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Sample iStudy review

This review is by a former international student. Students complete their reviews online, which takes about 15 minutes. The vast majority of students write informative, enthusiastic reviews like this one.

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Uppsala Universitet, Sweden

Review by timu

Course:	Undergraduate	timu's overall rating: 3.4/4
University of origin:	Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Country of nationality:	Spain
Area of study:	Management Science
Program:	Erasmus
Period abroad:	August 1995 - July 1996

Housing

Type of housing:
On campus

Arranged by:
Host university

If returning, this reviewer would choose:
Apartment/House
Why? Apartments are not much more expensive than student housing and it would allow me to share it with some friends that I pick. On the other hand I could pick the location.

Personal assessment



Cost		KEY: Couldn't have asked for more. Pretty good. Could've been better, but didn't lessen the overall experience. Disappointing.
Facilities
Location
Cleanliness
Space

Personal comments:
Sudent accomodation in Uppsala is very good but some campuses are a bit far. I would avoid living in Polacksbacken for instance. If you are sent there try to discuss it with your coordinator. If you can speak with exchange students who go to your university while you are at theirs you could try to swap rooms, that's the only way you'll get a room in the Nations dorms where there's usually a huge waiting list. The best Nation dorms are the ones of Kalmar, Ostogota, Snerikes and Stockholms.

rating:
3.0/4

Student/Social Life

Describe host city:
Student life dominates the city

Nightlife, Activities take/s place mostly within the university/student environment

Travel take/s place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal social experiences



Activities		KEY: Amazing! Hardly had time to study. Plenty to do when I had the time. So-so. Did not get involved.
Nightlife
Travel
Overall

Personal comments:
The social life at Uppsala is really great and everything happens within the confines of the student Nations. There are 13 Nations representing each one of the Swedish regions. Every night you can go out, either to a pub or to a club.
My party itinerary:
Tuesdays: Snerikes Wednesdays: V-Dala or Ostgota Thursdays: Stockholms Fridays: Vermlands Saturdays: V-dala Sundays: Snerikes Mondays: Varmlands but only after exams, once a month.
My favourite nightspot was definitely Stockholms on Thursdays. You should definitely pick the Nation whose party you like the most. Mine was Stockholms, it's reputed for being the hippest and the one with the nicest girls :) You'll get in for free when it's your Nation or if you get ther before 8pm. The party starts at 10pm so you'll have time to spend what you saved at the bar, usually you can eat there too so if you can make ...

rating:
4.0/4

Academic

Course recommendations:
Business Strategy Management is the best course I took there, really impressive. International Marketing is a good value course (measured by the amount of work it takes to get good grades). A huge percentage of students couldn't pass the Corporate Finance course but it's a very interesting one. Courses with essays (as opposed to exams) offer the best value.

My academic experiences



Quality of courses		KEY: Fantastic. Pretty good. Could've been a bit better. Disappointing.
Variety of courses
Availability/access to resources
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with other international students
Interaction with local students

My opinion of the university assessment

Exams at end of course KEY:
Liked it.
It was alright.
A bit annoying.
Didn't like it.

Exams throughout the course

Essays and/or projects at the end of course.

Essays and/or projects throughout the course

Overall

Personal comments:
It would have been better if there were more native English teachers, more case studies and better local student involvement.

rating:
3.0/4

Language

The language of instruction was:
English

My proficiency in the language of instruction:
before: At ease in most situations
after: No problems in any areas (including slang)

The local language was:
Different than language of instruction

My proficiency in the local language:
before: Did not speak it
after: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)

Learning the local language was not a factor in choosing my host country

Language difficulties



Social		KEY: No problems. I coped pretty well. Sometimes it was difficult. It was a constant struggle.
Educational
Administrative / Institutional
Overall

Personal comments:
I would highly recommend that people make the effort to learn Swedish, it can seriously improve your experience and Swedish people will really appreciate it. For non native English speakers, I would suggest that you read a few books in English before the beginning of the courses. You will be surprised to see that it's really hard to memorize things in another language so don't be mislead by your understanding ability, assimilation requires another language level.

rating:
4.0/4

Expenses

Main source of funding:
Family

Other sources of funding:
Family
Government assistance
An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities
I worked during my study abroad experience.
I worked on-campus.

Personal spending habits:
Sweden is more expensive than Spain and I spent a lot of money partying (alcohol is rather expensive), travelling and calling home. Well worth it!

The accessibility of student needs



Second-hand text books		KEY: Very easy. Minimal effort. Accessible but required effort. Almost impossible.
Second-hand household items
Second-hand bedding
Administrative
Money from home

Overall, Food, Nightlife, Telephone, Travel was more expensive than at home

Housing was less expensive than at home

Personal comments:
Make sure to get a Swedish Personummer - it will simplify your life a lot.

rating:
3.0/4

Additional information

I wish I had known ...
I wished I had known more Swedish. I would have tried to get a room closer to downtown. I would have brought a 'tuxedo' from home and then I would have been able to go to the traditional Gaskes.

In my opinion:
Everybody loved it, you will too!

Important to me ...



Academic reasons		KEY: Very Important. Important. Not really important. Unimportant.
Culture
Costs
Activities
Campus life
Party / people
Weather / Location

During my experience abroad, I ...

Became familiar with another culture KEY:
Happened all the time.
Happened quite a lot.
Happened a bit.
Didn't happen.

Traveled

Improved language skills

Met people from other countries

Became more independent

Partied a lot

Experienced a change in life

Advanced my studies/career

Personal recommendation:
I would very strongly recommend it. This review shows why :)

Additional comments:
- Go to Goteborg Nation for Valborg and make sure you get tickets, you'll have one day only and there's bound to be a HUGE line so you should find out when that day is and wake up very early. You have to get used to the 'queuing' culture. Valborg is crazy and it is probably also the best time to invite over your friends from home. - Take time to travel around in Sweden and outside. You should definitely go to Stockholm, Kiruna, Goteborg, Gotland and Lund (I'm ashamed to say that I didn't go there but everybody says it's just great). Take a week at least for Norway a long weekend for the Baltic countries and maybe Finland. St Petersburg is also bound to be pretty cool. If you have the chance you could even venture to Germany, Poland and Tchek Republick (Berlin, Warsaw, Crakow and Prague). ...

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