Student blogs

Hi everyone! There are a few things I always have to explain when I talk with friends that don’t study at Karolinska Institutet. Some of these were also new to me at first, so here are 5 things about studying at KI that surprised me in the beginning. Especially since the application period is still open at the moment, I thought they could be useful for you to know.

1. One course at a time

If you’ve checked out the programme web for the programme you’re interested in, you probably know what courses to expect. These courses will be held one after the other, so most of the time you will only have one course at a time (although there are some exceptions). This way you can properly focus on the content of one course and don’t have the stress of overlapping schedules.

2. No dedicated exam weeks

At the end of a course, there’s usually an exam before the new course starts. And because not all courses are equally long, there is no specific week in the semester where all KI students have their exams. We instead have them throughout the semester.

3. Only three grades: VG – G – U

The grades at KI are called VG (“väl godkänt” = pass with distinction), G (“godkänt” = pass) and U (“underkänt” = fail). These are the final grades you can get for a course, usually determined by taking the exam. Assignments, on the other hand, are usually only graded G/U, so pass or fail.

4. Everyone takes (mostly) the same courses

This point is similar to point 1 above. We have one course at a time, and usually the whole class takes it together. That way, the class spirit never disappears, because you see the same classmates every day! But while this is true most of the time, many programmes also have some elective courses. Then, of course, you’ll only be with part of the class, or mixed with students from other programmes, for a few weeks.

5. Christmas is not officially a break

The autumn semester in Swedish universities goes until mid-January, so Christmas is not officially a break. But teachers also want to have some free time around then, so usually courses will be calmer this time of the year. It depends on the programme, but in my current course, for example, we just have an assignment and self studies for two weeks.

This was a random collection of 5 things that surprised me about KI, so now you know them too (in case you didn’t yet come across them on the programme websites). None of these are dramatic or affected my choice of wanting to study here, but I thought they are good for you to know in any case!