ExchangeReport:StockholmSchoolofEconomics

DICKSONSOBBA(IS&FINA),YEAR3

Part1–MonthlyActivityLog(excludingschoolactivity)

January

ArrivingStockholm

Exploringtheneighborhood

Attendingorientationactivities

Semesterbegins

February

TriptoUppsala,Lapland

March

1stperiodexam

April

TriptoBelgium,Netherland,Germany

May

TriptoGothenburg

June

TriptoItaly

2ndperiodexam

ReturningHongKong

Part2–GeneralExchangeInformation

VisaProcedures

StudentshavetoapplyforresidentpermittostayinSweden.Youcaneasilydoitonline.

1. Visitthewebsite:https://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Startpage.html

2. Applyforapermitforstudy

3. Fillintheapplicationformandsubmitrequireddocuments,suchasacceptanceletter,

insurancecertificate,bankstatement,copyofpersonalinformationpageinpassport.

4. Paytheapplicationfee(SEK1000).

5. Waitforanemailreply.

6. VisittheembassyinWanChaitotakeaphotoandscanthefingerprint.

7. Gototheembassyagaintopickupthepermit.

OrientationActivities

Before the semester begins, SSE organizes twodays for orientation activities. You should

make sure youarrivebefore theorientation.During theorientation, youwill be givenan

introductiononSwedenandSSE.YouwillhaveabustourtotravelaroundStockholm.Inthe

welcomingpack,youcanhaveaprepaidsimcardwhichyoucantopupanduseinSweden.

There will also be a pub night as orientation and you canmake new friends during the

orientation.

Accommodations

SSEprovidestwochoicesforstudentaccommodation:SaltisandLappis.

Saltis Lappis

Cost SEK4200amonthfordoubleroom

SEK6000amonthforsingleroom

SEK4000amonthforsingleroom

Location NearmetrostationRådmansgatan

2-minutewalktoschool

Bus:Line50fromStora

lappkärrsbergettoschool.

Metro: 10-minute walk to station

Universitetet

Facilities A small cooking area inside the

dorm, including a sink and a hot

plate.

Acommonroomon5/F

Acommonkitchensharewithother

students

Saltis:https://www.hhs.se/en/education/study-at-sse/housing/saltmatargatan/

Lappis:https://www.hhs.se/en/Education/study-at-sse/housing/lappkarrsberget/

CourseRegistration

Courseregistrationisdoneonlinebeforesemesterbegins(Youwillreceiveanemailwithlogin

information to SSE portal). Exchange students are allowed to choose amaximum of two

coursesandonelanguagecourseeachperiod(twoperiodscombineasasemester).Make

sureyouhavecheckedthecredittransferdatabasebeforeyouregisteracourse.Forfinance

students,youcanrequestUSTtoregisteryouasamasterexchangestudentinordertohave

morechoicesofcredittransfercourses(mostbachelorfinancecoursesarenoteligiblefor

credittransferinUST).Youcanalwayschangeyourcoursechoicebeforetheadd/dropperiod.

CoursesprovidedbySSE:

Bachelorcourses

https://www.hhs.se/en/Education/global-opportunities/student-exchange/exchange-bsc/

Mastercourses

https://www.hhs.se/en/Education/global-opportunities/student-exchange/exchange-msc/

Teaching&AssessmentMethods

TheteachingandgradingstyleissimilartoUST.Apartfromregularlectures,somecourses

alsorequirestudentstoattendseminarwhichisusuallyforfurtherpractice.Gradingconsist

of class participation, assignments, group projects, final exams. Re-exam is allowed for

studentswhofailthemainexams.

Personally,Itookthefollowingcourses.

1stperiodinspringsemester

4306–InternationalFinancialManagement

Itisamasterfinancialcoursediscussinginternationalfinancialtopicssuchasexchange

rate,measuringexchangerateexposureandhowtohedgetheexposure,riskinvolving

inforeigninvestments.Gradingonthecourseiscompletelybasedona3-hourfinal

exam.Classparticipationisonlyforgradeadjustment(Professorpromiseusinactive

classparticipationwillnotresultinlowergrade).

Ilovetheinteractiveteachingatmosphereofthiscourse.ProfessorisanItaliansoit

takesme some time tounderstandher accent. Sheuses case study togetherwith

discussionstobringupherideas.Studentshavetopreparethecasebeforegoingto

lectures.Otherwise,youcanfeelcompletelylossduringthelecture.Besides,jotting

notesduringclassiscrucialforexams.Sinceshediscusseswithstudenttocomeup

withtheexplanationtocases,shedoesnotpreparedetaillecturenotes.

4320–QuantitativeMethodsinCorporateFinance

Amasterfinancialcourseconsistsoftwodifferentpartsconductedbytwodifferent

professors.Part1isaboutcarryingoutMonteCarlosimulationinExcels.Youwilllearn

about determining project value under different condition and the value of real

options.Part2isaboutfindingcausalrelationsinafirm-leveldatawithRwhichyou

alsoneedsimulationtechniques.Topicsincludesregression,paneldata,eventstudies.

This is the most challenging course throughout my exchange but also the most

meaningfulone.

Youwillneedtocompleteintotalfourassignments(twoforeachpart)withapartner.

There isonlyone labsessionforeachassignmentsodonotmisstheseminar.You

havetoprepareyourquestionstoaskTAintheseminarsinceTAisnotgoingtogive

anylecture.Heistheretoanswerstudents’questionsonly.

2ndperiodinspringsemester

314–FinanceII:CorporateFinance

Thisisabachelorfinancecoursemostlyaboutcalculationtopics,suchascorporate

capitalstructure,payoutpolicy,firmvaluationwithleverage,mergersandacquisition.

ThecourseisrelativelyeasyforstudentsmajoringinFinance.Youcanunderstandthe

topicsbyreadinglecturenotesyourselves.SeminarsareconductedbyTAtodiscuss

exercisesgivenbyprofessor.Thegradeofthiscourseiscompletelybasedonathree-

hourexamwithmainlyquantitativequestionandafewqualitativeone.

743–QuantitativeMethodsforEconomicAnalysis

It isabachelorfinancecoursewithtwoparts:computerpartandmathpart.Tobe

honest,IthinkIdonotgetmuchoutofthiscourse.Mosttopicsarecoveredinthe

past during HKDSE and year one in UST. For the computer part, all lectures are

conducted inPC labs.Topics includepivottable,charts,sensitivity testandwhat-if

analysisinExcels.Youwillneedtobuyabookoflecturenotes.Theexamisfour-hour

computerexamwhichyouwillhaveplentyoftimetocompleteit.Forthemathpart,

topicscoveredaredifferentialequations,definiteintegrals,matrixes.Thecourseaims

tohelpstudentsapplycalculationstomodelfinancialmarketsbutprofessordidnot

connectthecalculationtothegoalthroughoutthecourse.Onlyprocedurestosolve

mathproblemsarecoveredinthecourse.

Sports&RecreationFacilities

Thereisnosportsfacilityinsidethecampusbutthereisagymnearby.Thestudentassociation

(SASSE)willorganizeregularpracticeforvarioussports.Youcancheckitoutontheirwebsite

andjointheactivitiesthatyouareinterestin.

SASSEwebsite:www.sasse.se

FinanceandBanking

Exchangestudentsstayinglessthanoneyeararenotallowedtocreatealocalbankaccount

soyouwillnotgetadebitcardformlocalbanks.

ElectronicpaymentisthemainpaymentmethodinSweden.Allshopacceptscardsbutnot

everyshopacceptscash.Hence,youwilluseyourcardextensively.Ifyouwanttowithdraw

moneyfromATM,makesureyouactivatetheforeignwithdrawalfunctionbeforeyoustart

yourtripandmakesureallyourcardsareattachedwith‘VISA’or‘PLUS’logo.

SocialClubsandNetworkingOpportunities

Again,thestudentassociation(SASSE)willorganizeeventsopentoallSSEstudents,suchas

seminarfromdifferentspeakers.Youcansignupfortheseeventsontheirwebsite.Amore

importantplace for exchange students to look for activitieswill be Facebookpageof the

Exchange Committee. They will organize welcoming and farewell banquet for exchange

students. You can definitely meet other exchange students there. They also organize

travellingactivitiesforexchangestudents.TherewillbeatriptoLaplandfornorthernlights

and other sightseeing tour to different countries. Youwill want to stay tunedwith their

updatesonFacebook.

Food

DiningoutinSwedenisexpensiveasyoumayhaveexpected.Yet,cookingyourselfdoesnot

costmuch.Personally,Ibuygroceriesfromsupermarket(Coop,Lidl)andcookinmydorm.

TherearesomeAsiansupermarketsnearstationHötorgetstation(oneinsidethestationand

twooutside).YoucanwalktothisstationfromSaltiswithin15minutes.

EvendiningoutisexpensivebutyoucanfindcountlessdeliciousrestaurantsinStockholm.

TheysellhighqualityfoodthatIthinkyouwillwanttogiveitatry,forexample,fishsoupin

KajsasFisk,roastedreindeerinKaffegillet,RolsKökrecommendedbytheMichelinguide.For

therest,Iamleavingthemforyoutodiscover.

Transportation

Airport

ArlandaAirport–YouwilllandStockholminthisairport.

To/Fromairport

1) ArlandaExpress:Thisisthefastestway(20minutes)totravelbetweenStockholm

centralandArlandaairport.ItwillcostyouSEK150forasinglejourney.

2) Bus: A cheaper way to go to Stockholm central but also slower than Arlanda

Express

SkavstaAirport–ThisairportspecializesinbudgetairlinelikeRyanair.

To/Fromairport

1) Bus:ThisistheonlywaytotravelbetweenSkavstaairportandStockholmcentral.

Itwilltakeyou80minutestoarrivethedestinationwhichcostyouSEK139.

WithinStockholm

Metroandbus:Youcanfindarouteplannerinhttps://sl.se/en/.

Climate

IfyouaregoingStockholminspringsemester,Januaryisthecoldestmonthinayear.Itcan

beaslowas-20°C.ItwillstarttogetwarmerinApril.Ifyouaregoingtoseethenorthern

lights,youshouldexpectanevenlowertemperature.

Communication

Duringorientationdays,SSEwilldistributeaprepaidsimcardwithnomoneyinit.Youcan

activatethesimcardbytoppingupyourcard.Ipersonallydidnotusethisprepaidsimcard.

Instead,IboughtasimcardinanothercountrytohaveEuropeandataplan(Vodafone).

InStockholm,youcanhaveWi-Ficonnectioneasily,likeinany7-eleven.InSSE,youcanaccess

to‘eduroam’.

Part3–Itemstobring

ü Residentpermit

ü Passport

ü Cashandcreditcard

ü Thickclothes

ü Adaptors

ü Businesssuit(forbanquets)

ü Laptopandchargers

ü Camera

ü Medicine

Finally,IenjoymyexchangetimeinStockholm.Ihopethisreportcanprovideyouwithmore

informationaboutSSEandStockholm.Ifyouareinterestedingoingthereandwantfurther

information,feelfreetocontactmeatbmugexch@ust.hk.