Student blogs

Congratulations to everyone who got their results! In this blog, I hope to share some of my own feelings from when I got my results and prompt you guys with some questions to think about as you make a decision.

Was your heart racing receiving the notification or maybe were you already nervously waiting for days already? Now that you have gotten your acceptance, you should first…. celebrate! Call your family and friends, go out for dinner, get yourself a sweet treat (always) and let the whole world know.

After all of that, I suggest that you sit down and think about the road ahead. Personally, I was debating between KI and another school with a different programme. So, I really needed to consider multiple factors.

Programme and academic related concerns

You should revisit some of the questions you asked yourself back when you first applied like I suggested in my post on applying for the Molecular Techniques in Life Sciences (MTLS).

• What are the courses I can take?
• What skills can I develop?
• Which research lab would I want to have contact with?
• How long is the programme? Does that align with the timeline I have in mind?
• Does the programme give me opportunities to do internships?
• Do I want to do a PhD?
• What are the difficulties of the courses?
• What have the current students said about the course?
• What is the classroom and academic culture like?
• How are the courses graded? How are we assessed?

Perhaps things have changed in the two months for you since the application or perhaps you need to ask these same questions again in the context of not just a perspective interested student but an accepted student. I recommend reading some semester reflections or overviews on this student blog since they can give a better insight into the programme dynamics outside of the course syllabus.

Living in Sweden

On top of actual academics, you should also consider asking where do you ideally see yourself outside of academics. If you are like me, I did not take these into mind as much when I was applying but instead heavily thought about them when I got accepted.

• Can I live in cold weather? Can I handle the dark winter?
• How far is Sweden away from home? Do I want to be able to go home often?
• How can I make Sweden feel more like home?
• Can I live in a place where they speak a different language than I do?
• What groceries can I buy there? Can I buy ingredients to make food from home?
• What is the nightlife like? What is Stockholm like?
• What accommodation can I get? Can I live with others? Could I share a corridor room where I share a kitchen with many people? Alternatively, could I live alone?
• Is there a community of students also from my country there?

To get insights into these questions, feel free to reach out to the digital ambassadors here or go through some of the blogs and Instagram posts. Alternatively, you can also visit the Study in Sweden blogs! (where my one and only Jamaican friend here is also a Digital Ambassador) The Study in Sweden blogs offer other perspectives on living here that we might have missed so do take some time to read their content as well.

Financial and legal concerns for moving to Sweden

For the final category, it contains questions that are less about general living but more about some realities of getting here. This includes financial considerations and the residence permit.

• What financial options do I have?
• How would I get the residence permit?
  • How long does it take? What are the documents I need? Bank documents?Do I need to head to an embassy? Where is the nearest embassy for my region or my country?
  • What are the residence permit fees?
• What is the cost of living in Stockholm? How much would I pay per month for rent? Transportation? Food?
• Can I legally get a job as a student? What are some options on campus? Off campus?

I would encourage you to properly look through the official channels like Migrationsverket to get a good idea of what to expect if you decide to come to KI.

What is most important to you?

All of these questions are probably just the tip of the iceberg for everything that might be running through your head. Understandably, answering all of these questions do not directly tell you what choice to make either. Instead, you have to think about what is the most important to you. Ultimately it is your list of priorities that guide you on what to do next.

Personally, out of all the questions that I have listed, I prioritized the programme the most. Next, getting to Sweden was my next biggest stressor. As you can see, I placed a big emphasis on the residence permit because I had to travel to another country to finish the procedures and then wait on the residence permit at home. In reality, everyone’s circumstances beget different priorities.

What if I have regrets?

When I made the final decision to join the MTLS programme, it was against the expectations of the people around me. Sweden was far from home and different from anywhere I have ever been before. I wanted to be confident in my choice and look forward to my future.

Yet, every step of the way I came across obstacle after obstacle. Suddenly I asked myself “Did I make the wrong decision?” It was easy for me to fall into a slippery slope of regret and questioning. Depending on your personality, you would inevitably look back on the what if’s. However, we can never be certain what the other choice’s life would’ve been.

Instead, someone reminded me: trust yourself. Trust the you that made the decision. Often there is no right or wrong and even the “right” path isn’t without challenges. So, I would sometimes look back and imagine that other path but I try never to regret it. If I see you here in the next school year trust yourself on the choice you made and a final congratulations again.