Details

• Sweden
• MACEMS-25
• Graduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

In general, I would start looking for an apartment at least 3 months in advance. In general, you always also receive an offer from the university for student housing. Those offers are in terms of money quite good, but they are really far out. So I would really push for you not to take those offers if you want to experience the nightlife, etc., in Stockholm. Course registration can be a bit challenging as this is first-come, first-served, so be online in time to get your spot.

2. Accommodation

Rents in Stockholm are quite high, and especially if you want to live in the center, it goes up to 800 - 1200€. I would also advise searching in Facebook groups. A lot of my friends found their apartments in one of those groups. There are different types of student housing: the one directly from SSE and the one from the student association. Those are most of the time very nice, but as an exchange, it’s quite hard to get those spots, as you need to register for a waiting list for that.

3. Academic life at host university

Campus Facilities The campus is very centrally located and extremely beautiful. It is considerably smaller than WU, but because of that, everything is in one place. Academic Culture The academic culture is quite different from WU. Classes are often even smaller, and the focus of the learning is different as well: a lot of interpersonal content is taught, for example how to deal with stress or with anxiety. Teaching Style Compared to WU Professors know you by name, and you address all of them by their first names. They notice whether you are in class or not. Overall, it is a much more familiar and friendlier environment than at WU. Grading: The grading is a lot stricter compared to WU, and also not as transparent. Grades are curved, which is sometimes very hard to do in group presentations where there is no strict curriculum. For the CEMS Business Project this was particularly challenging, as every group had different requirements and different company partners with different expectations, which were then curved by SSE on top of that. Anyone who really needs a very good grade average is therefore exposed to a certain degree of arbitrariness. Nevertheless, the teaching is extremely good, and in most cases the expectations are explained well from the beginning.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public Transport, Safety and Life in Stockholm Public transport was very good, but relatively expensive. In return, it runs regularly, and often also at night and on weekends. In the inner core of Stockholm you feel very, very safe — even safer than in Vienna. There is also a lot to do. You can head out into the surrounding area and to the water, and Stockholm itself offers an incredible amount. There are plenty of opportunities to do sports: through the SASSE membership you can do almost any sport for free. Tough Viking and padel are particularly popular and a lot of fun, but you can also play volleyball and similar sports for a one-time fee of thirty euros for the semester.

6. Testimonial

What made the exchange especially special were the friends and the fellow students I got to meet there, and the trips we made together. One to Finland and further north to Lapland.