Exchange: Linkoping, Sweden
Name: Delamare Leonore
Study program: GMSI
Exchange location: Linkoping University Sweden
Accommodation
- Was it easy to find a room?
Yes I found a room on Facebook in 2 days (I sub rented from someone going on exchange) but I looked early around end of may.
- Did the university provide housing?
For some people they did but they told me I won’t get the room provided by uni and that I had to look myself.
- How expensive is housing?
For a corridor room it is around 300 euro a month and you usually have your own shower and bathroom and share the kitchen with 8 people.
Public transport
- Is public transport well organized?
Yes it is really easy and you can have a lot of student discounts
- How expensive is public transport?
For busses it is around 2 euro for a ticket for students and trains can be really cheap if you take them really early. Buses like flixbus or bus4you also works really well.
Study
- What is your experience with choosing the courses?
I found a lot of interesting courses but it was important to be careful when choosing them as numerous courses overlap with each other’s and Linkoping has 2 campus (1 hour by bus away from each other) so it might be overwhelming if you have 2 courses in the same day from 2 different campuses.
- Were the courses easier, comparable or harder than at Tilburg University?
It was easier. In general Linkoping University has a lot of courses in social sciences but it is clear that it is not their main focus (they have a lot of engineering programs) and it really felt like social science class where really easy. I didn’t have any exams, only 1 final paper per course and really little classes in the week.
General
- How is the student life in the city?
The university organize a lot of parties but you always have to buy tickets in advance on a student app called Orbi so you have to be fast. The city have some student pubs and clubs that organize things quite often but the city is small so you saw everything quite fast. Also alcohol in Sweden is expensive but student pubs are allowed to sell for cheaper so you should aim for these places.
- Is there an introduction day/week?
Yes there is a week with activities organized by ESN and ISA, the two main associations for Erasmus students. It is well organized and fun so you should really try to go to as much activities as possible, it is a great way to meet people from the beginning of the Erasmus.
- What are things people should definitely do/visit when they are there?
Linkoping is quite small but still a pretty city. If you come for the fall semester try to do as much hikes and outdoor activities when you arrive in august/September because it will be really cold fast and there is a lot of nice hikes around. And once you saw everything in the city you should definitely go to Stockholm and Gothenburg at least. Some buses are only 10/ 15euro and there is a lot of buses even some coming late in the evening so it is possible to go just for a day or a concert things like that.
