Quotations from previous international students at the Department of Physics
Question 11 in version 2 of the “Evaluation of stay” questionnaire:
Would you recommend your fellow students at home to travel to your host university (i.e. to Umeå University)?
Student answers (no selection, all handed-in answers are reported):
Fall semester 2010
♦ Absolutely they should visit you one day. (H.B. Germany)
♦ Yes absolute. (K.W. Gemany)
♦ Of course it was one of the best time I ever had. (N.R. Germany)
♦ Yes! (W.L. Germany)
♦ Yes. (M.S. Germany)
♦ Yes. (C.J. Germany)
♦ Sure, I would like to recommend Umea University to my fellow classmates. (T.K. Hongkong)
♦ Yes, I liked the place and snowy weather, campus is great and exchange students are many. (A.S. Latvia)
♦ Definitely I would recommend it. (B.A. Turkey)
♦ Yes, definitely. (T.Ö. Turkey)
♦ Of course. (E.K. Turkey)
Academic year 2009/2010
♦ Yes as you have a good organized easy stay here. I had time to get to know the country quite well. Lots of sports outside and at IKSU. (D.L. Austria)
♦ Yeah, definitely I will. (Y.Z. China)
♦ Yes. (L.X. China)
♦ Yes, I will if any chances allow. (Y.Y. China)
♦ Yeah, of course. It must be a enjoyable journey. (W.C. China)
♦ Yes, of course. (N.Y. China)
♦ Of course, yes! (B.C. France)
♦ Yes. (P.L. France)
♦ Yes. (F.D. France)
♦ Definitely! (A.V. Germany)
♦ Yes, but maybe not for theoretical physics. (K.E. Germany)
♦ Yes. (M.S. Germany)
♦ Most definitely! (H.R. Germany)
♦ Yes, I would recommend it under the same preconditions I had. (M.L. Germany)
♦ Yes of course, and I will do it! (G.A. Italy)
♦ Definitely. (A.C. Latvia)
♦ Yes certainly. It is really good university. (M.S. Poland)
♦ Yes, I recommend. (A.G. Turkey)
♦ Yes of course. I might be unsuccessful in here during this term but I think if I had more time I could be more successful, therefore I will recommend my friends. I spent lots of good time with my teacher and friends. (I.K. Turkey)
♦ Yes. (N.M. Turkey)
♦ Yes. (M.D. Turkey)
♦ Yes. (S.S. Turkey)
♦ Yes. (S.S. Turkey)
♦ Of course. I saw a lot of things I have not seen before. (A.I. Turkey)
Question 10 in a previous Evaluation of stay questionnaire:
Would you recommend your fellow students at home to travel to your host university (i.e. to Umeå University)?
Is there anything special they should be prepared for?
Student answers (no selection, all handed-in replies are reported!):
Fall 07
♦ I will recommend my fellow students to travel to Umeå University. They should prepare for lot of new experiences. (T.C. Bangladesh)
♦ I would definitely recommend to study at Umeå University. (J.D. Germany)
♦ Yes! To everyone: come here, join the international community and stay a whole year to reap the benefits of both winter and summer. (B.L. Germany)
♦ Of course I would and actually I did already. To come here was one of the best decisions I made! They should be prepared for the high prices, especially for alcohol ... (U.R. Germany)
♦ Of course, I enjoyed my time in Umeå and will tell everybody to do it the same way. (C.W. Germany)
♦ I can definitely recommend to study abroad, you can learn a lot since you get in contact with people from all over the world. The programme at Umeå University for exchange students is also very good since it is only a small university. (J.B. Germany)
♦ Yes, I will definitely recommend Umeå University to anyone interested in going abroad. (M.J. Germany)
♦ I can certainly recommend people from my home university to come here. The exchange programme is really well arranged here. (L.E. The Netherlands)
♦ Yes, I would. Everything was great! Thank you! (A.I. Russia)
♦ Yes I would! They should be prepared for spending good time here. And, one more thing, here is not so cold, as some African student write on the web. :) (M.K. Russia)
♦ Yes, I will recommend. (S.T. Russia)
♦ Yes, I will recommend. I will say to them only you must save money before coming because Sweden is expensive. (A.U. Turkey)
♦ Yes, I would definitely recommend that. Umea University has everything that a foreign student would expect from a host university. I have learned so many things and I had so much fun. (F.B. Turkey)
06/07
♦ I will strongly recommend that! (P.M. Poland)
♦ Yes it´s a very nice place, beautiful place with nice people, where you can learn or work with something they don´t have in Poland. Prepared ... Maybe for temperatures in winter. (G.G. Poland)
♦ I would absolutely recommend Umeå but they should bring patience for long queues with them :-). (B.H. Germany)
♦ Yes I would recommend it without any special preparation. (V.H. Germany)
♦ I would definitely recommend Umeå. One should only be prepared for the Swedish winter ... (R.G. Germany)
♦ I came here to study and experience how life was in Sweden. Well, it is not exactly the same life you can have in Stockholm, but I think it was a wonderful experience that changed my life for lots of things. I suggest anyone to try. Be prepared for cold. (J.F. Italy)
♦ It depends on person. I think, best is just coming and facing the surprises. I will certainly recommend them to take this chance. (B.A. Turkey)
♦ For sure I will. People that will apply in this university can be sure they will enjoy it. I will remember this exceptional year in Sweden. It was a very good experience that I will use in the future! Thank you very much for that. (T.B. France)
♦ Yes; Prepare: this is not a holiday as some ERASMUS unreadable are. (As I heared) (M.K. Czech Republic)
05/06
♦ Sure, it´s a good way to meet many international students. Prepared? Just for the cold winter days if they are here during the winter. (N.M.M. Romania)
♦ Yes. (L.G.P. Uruguay)
♦ I will for sure!! In general Sweden is an expensive country and they should take that in account. In my particular case the winter was really cold. (J.C. Canary Islands)
♦ Yes. Students from south Europe might have to be adjusted to the winter... (D.H. Germany)
♦ Recommended maybe for professional reasons for experimentalists. (S.C. Germany)
♦ Yes – but not for a student who wants a “big city life”. (C.L. Austria)
♦ For sure!! They don´t have to be afraid for the snow! It´s a really nice country. (E.P. France)
♦ Yes of course, it´s a great experience. They should be prepared for short winter days. (E.A. Latvia)
♦ Yes I would recommend my friends to come here. (A. Lithuania)
♦ In general I will strongly recommend that students from Buea University consider Umeå University if they want to study abroad. Be prepared for the cold though. ((D.K.N. Cameroon)
♦ I will highly recommend those wishing to achieve their academic ambition to come to Umeå University. Just prepare for a terrible winter and a high living-standard. (G.N.A. Cameroon)
04/05
♦ I would absolutely recommend to travel and study at Umeå University. Even the coldness and darkness isn´t as worse as everyone told me before. (M.H. Germany)
♦ If they are not afraid of long and cold winters, of course! (F.N. Germany)
♦ I would recommend the stay at UmU for people at home, due to the overall good service and English language. I would say to them that they cannot expect a library situation as at my home university, but the concept of textbooks that each student possesses is a great opportunity to learn English better and to follow courses closely. (M.W. Germany)
♦ Yes, I will recommend to travel to Umeå, but they should be prepared for weather. (M.M. Czech Republic)
♦ I would recommend Umeå to Bueans a lot, if they have some good money to invest. Computational and experimental studies are very good here. Umeå is at the forefront of scientific research. (N.K. Cameroon)
♦ Yes. Prepare for cold winters. (M.E. Cameroon)
♦ Yes I would. (N.R. Uruguay)
♦ Yes indeed it was a wonderful experience. (S.B. Uruguay)
03/04
♦ Yes I would recommend fellow students to study at Umeå University. (M.N. Tanzania)
♦ Absolutely! Life is expensive compared to my home institution, so they have to have enough money to pay for rent and other expenditures. (M.K. Tanzania)
♦ For sure, I would recommend it as much as I can. They should be patient, especially with language and people, that´s my recommendation. (A.P. Chech Republic)
♦ Yes I would recommend this university. They should be prepared for twenty hours of darkness in December. (M.K. Poland)
♦ Definitely, I will recommend this university to my friends. (M.H. Poland)
♦ Yes. High costs of living. (M.M. Poland)
♦ Yes, I think that Umeå University is friendly for international students and offer very good social and educational conditions. ((Z.S. Poland)
♦ Yes of course. (F.B. Uruguay)
♦ Concerning the life-style and the way of studying, I would recommend Umeå. Referring to the offered courses, I would recommend to come in the third not the fourth year, since that fits better with the German schedule. I think it is better to take specialization courses here and to test some new fields of interest. The standard courses I would recommend to take in Germany since they are more theoretical there and a bit harder. (S.S. Germany)
♦ I can recommend a term or two here in Umeå because it was a great experience. The lectures given in English were very interesting as described above. The whole system of studies is different from the German one and is worth to experience. (S.G. Germany)
♦ No not at all. Only if they want to party all time and not to study, but even for that it would be better to go to Uppsala or Stockholm. (K.K. Austria)
♦ For those interested in the courses (which are offered in English) I will of course recommend to spend a term as foreign student at Umeå University. (A.L. Austria)
02/03
♦ Of course I recommend everybody to study in Umeå. It is a big adventure and experience!!! (M.G. Czech Republic)
♦ I would recommend Umeå University. They should be prepared for the bad library situation. (K.K. Germany)
♦ Yes the university is really good. The things they should be prepared for are more the climatic conditions and the very calm Swedish mentality. (M.K. Germany)
♦ I would recommend it. I don´t have a special advice. (K.K. Germany)
♦ I would recommend it. Prepare for a dark winter. (F.R., Germany)
♦ Sure, I hope there are a few going next year. No, you can´t be prepared for the darkness and all the snow if you never experienced it before, and I think that was the most difficult thing to manage. (J.G. Germany)
♦ I would recommend them to come here, but they should be aware of the different kind of teaching in Umeå. The reduced learning pressure easily let´s you get lazy. (O.P. Germany)
♦ Of course I would recommend to visit Umeå University. (A.B. Poland)
♦ Of course I would recommend a visit to Umeå University. There is nothing special they should be prepared for, just an open mind! (A.L. Poland)
01/02
♦ I have already done it. It is because it is a very nice place to come to: many courses in English and it is very easy to communicate in English here in Sweden. Moreover, it is a very nice country to visit from a touristic point of view. (P.K. Poland)
♦ I would recommend a travel to Umeå, for the same reasons as given in answer 9. (9: “… quite simple to make new friends and most of the people were friendly and helpful. The courses were interesting and mostly well-organized… The leisure activities were good …”) (H.S. Germany)
♦ Yes I would. They will improve their knowledge in the subject they are choosing and also get an experience for life. (T.A. Sri Lanka)
♦ I would recommend my home students to study abroad. The education is far more advanced and students get proper training while learning and this helps to build confidence in presentations of different aspects. One learns a lot from people of different backgrounds and cultures, and you get to make new friends. (H.M. South Africa)
00/01
♦ Yes of course. Live and study abroad is a very good experience. You can see your own system with both positives and negatives, and ways how some other system works. Make new friends, get knowledge not only through courses, live in different country (with different weather), and much more “details” which you cannot appreciate in everyday life at home. (H.D. Czech Republic)
♦ Yes I would. They can receive almost all information about stay in Umeå, which they need, what is very important. Course literature and type of exam (they can look at exams from last year) are clear. They can also count on help from teachers and students. ((K.S. Czech Republic)
♦ Yes: higher organization, easier studies. (L.G. Italy)
♦ Yes I would recommend. This is an opportunity to study in a different way, also to meet people from many countries and of different cultures (at my home university there are not many exchange students). (M.C. Poland)
♦ Yes. I think studies abroad is a useful experience. You get to know the alternative ways of doing and treating many things, you meet many different people and in Umeå there are many international students from all over the world. There are some interesting courses to complete here. And after the year is over, you have a lot of friends and great memories. I´d like to thank all the people who made my stay in Umeå as pleasant and nice as it was. Thank you very much! (A.I. Poland)
♦ Yes. Although I have not passed the exams I have learnt many new things. With people from physics (not physics and informatics) I think that they should not have any problems. ( T.K. Poland)
♦ To some students at home, yes, see answer 7 (7: “Roughly equivalent to home, but fellow students here are more highly motivated as students. At home, many students have extra-curricular responsibilities which subtract from the motivation to excel as a student.”), because the university system here is not difficult to comprehend, and a student can choose to focus on a narrow field of study or a broad range of courses from several departments. The student life here is not 50% administrative university paperwork. (J.H. USA)
E-mail from a double MSc degree student of ours
"... Honestly, after obtaining experiences at well-known universities in France, the Netherlands and Italy, I found out that how great was UmU!!! These well-known universities in other countries, in many aspects, just have a big name, but so many hidden problems in their educational system!" (R.G. Iran, 2012)
E-mail from a former Master´s student of ours, after he went to the US for PhD studies:
“Hi Dr. Halling,
… I started classes on the 28th of August and all has been going on well. I have noticed some differences between the Swedish and the American educational systems. The first and most glaring difference is that the exams are very much easier here. Even though this university has always been ranked in the US list of top 50, with most of their professors known nationally and internationally (including some at the physics department), I still feel that American education is not up to what it prides itself to be. Can you imagine that I am one of the top students in class with students from Yale, Berkeley, Michigan state and Texas A&M? I even spend far less time on studies compared to what I was doing in Sweden ...” (P.E. Cameroon, 2002)
