<p>I don't think what I'm asking is strictly called "studying abroad" because that has the connotation that you are only there for a period of time. I mean moving away from America and getting a complete four year degree in Sweden...Perhaps this needs a little more context. All of the colleges I applied to were not very helpful in terms of Aid, and my parents really can not afford to pay very much for college. My parents say they are willing to pay but I can't stand the idea of pushing them further into debt.
While I was trying to find ways to not burden my parents I stumbled upon information about Swedish colleges being free, even for non citizens. I honestly have no idea if anyone would have experience in this topic but really any information would help. I have heard that I would have to pay for room and board in which case are there any Swedish people here that could give an estimate for cost of living? And there is not a whole lot of info out there regarding acceptance rates among the bigger colleges in Sweden, I would hate to go through all the admissions process (that I assume is even more difficult for a US citizen) then realize that I applied to the hardest school in Sweden... So does anyone have any knowledge of this? Really I'm asking for anyone with experience in this area (maybe not even pertaining to Sweden specifically) who might have some advice or insight. There are probably a lot of issues and concernsthat I have not even realized but I feel like I owe it to my parents to at least investigate every possibility, if this doesn't work out I will probably just end up applying to a community college.</p>
<p>Well, thank you for any information you may provide, or for even listening to my rambling post but I hope you can at the very least understand where I am coming from.</p>
<p>I don’t know. My sister (an American) did an exchange at Lund University. I love Sweden. I went there during the summer when it’s light out for a really long time!</p>
<p>Look into Canadian universities - they’re not free, but cost much less than their US counterparts. Admission is more based on school marks than anything else. Most do not require standardized testing or any essays.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure you have to be fluent in Swedish to attend 4-year colleges/universities in Sweden. Like Van2010, look into Canadian universities.</p>
<p>I think Danish and Norwegian universities are free too. Living costs can be a lot, Scandinavia is expensive, especially Norway. The region has many world class universities, Sweden’s Lund and Uppsala as well as Oslo, Bergen and Copenhagen are probably the most prestigious.</p>
<p>There are hundreds of master degrees taught in English, but few undergraduate ones. Development Studies is the only English taught undergrad degree offered at Lund, for example.</p>
<p>[Study</a> in Sweden ? SWEDEN.SE](<a href=“http://www.studyinsweden.se%5DStudy”>http://www.studyinsweden.se)
[Study</a> in Denmark](<a href=“http://www.studyindenmark.dk%5DStudy”>http://www.studyindenmark.dk)
[Study</a> in Norway/](<a href=“http://www.studyinnorway.no%5DStudy”>http://www.studyinnorway.no)</p>
<p>Thanks, I will definitely look into Canadian universities as well. To sqdwfe13, I thought that might be a problem as well, but I would be completely okay with learning Swedish (I love the culture and it would make watching Bergman movies even more fun).ALthough I am definitely overestimating the speed with which I could learn the language. I just didn’t consider it at first because of a website (actually the first of SamualUK’s links) that said that most people speak English and it would not be a problem. Upon further investigation they may be reffering to masters level studiess…I don’t know…But SamualUK thanks for the extra links about Denmark and Norway I will check those out as well. (third time I have used “as well”)</p>
<p>Swedish language courses can be hard to find, so if you really are up to learning Swedish and think you can learn it in time, you should look into Concordia language villages. It’s a complete immersion, they offer plenty of languages including Swedish.</p>
<p>I’m sure there are programs where international students take a foundation year before starting the degree in order to learn the local language, or at least enough to compete the degree.</p>
<p>You could try emailing the Swedish embassy for advice.</p>
<p>Also, OP, even if you became conversationally fluent in Swedish which could take a while to achieve in itself, to take courses at a Swedish university you would have to be fluent enough on a university level. So that’s a pretty high level of Swedish. </p>
<p>Yeah so I agree with what SamualUK said. Maybe there are some programs like that for international students.</p>
<p>By the way OP, what grade are you in?</p>
<p>I am a second semester senior. I have already been accepted to the schools I applied to but they are more expensive than I thought. Also I didn’t even realize room and board was a seperate cost from tuition (Very stupid mistake in hindsight) and so the price is a lot more unless I would like to make a rather large daily commute.</p>
<p>I was planning on going into sciences like engineering or Physics so I didn’t think the language aspect would be a great barrrier but you do bring up valid issues.</p>
<p>Have you heard of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, MA? Apparently they give full rides to all admitted students. I think it’s too late to apply now but you could apply as a transfer student.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for that as well. I’m surprised I had never heard of that college, it seems like a really great place. I sort of wish my counselor would have informed me about this before the deadline passed. It seems pretty much what I’m looking for. I guess I can’t do much but consider it for next year.</p>