Person 49 Basic Information 1. Name Marcus Björklund 2. E-mail address: bjorklund.marcus@gmail.com 3. Exchange university Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) 4. City Norrtälje 5. Country Sverige 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2014/2015 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Business, finance and economics 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Business 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 3,5 Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... You will experience a lot of differences between Uppsala and Madrid. Regarding the school system the biggest difference is that you study 5 courses at the same time, it means a lot of lessons and also at the end of the semester a lot of exams in just 2 weeks. You will also see that the system they have is more like we have in high school in Sweden. It s very popular to give the students homework, but this is actually a good way to always be on track with the course and it s also often evaluated in the final grades so. Courses I would recommed is valoración de activos y análisis de inversiones, analysis and accounting consolidation, análisis y planificación financiera and decisiones de financiación. These courses I enjoyed most and I took them in english. The teachers are really good and thses courses is things that Uppsala don t have exactly in my opinion. The teachers also gives you homework here but it s actually good so you don t have to study that much for the final exam since you already knows the things from the homework. The level of the courses are a little bit different and it depends much on the teachers. Some are in the level of we have in Sweden and some are a little bit below I would say. But the difference in Spain is also that they expect you to participate a little bit more than in Sweden since the class are often smaller than in Sweden. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. In the beginning Madrid is a very big city if you are used to Uppsala but you get settle really fast and Madrid have a wonderfull metro system and it takes you everywhere. Just do as much you can with other people in the beginning and you will know the things in no time! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 141 av 197
Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? I was i Madrid during 2 semesters and lived at 2 different places. To get my first place I lived at a hostel for 5 days. I found a room via an organization and there is a lot of them in Madrid that helps you find accommodation if you want to. The other room i lived in I found by myself via idealista which is the best site if you want to find a room. It s a good site and easy to find what you are looking for. And in the beginning of every semester there is a lot of rooms available. Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? The CSN and Erasmus money is enough to live in Madrid. The rent depends very much where you want to live in Madrid and what quality you expect. If you want to have a nice room in city center or the most popular areas you will have to pay at least like 400 euros/month plus bills. But if you are satisfied a little bit longer away but still a nice room you can find roms for around 350 euros/month. I would though recommend you to live close to the area of Malasaña which is a nice area for students and the life in that area is really good with lot of things to do. The other things like food and drinks are much cheaper than Sweden and in Spain it s very normal to go out many days per week, maybe not to party but just go out and take drinks and talk. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? There where a lot of activities from the Erasmus organization that you can participate in if you want. This is for just exchange students and are a good way to meet other people in the same situation as you, it s a very friendly atmosphere! There is also a lot of organizations that do trips and stuff like that. Search for it on facebook and you will find a lot of it! Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. I m so glad that I went to Madrid and this have been an amazing experience and even though there is a lot of culture shocks and lot to do and fix with there is no doubts that you should go! Just be prepared for that it doesn t work as it does in Sweden. Spain is so different in many ways and you will learn a lot about yourself. One thing you should really know though is that they doesn t take time serious, if you set up meetings don t be suprised if they shows up 1 hour or more after you decided but that is just a culture thing down there, no one takes it serious. Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 142 av 197
19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures I approve of my pictures being published only in this exchange report (web/printed) Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 143 av 197
Person 64 Basic Information 1. Name Mina Karasalo 2. E-mail address: mina.karasalo@hotmail.com 3. Exchange university Universidad Complutense de Madrid 4. City Madrid 5. Country Spain 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2014/2015 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Economics and Political Science 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Politices Kandidatprogram 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 2 years Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... På la Complutense läser man 5 kurser parallellt under en termin. Jag läste samtliga kurser på spanska, vilket var ovanligt för utbytesstudenterna vid ekonomiska fakulteten där jag läste samtliga kurser min första termin. Eftersom jag var den enda utbytesstudenten i samtliga kurser blev det en ganska krävande process att förstå och anpassa mig till det spanska systemet. Tempot på ekonomiska fakulteten är högt, och många av de spanska studenterna går om kurser från föregående år. På politiska fakulteten är klimatet betydigt lugnare och det är betydligt fler utbytesstudenter som läser kurser där, vilket innebär att de flesta föreläsare har större förståelse för att man har det lite svårare att hänga med ibland. En viktigt detalj, som kan vara bra för att planera dina utbyteskurser, är att utbytesstudenter kan läsa max 2 kurser per termin utanför det fakultet man ansökt till. Utöver föreläsningstimmarna så har studenterna även möjlighet att gå på tutorías med föreläsarna, en möjlighet som var till stor hjälp för mig i ekonomikurserna. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. UCM är ett stort universitet, och det var ganska förvirrande i början bara att hitta till rätt del av campus. Vi hade ett generellt möte med alla utbytesstudenter på hela universitetet och sedan ett mindre på ekonomiska fakulteten. Erasmusstudenterna söker kurser efter att de spanska studenterna redan registrerat sig, så det var ganska komplicerat att sätta ihop ett schema i grupper som inte var fulla. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 189 av 197
Erasmuskontoret var lite upprörda över att jag vägrade läsa på engelska eftersom den engelska gruppen oftast hade platser över, men jag stod på mig och fick till slut läsa alla kurser jag ville på spanska. Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? Det är relativt enkelt att hitta boende centralt i Madrid. idealista.es är mitt tips för att söka boende. Det finns även boende som universitetet erbjuder, men det är dyrt. Vädigt dyrt. Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? Madrid är dyrare än andra delar av Spanien, men fortfarande billigt jämfört med Sverige. Det är INGA PROBLEM att överleva på CSN. Boende bör vara betydigt billigare än i Uppsala. Jag behövde inte jobba extra. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? Det finns en erasmusförening som organiserar aktiviteter. Jag detog dock inte i dessa. Finns en del studentföreningar som har studiecirklar, debatter och föreläsningar på ekonomiska och politiska fakulteten. Som erasmusstudent får man kämpa lite för att få va med i dessa, men det är ett bra sätt att skaffa spanska kompisar. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. Madrid är en fantastisk stad. Kurserna på Complutense varierar enormt i kvalitet beroende på föreläsare. Jag rekommenderar definitivt att prova lite olika kurser (och olika föreläsare) innan du lämnar in din definitiva matrícula, om du har möjlighet. Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures - Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 190 av 197