I'm going to study in Stockholm

The time has finally come, more than 8 months after I received confirmation from my university.

On one hand, I’m really excited about this experience awaiting me; on the other, I’m sad to leave my family, my home, and my 10-year-old bunny for such a long time. But I know I’m extremely lucky to have this opportunity.

I chose Stockholm because I’ve always found Scandinavian countries incredibly fascinating, and for a Computer Science student, Stockholm is very appealing. It’s a world-renowned tech hub, often dubbed the “Silicon Valley of Europe” and home to major tech companies like Spotify. Also, since I decided not to go on Erasmus during my bachelor’s degree for a series of silly reasons, with my master’s degree, I wanted to make up for that mistake by going as far as possible, so I applied for a semester at Stockholm University.

Since I received the notification in January that I had indeed been accepted for the mobility program, I’ve been preparing everything necessary for the departure: documents, mobility agreements, paperwork, finding a house, taking out various medical insurances, completing learning agreements, and other bureaucratic tasks. As of today, August 17th, I can say that I am 100% ready to leave.

The biggest challenge was finding accommodation. The short- to medium-term rental market in Stockholm (probably like in any European capital) is very complicated, and finding a house (or even just a room) is really tough. The costs are very high, and the supply is very limited. Additionally, not being a Swedish citizen, and therefore not having a Swedish Personal Identity Number or a Swedish bank account, certainly didn’t help since many landlords and specialized websites require these.

This was the main focus of my days until mid-June, when the university in Sweden offered me a room in a student residence at a great price in one of the most convenient areas for reaching the Computer Science campus.

I accepted the offer immediately, lifting a huge weight off my shoulders, and from that point on, everything was downhill.

The next step was to finalize the Learning Agreement, which involves formalizing the exams I’ll take abroad and matching them with equivalent courses and credits from my home university.

Finally, after buying the plane ticket and taking out additional health insurance to cover everything not included in the European Health Insurance Card, I am officially ready.

A few days ago, I read a comment on TikTok from someone saying that going on Erasmus is something only rich people can do. I can confidently say that this is absolutely not the case. In fact, both the university and the European Union offer scholarships to everyone, divided into two parts: a fixed part for everyone (which varies slightly depending on the cost of living in the destination country, in Sweden’s case, €350/month) and a variable part based on each student’s financial situation. In most cases, the scholarship largely covers at least the housing expenses, and often much more.

So, it’s not something exclusively for the wealthy. However, what’s not trivial is having to advance many expenses before leaving, since the scholarship is paid in two parts: one before departure (about 70%) and the rest after returning. Moreover, the first part of the scholarship is disbursed literally just a few days before leaving. Therefore, all the money for the expenses that need to be covered before departure has to be advanced somehow. In my case, I had to advance around €1,000, including the first month’s rent, the deposit, health insurance, and the plane ticket. Not a fortune, but still not pocket change.