At the end of last week, the admission results for the autumn semester 2021 have been sent out – isn’t that exciting? 🤩 But with exciting times comes also a lot of questions which you could raise for example on our Instagram account during the past days. Vivek, my fellow student blogger has started to answer some of your questions yesterday already and today, I’ll try to answer some more questions so that you can start into the new week with less question marks in your head!
How is covid-19 influencing the current study situation? Are there any physical classes?
Many of you raised questions related to the current covid-19 pandemic. Right now, during the spring semester all classes are conducted online. However, the facilities on campus are open for studying as well as the library and the restaurant. Everyone at KTH is working hard on keeping study places open, this is why it’s important to follow the rules, when visiting the campus. Depending on how the situation evolves, decisions will be made for the upcoming autumn semester which you can read more about here. Some of you also wanted to know whether there will be introduction weeks despite covid-19. KTH and THS (the student’s union) are both working hard on providing you with a great start into your life in Stockholm and at KTH and will do their best to have digital and/or physical introduction activities.
Photo by: Annusyirvan Fatoni
Can I work part-time while studying? How can I find a job or an internship?
If you would like to work part-time while studying to get some practical experiences or to finance your studies in Stockholm, this is of course possible. You should, however, keep in mind that you’re also a full-time student and I personally recommend to check-out the study environment and your classes first, before deciding on a job. Some programmes might allow you to have a regular part-time job on specific days of the week, for others it might be handier to have a job where you can decide when you’re working. For all jobs and internships applies: you’re responsible for finding the job that you like and fits best to you. However, KTH provides you with a lot of help regarding applications, etc. You can check out this link for more info 💻
When do applications open for 2022?
Some of you seem to be super prepared and asked us when the applications for 2022 will open. If you would like to start your studies in autumn 2022, you should keep your eyes open on our website in October 2021. This is when the application process for the master’s programmes will start.
We have also received some questions about accommodation. There will be a webinar coming up 22nd April 2021 from 16:00 – 17:00 (CEST) for all fee-paying and scholarship holder students – you can sign up for it here. In addition, Vivek and I will soon provide you with more info on student housing on the blog, so stay tuned! 🏡
We hope that we solved some of your questions! // Maria
The wait is finally over! The admissions results are announced and I hope you made it through. If not, nothing is lost since there is always a next time. We understand that all the students will have loads of questions spiralling through their mind about a bunch of things like accommodations, tuition fees, what next, etc. So we thought, let’s try and answer as much as possible. Ivan, our Instagram curator created an Instagram “Ask us anything” forum yesterday. As expected we received numerous questions from you and in the next two blogs, I and Maria will try and address those questions as much as possible.
I have been selected for the master’s programme at KTH. Do I need to accept the results somewhere?
No, Students offered admission to a master’s programme are by default considered to be willing to join the programme. So you do not have to do anything. However, if you wish to decline the offer, you can communicate that to the university so that a student on the waiting list will be offered admissions.
In what way will students be assisted by KTH till the time of arrival to KTH?
KTH offers numerous assistance to reach out to students. Every selected student will be contacted by a current KTH student through your email to schedule a call with you, to answer all your queries. This happens during the call-up week between 15-30 April 2021. Multiple webinars are lined up to interact with the students about specific topics such as next steps after admission results, residence permit, sustainability at KTH, accommodations etc. You can find more details about the webinar here. Admitted students can also be part of the KTH Facebook group and connect with fellow admitted students and KTH staff.
What next after getting the admission results for an International student?
Keeping calm! I would understand that students would be tensed about the next steps, but I can assure you that it would be smoother than you expect it to be. The primary next steps would be paying the student fees, applying for accommodation and getting the residence permit. You can read a more detailed blog post about the next step to be done here.
My waiting list is ‘X’ in Y master’s programme. Is there any chance of getting admitted? How will I be notified of it?
This is one of the most frequent questions, but we do not have a straight answer to it. I was also on the waiting list the first time I applied to KTH and I did not get admissions. I reapplied the next year and now I am here. On contrary, I have seen a few people who did get admitted in the second round after being on the waiting list. So, it would be difficult to have a definite answer to this question. There would be no live updates if you are moving up on the waiting list. KTH will contact you through email during the end of May or June 2021if you are offered admission on the waiting list.
When will international students have to come to Stockholm in order not to miss the welcome reception?
The arrival days are 02 and 22 August 2021. You can plan to reach Stockholm on any one of these days to enjoy the services KTH offers such as free bus service from Arlanda airport to the KTH campus, pick-up of your accommodation keys, student guides, activating your KTH IT accounts etc. Although, it is recommended that you reach Stockholm by 22 August 2021 to not miss the mandatory School introduction.
I hope this blog post answered your questions. You can also read Maria’s blog tomorrow where she will continue to answer your questions.
If you are New at KTH, this is a page that you must bookmark.
Have you applied to start studying at KTH this autumn? Then today is your day! Today, the admission results will be sent out! I still remember the day perfectly fine where I got my admission result. It is now already two years ago that I was sitting at my bachelor’s university in my Spanish class. That was the only course that I was taking alongside writing my bachelor’s thesis and I was hoping to not get any notifications while trying to concentrate during class.
KTH courtyard (Photo by: Annusyirvan Fatoni)
However, I was not that lucky, and so in the middle of the class, I checked my phone and had received an e-mail about the admission results. I was so excited that I couldn’t wait for the class to be over, so I started checking the message and then saw it: I have been admitted to KTH! 🥳 Of course, exactly in this moment my teacher noticed that I wasn’t paying attention and asked me something that I couldn’t answer …
But oh well, this is how it usually goes, right? You’re waiting for an important message and it usually reaches you in the weirdest moments. But I think this is what makes us remember those days even more! And as you can see, I can still remember the day I got my admission result vividly, and I really hope all of you out there who are waiting for an e-mail will remember this day just as I remember mine. After the class, I still couldn’t really believe that I got accepted and when telling my family I still had mixed feelings as I think the message still hadn’t properly reached my mind. But I can tell you: after the first “shock” you’ll be super happy and excited about this new adventure! 🤩
Congratulations to all of you who got accepted! Maybe some of you got their result in a funny or weird situation as well? Let me know your own story in the comments!
Upcoming events for newly admitted students:
If you have any questions about your admission, you should join our Admission Weekend (10 – 11 April at 12:00 – 16:00 CEST)!
We’ll be hosting an Admission results webinar on 10 April from 12:00 – 13:00 (CEST), and chat support on our New at KTH section on the website.
You find all these events for newly admitted students here.
This is also the place where you can find a link to our Facebook and QQ groups for newly admitted students. To always be up to date about student life at KTH, we recommend you to follow our Instagram account. 😊
It was a long Easter break, one that I was looking forward to amidst the stress to keep up with the thesis work. Given that the sun is out longer now, I planned to be in nature and spend time hiking and exploring parts of Stockholm I have never visit. Björnö national park was a place that was highly recommended by many and was also on my list for long that I decided to give it a try. And I was in total awe of the scenic views that it provided.
Walk any trail and follow any turn, I found myself in the profound beauty of the Baltic sea and Stockholm archipelagos. Fortunately, the place wasn’t crowded with people as it does in the Summers. I had the luxury of taking in the impressive views over the horizons of the baltic sea sitting on the warm beach sand while listening to the soft waves crashing towards the shore, a book in the hand, floating white clouds and sun above the head, it was a moment that quenches the thirst for solitude in this hustling world.
There is a direct bus to björnö national park from Slusen and takes less than 40 minutes. When it’s warm enough, you can also camp at the designated sites in the national reserve which are also beautiful campsites (Ramsviken, Norrviken & Nasset). All three campsites have toilets, freshwater for drinking and a fireplace for BBQs.
Comment below your most favourite place in Stockholm and I would love to hear recommendations on places to explore.
Once summer is coming along (and the covid-19 cases hopefully decreasing), you might want to travel a bit around the country. With its length of ~ 1600 kilometres, Sweden is a large country with lots to see both north and south of Stockholm! 🤩 For this, I would like to share some of my experiences about means of travelling with you today.
Travelling by train
The trains in Sweden are operated by SJ and it’s a comfortable and safe way to travel through the country. Also a plus: usually the trains are on time in Sweden which is very convenient. One time, when travelling to Falun, I had a train delay of about 1 hour and already got parts of the ticket price refunded as a compensation which worked easily online. If you want to travel a longer distance, going by train is also a good solution: on my trip to Kiruna I took the overnight train. Here you can choose whether you want to have a small room with a bed or if you just want to book a seat. As with every transportation option, booking early is usually cheaper than last minute. 🚆
Kiruna train station
Travelling by car
Especially when you plan a round trip or a trip to multiple places, a car can be handy. With friends I have rented a car multiple times now in Sweden. There are many options available on the internet where you can compare prices and find the best solution for your trip! When travelling to Småland and then down to Malmö and Ystad taking the car was quite handy as you are not tied to any train schedules and connections. I can also recommend a car, if you want to see many different spots in one place that you can’t reach by walking. Bear in mind that the driving conditions can vary, especially when going up north during autumn or winter times! When driving through the forest, there can also be animals like reindeers hopping on the street, so drive carefully! Especially when travelling in a group, taking the car can be super fun! 🚗
Picking up the car at the car rental
Travelling by plane
Sweden is a large country and so it is also possible to take the plane from one place to the other. However, taking the plane consumes quite some time as well, as you need to be at the airport early enough and delays can be common too. In addition, it’s not very sustainable, so I recommend evaluating other means of travelling before choosing the plane. Sometimes, it can happen, that the plane is the only option like on my Kiruna trip. As mentioned earlier, going there was easy as I was able to take the overnight train. However, coming back to Stockholm was more difficult, because there were very few trains going down south due to construction works on the tracks. For this, it was quite handy to have the option of taking the plane as well. 🛫
Of course, you can also reach some destinations by ship, for example when you want to travel to Gotland or over to Finland. You can see, there are different means of travelling through Sweden. Before each trip, you should think about what you would like to see and calculate how much budget you want to spend. This way, you can decide which way of travelling might be best for your journey!
Mental health is a serious topic relevant anywhere across the globe and constructive dialogues and awareness about it are now essential more than ever. It is understandable that students constantly are in a phase of stress and anxiety. Mental health, similar to physical health is something that should never be neglected. Thus, there are a number of support mechanisms established for students to enable us to deal with the challenges that mental health poses. In this blog post, I take you through the infrastructure that is in place at KTH and Stockholm.
Stockholm Student Health Services
Stockholm student health services offer therapist and counsellor services to students studying in various universities in Stockholm including KTH. All the services are free of charge. It is also possible to avail services in English if the student is not comfortable in Swedish. For more details or to book appointments, you can check out their website.
Chaplaincy
It is also possible to talk to a Chaplain about matters troubling a student and all the conversations would be kept confidential. I did not know what chaplaincy was before writing this blog. According to Wikipedia “Chaplains are pastoral practitioners who seek to build a relationship of trust through the compassionate presence and thereby offer help and support to a wide range of people”. So if you think this resource would help you, feel free to contact them. You can find more details here.
Vårdcentral, 1177
Vårdcentral also offers psychological support along with its healthcare services. Appointments can be made by calling 1177 or by logging into the website portal. More details to seek psychiatric care can be read here.
I hope this blog is one step forward in creating more awareness about mental health and addressing challenges associated with it. Let me know in the comment sections if you have any questions. I would like to end the blog by reminding you that –
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