Carlos Munoz

"Group activities adds a lot of value to your education since you learn how to work in a group and to understand and deal with other people’s points of view."

Name: Carlos Munoz
Age: 26 years
Live: Stadion, Jerum, Student apartment
From: Madrid, Spain
Study: SSE, Stockholm School of Economics, MSc in Business and Economics, year 1 of 2

Why did you decide to study in Stockholm?
- I decided to study in Stockholm for many reasons. I knew that I wanted to study a business-related MSc oriented towards people without a business background. I wanted to study in English and I wanted to study outside Spain. I also wanted to study at a top European university, located in a very nice city. When combining all those factors, the choice was almost narrowed down to Stockholm and SSE.

What do you think of Stockholm?
- I like living in Stockholm, it's a great city, full of life.

- In terms of studying, SSE is great, not only because of its location (in the heart of the city and quite close to a lot of other things such as student facilities), but also because of the quality of the education provided.

- Of course, Sweden in general and Stockholm in particular is not only about studying for me. There are other things here beside school, and I must say that it’s quite easy to have an active life here. In fact, what’s really difficult is deciding which events to attend!

- A downside with Stockholm is the weather, especially when you come from a southern European country (such as Spain). It’s not because of the snow; the problem is the ice and slippery ground (and the low temperatures too)!

What do you do in your spare time?
- In my spare time I like to go out with my friends, go to the gym… one of my to-do things is to learn Swedish, but as I also have a part time job where I work for about 10-16 hours a week, I don’t have that much free time!

How would you describe the education, MSc in Business and Economics?
- The MSc in General Management is a bit different from other master programs at SSE, since none of us have a business background. The program starts slowly, with an introduction to business and economy, and the pace and requirements increase every month. It’s also different in the amount of courses we have: six per semester, usually 2 courses running at the same time.

- One of the things I discovered about Swedish education is that there are a lot of group activities at the university. That’s different from Spain and other European countries, and I think it adds a lot of value to your education since you learn how to work in a group and to understand and deal with other people’s points of view.

Do you have any favourite places in Stockholm?
- I think the whole centre of Stockholm is good. I like Vasastan and Södermalm. Södermalm is really great for going out and hanging out with friends, while Vasastan is better for relaxing during the day, although it has very cool pubs too!

- One of my favourite places is Studentpalatset by Odenplan, which is a good place to study (and it is a place where I have to spend a lot of time). It takes some time to get used to the booking system for study spots, but once you do it’s fine. I like it because it is not a typical library; here you can work in groups in another way, and you don’t have to be quiet everywhere.

How did you find a place to live in Stockholm?
- Finding a place to live was a real challenge for me. I stayed in a hotel for the first ten days, and then I found my first apartment on blocket.se. It was an apartment at Kungsholmen where I lived for a month while searching for other accommodation. After that I found a place in Bergshamra through the SSE Student Association website. Since January I live in Jerum, in a student flat that I rent from another student. It’s my fourth accommodation in Sweden in seven or eight months.

- I think it’s easier for Swedish students to find accommodation in Sweden. International students like me have to compete with people who have like 500 waiting list points. So if you aren’t from Sweden you can’t really use SSSB, and then you must begin to look for accommodation elsewhere.

- The biggest problem for me when I was looking for a place to live in Sweden was the time constraint. I had only two and a half month to find a place to live after I found out I was admitted to SSE.

How do you finance your study time in Stockholm?
- The Master’s programme is free of charge, which is great since I don’t get any money from the Spanish government. In my case, I finance my expenses (accommodation is the biggest one, around two thirds of my monthly expenses) mainly from savings and from what I earn working part time at Relevant Traffic.

What hints and tips would you give to someone who’s thinking of studying in Stockholm?
- My first tip to anyone who wants to study in Stockholm is: as soon as you’re even thinking of the possibility to study in
Stockholm you should begin looking for accommodation.

- You should also try to learn some Swedish. It’s sometimes hard to practice Swedish in Stockholm. Everyone can speak English perfectly, so if you’re a bit lazy you don’t get many chances to speak Swedish, as you don’t really need it that much.

Do you think it’s hard to study in another country?
- Moving to another town or country is always challenging, but it’s not as hard as you’d think. It's hard in the beginning as you don’t know anyone, everything is new to you, it’s a different city, a different culture…but every big city in Europe is pretty much the same. The first couple of months are the hardest, but after a while you get use to it.

- Studying in another country has a lot of benefits: Apart from getting an international profile, which always looks good on a CV, you have the chance of learning new languages, meeting tons of people, and experiencing different cultures.

- The stereotype of Swedes is that they are closed up, but this isn’t true, at least not for the Swedes I know. They’re just as open (or as closed) as anyone else.

Interview and photo: Mimmi Toreheim