It didn’t stop me from trying again, after asking for feedback on my applications mainly from my professors back in Ecuador. I spent one year improving my professional profile, with my eyes on my target. It was 2019 and I had everything ready to go! This time I made sure I applied to even more universities and hoping my profile was interesting enough. In my list, I had universities from Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, the US, and the UK. When the moment came, I sent all my documents to the different websites and just sat and waited for a couple of months. It was in the middle of the pandemic, April 2020, and I started to receive the results. The first one I got was from Italy, accepted! Then from Sweden, accepted there too! The UK sent me a nice rejection letter, but okay, I already had two options. Finally, Switzerland also accepted me, yay! Time for a decision, this is how I did it. And yes, of course, you know the end of the story because here I am, writing a blog for Chalmers website. But here is what I had on my mind:
1. Let’s talk about money!
My economical situation wasn’t the best, hence my condition to study abroad was having a scholarship. From the three universities I could choose from, I ruled out Italy because I didn’t get a scholarship there. Okay, that was “easy”, even though I really liked that university. I applied to the
SI Scholarship and luckily, I got it (Teanette and I wrote about it in
this blog). The SI scholarship covers both the tuition fees and living costs!
2. Let’s talk about history!
From the two universities left, I checked each website – this time thoroughly. I noticed Chalmers had a long trajectory.
A university founded in 1829 had to be excellent after so many years! There must be a reason why it has been around for over a hundred years.
3. Let’s talk about after-graduate life!
I also checked the
QS ranking of universities. Chalmers had a very nice punctuation in that field! It gave me confidence that my chances of getting a job after graduating, were high.
4. Let’s talk about the process!
Let me tell you, from the bottom of my heart, that the Swedish universities process was the smoothest, easiest, clearest one you could ever imagine (you can check more about it
here).
5. Let’s talk about sustainability!
It’s not a secret that Sweden breathes sustainability. I remember back in Ecuador while doing my bachelor’s in Electrical engineering, I always took my own food to campus. Why is this related? Because I believed in sustainability even then. I always carried my lunchbox, my reusable cutlery and straw, my water bottle, and my coffee mug. Yeah, sounds like a lot, but it really wasn’t. I was the weirdo back then, while in Sweden being sustainable is all very common. So, I figured, why not?
I was a bit anxious about the fact of coming to a Nordic country from a -really- warm place. I was nervous about starting a new life, and studying in a different language -English since I come from a Spanish-speaking country. But I look back one year, and I regret NOTHING. It all falls into place once you arrive to Sweden. You’ll get new friends, explore new environments, and most importantly experience a new culture. Isn’t that the whole point of studying abroad? The education, the lifestyle, the work environment, are just a few more things I can mention right now. But in the end, why don’t you apply to Chalmers and figure it out by yourself?
Author: Nathaly