you have someone stay over nobody needs to know. It’s very independent and the people at the hotel honestly don’t care about your business. On the other hand if you have someone visiting there is a possibility to rent out an extra bed with sheets and towels for a low price, which is super helpful and I used it several times when my family was visiting.

Mam nadzieje że to wyjaśnia sprawę. Mówiąc krótko: tak jest możliwość i nic nie trzeba zgłaszać. Daj znać jeśli masz więcej pytań. Miłego pobytu w Uppsali i proszę pozdrów Kungsgatan 27!

[uppsalasweden]

I'm an American and I have Swedish heritage. I have always been interested in Sweden and I would really like to apply to Uppsala this year (I'm a senior in high school). How much would I have to pay if at all? I could stay in a dorm right? Please just share a shit ton of knowledge with me especially regarding the application process. If you don't mind

Just a word of caution: Uppsala University is moving away from Bachelor’s courses in English, so it might be difficult, if not impossible, to find them. Do some research early on, because it might turn out only the Master’s programs are in English. I would also suggest checking out websites of other Swedish universities to see what the situation is like there.

Here is an excellent website about studying in Sweden. Swedish universities are free for EU citizens, but for US there is a tuition. It might be much less than what you would pay in the States, it all depends on the school and the program, and you can find specific information on the website. There is student housing available, though it looks a bit different from American dorms, and from what I heard if you are a tuition paying student (meaning outside of EU) the university helps you find housing. As for the application process there is information on the website. You apply online and there is an application fee, but other than that I can’t tell you anything more, because I have only been on exchange and did not go through the application myself. I might apply this year for a master’s degree though, so as the time goes on and if you need more help let me know and I will be happy to go through it with you! 

Thank you for the ask! Let me know if you have more questions and good luck with your senior year and college applications!