Reviews of Umeå Universitet (UMU) | Sweden

Useful | 0

Renske S

Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, Arnhem, Netherlands
Management Science, Graduate, Independent

Expenses

Main source of funding:

Other

Other sources of funding:

Other

Work opportunities:

I didn't explore any work options

Personal spending habits

At home I lived with my parents most of the time. I didn't go out as much.

Food, Overall, Nightlife:

was more expensive than at home.

Telephone, Travel:

was the same price as at home.

Housing:

was less expensive than at home.

Accessibility of student needs

Second-hand text books

Second-hand household items

Computers / Internet

Administrative

Money from home

Personal comments

Fly cheap, with RyanAir to Stockholm. Then it is also possible to take a train and/or bus from Stockholm to Umeå but this takes quite long. Try to book the textbooks you need from the library. Ask a friend to book it after you since you can only keep it two weeks per booking. The courses take 4,5 so two bookings in a row should be enough.

Useful | 0

Renske S

Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, Arnhem, Netherlands
Management Science, Graduate, Independent

Academic

Course recommendations

Option to take elective courses outside the business school.

My academic experiences

Quality of courses

Variety of courses

Access to resources

Interaction with teachers

Interaction with international students

Interaction with local students

Personal comments

Overall I can be satisfied. I think there are always things to improve. Luckily Umeå University's Business School values the evaluation of the students.

My opinion of the university assessment

Exams at end of course

Exams throughout the course

Essays and/or projects at the end of course

Essays and/or projects throughout the course

Overall

Useful | 3

Renske S

Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, Arnhem, Netherlands
Management Science, Graduate, Independent

Overall

I wish I had known...

no

In my opinion:

Everybody loved it, you will too!

Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important

Academic reasons

3

Culture

2

Costs

4

Activities

2

Campus life

3

Party / people

3

Weather / location

2

Personal recommendation

It is great. There are many Swedish students from the South that go up to live and study in Umeå because the atmosphere is more personal. There were also some exchange students that chose to stay longer during their stay and earn a double degree. It says something about how nice the student/social life is.

During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot

Became familiar with another culture

3

Traveled

3

Improved language skills

2

Met people from other countries

4

Became more independent

4

Partied a lot

4

Experienced a change in life

4

Advanced my studies & career

4

Final comments

Get a membership card from IKSU. It's very cheap and good facilities. Sports is very popular in Sweden. Fika is too. This is drinking coffee and eating cake every single day! Unhealthy, so you will need to get the IKSU membership card ;-) Be aware of the short amount of daylight during autumn/winter. Go home for Christmas and during summer time. Hardly anyone will stay in Umeå so the city that has about 1/3 of students will seem dead. Be aware of the amount of snowfall (6 months a year). It can be very slippery in the last months of winter and the first months of spring! It takes long to disappear completely. Be aware of the Swedish drinking habits. They are quite shy (they say the further up North you go, the shyer they get). This is why they drink heaps when going out and they might get a bit annoying.

Useful | 0

Renske S

Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, Arnhem, Netherlands
Management Science, Graduate, Independent

Languages

Language of instruction: English

Local language was: Different than language of instruction

Was learning English a key decision factor?

Yes, I wanted to improve my English

Was learning Swedish a key decision factor?

Yes, I wanted to improve my Swedish

How much did you improve your English?

My level before: No problems in any areas (including slang)
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)

How much did you improve your Swedish?

My level before: Did not speak it
My level after: Did not speak it

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

It was unfortunate that again the exchange students were offered the Swedish language course no matter what. The freemover students (who were usually staying longer, 2 semesters) did not get in until the second semester. This lowered my motivation.

Useful | 0

Renske S

Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, Arnhem, Netherlands
Management Science, Graduate, Independent

Housing

Type of housing: student flats

Arranged by: Independently - My choice

If returning, I would choose: student flats

Why?

It was perfect. Living together with other students in a suburb full of students (6000) closely located to a big sport centre and just a few minutes from university.

Personal assessment

Cost

Facilities

Location

Cleanliness

Space

Personal comments

It was good but for freemovers it is harder to get. Exchange students get placements no matter what. For me it took quite long. I shared a emergency-housing appartment with another student for over 3 months.

Useful | 0