Admitted to KTH! What's next to shape your future?

Congratulations on your admission to KTH. Welcome to KTH.

[The following is written for an International student travelling to Sweden to pursue his/her Master's in KTH. Most of the below might not be applicable exactly to a EU citizen.]

First, I would ask you to keep track of New at KTH to get updates on the useful information before departure.

Having received your admit and have decided to pursue your studies at KTH, I would suggest you to prepare for Residence permit application, for which you need to get your finances taken care of.

(There are plenty of opportunities to fund oneself for their studies. You can find list of scholarships available here. Since, the selection of scholarship is done in parallel with the admission and if you haven't received one, don't lose hope; there are still many ways in which you can manage. If you have received your Scholarship nomination mail (for the cases of KTH Scholarship and KTH-India Scholarship), the mail is sufficient to apply for the Residence Permit and you may not receive a Scholarship certificate specifically. If asked for insurance in the residence permit application, I would suggest everyone to wait till you receive your FAS+ Insurance certificate from KTH at the end of May, before applying to Migrationsverket.)

If you are applying for a loan, make sure to do so at the earliest. Also, get a chip-based debit card to Sweden, if you are carrying one from India. Preferrably, HDFC Multi-currency, ICICI Multi-currency with Swedish Kronar works best (Personal opinion). You need to provide a copy of the residence permit to get these travel cards.

However, for migrationsverket you need to show that, you have paid your first instalment of the tuition fee and have a sum of (13x8514 SEK) in your bank account. The tuition fee (1st instalment) has to be paid before 31st May. This may vary and please check here for the latest information. You will initially get your residence permit for one year after which you have to extend your residence permit, provided satisfactory completion of studies during first year (usually 15 credits). Make sure, the bank pass-books and other relevant documents have correct spellings etc., You need to take a print-out of the transactions preferably 6 months (3 months also work) attested and signed by a bank official for submission to Migrationsverket. Sometimes, Migrationsverket asks for more information by e-mail, if they find some inconsistencies which, results in delayed arrival of your residence permit.

Meanwhile, you should apply for the accommodation through KTH, as finding one by yourself in Stockholm is really hard and expensive. The closest residential location is Lappis followed by Kungshamra and Skrapan. Skrapan is located near the city-center and a shared appartment is the cheapest you can get through KTH accommodation [Source]. Once you receive your accommodation offer from KTH Accommodation, you have about 7 days to confirm your acceptance by paying the first instalment. I would also suggest you to register yourself at SSSB by clicking on Register. This should be done 3 months prior to start of your studies that, you can save 90 days of queue in your account before registering in THS after which, your queue is re-activated. This early registration in SSSB enables you to have enough queue days which, helps you to find the accommodation for second year as early as possible. For EU Masters students, you might be offered rooms only if there is a vacancy after the allocation to fee-paying students. It's strongly advised to look for accommodation on your own. This link might help to get started.

Catching up with the previous point on applying to Migrationsverket, you need to attach the admission letter, which is nothing but the 'Notification of selection of Selection results from University admissions. You will receive the welcome letter as well, which is different.

After application, save the control number for future references. You need to book an appointment to visit the Embassy (For Indian students, its in New-Delhi). For people who are travelling from other parts of the country to the Embassy, it is better to plan your trip such that, you arrive one day prior to the date of appointment, as you might find a long queue during this period and it's better to collect your token/appointment to the Embassy as early as possible. It's always better to book the flight tickets after you've received your residence permit but, the earlier, the better and make sure to plan your trip to match your arrival with the welcome reception. For 2020, it's on 1st August and 15,16-August. There will be a scheduled pick-up bus from 0900-2100 running every hour. Note for Indian students: There is a Maharaja offer from Air India which allows you to carry up to 69 kgs of baggage [The offer allows an extra baggage of 23kgs].

You will get information on pre-departure event and stay tuned to the webinars for announcements regarding this. Make sure to attend it, as you'll make some friends. I would suggest you to learn cooking before arrival, as it helps you to save a ton of money. The restaurants in Sweden cost a lot generally. Check for mails from Student Union on various activities planned after your arrival. These are fun and try to participate as much as possible.

Once you arrive at Arlanda on the day of welcome reception, you'll be received by the KTH team at the entrance and be transported to KTH by Flexibus where, you'll receive your welcome kit containing a SIM card valid for 1 month. Hence, you need not worry about the network. I would recommend you to buy the SKROSS- World to Europe travel adapter.

I shall cover more of the essentials in a different post, if required. Since, you need a personnummer to avail the services, it is better to register in Swedish Tax Agency after you arrive and at the earliest. You will also be provided with a temporary personnummer by KTH and it doesn't work outside KTH. To get around the city, you can purchase the SL student card at any of the ticket counters in Tunnel-bana (620 kr/month) [Source]. Note: You need to show your student ID card when requested by the ticket checker. You will receive your student ID, after registering yourself with THS.

It's always better to hold a bank account in Sweden to manage your expenses. If you are under 25, the monthly maintenance (around 35-40 kr/month) is waived off. You need to obtain a Swedish ID-Kort to open the bank account. SEB offers free student accounts; Nordea and Swedbank are the other options to look for.

You might also want to look into the Pre-sessional English course, for which the application opens in 15-May and closes on 31-May.

Most of the prospective students are worried about the job prospects etc., This is a fair point. A survey from 2018 shows, about 95% of the graduates had found a relevant job within 12 months of graduation. They responded that, they had applied through an advertisement (or) had contacted the company directly (or) had done.a Master's thesis at the company. [I have no source for this.] Sample data on salary/compensation can be found here. Data suggests the average salary of a graduate engineer is roughly about 34,500 SEK/month before taxes. You can also sign up for Sveriges-Injengorer as they offer student-professional transition related services. Based on the survey mentioned at the start of this paragraph, it is important to highlight that, 74% of the respondents had a previous work-experience; 55% had studied in a different country; More emphasised on developing one's critical thinking skills and presentation skills to increase the chances of landing in a job. Moreover, it's important to understand that, Engineering consultancy jobs might require you to have a basic command in Swedish. You can learn Swedish for Free through SFI (Swedish For Immigrants) and is paid for you by the municipality. Please check here. Usually, there are no student teaching assitantships (or) research fellowships offered to Masters students. But, if you are in dire need of a part time job, its better to turn towards McDonalds (or) Foodora. If you want to receive career guidance through KTH, please visit here and mail here. There are lot's of lunch seminars and career coaching running round the year to groom you up. You will learn about these as you tread along.

Note: There are lots of activities going on in KTH. Like you can join in a club and build your resume. Notable are - KTH Formula Student, KTH Hyperloop, AESIR etc., Please read more - here.

This is a basic post covering the essentials. Please comment on your specific queries, I shall respond to them as quickly as possible.