Outgoing students at an all-time high

Finally it seems like many of our students with great probability are able to live their dream and study at a foreign university as exchange students. More than 600 Bachelor's students at LUSEM have applied. ”This is an all-time high,” says Alice Kjellsson, International Coordinator at the International Office at LUSEM.

The number of applications for an exchange semester at foreign universities exceeded all expectations at the International Office at LUSEM. 

”We have received a lot of applications, even more than we usually get. 574 applications came in during our application round for Bachelor's students, plus 32 for the central application round for University of California, which makes 606 applications in total,” says Alice. 

Why are our students so keen on going abroad and what was so special this year?

”Many LUSEM students see an exchange as a strategic step for their future careers. We know that many of them are hoping to work internationally in the future, or for global companies. Of course, it's also a unique way for them to get to know a new culture,” Alice explains.

Within Lund University LUSEM stands out when it comes to exchange since we have so many more applicants compared to the other faculties and many students are more than willing to go. 

”It is a privilege to be able to work with such driven, brave students,” Alice says.

”To be the faculty at the University with the highest number of applicants, wanting to go for studies abroad feels great and makes my job interesting and fun!”

Good cooperation makes all the difference

Even if interest already exists there is work to be done at the International Office. It is crucial to get the information out in the right and most appealing way. But that obviously hasn't been any problem at LUSEM:

”Another important factor is that we work hard on getting out the information via for example our web pages and social media and in doing this we have a great collaboration with the Communication Officers here at LUSEM!” Alice explains.  

The cooperation with the Bachelor's programmes is also very important, not only when it comes to reaching the students, but also to be able to create relevant international opportunities and agreements for specific student groups. During the autumn the International Office has met with almost all Coordinators for LUSEM's Bachelor's programmes, to learn more about the different programmes and to discuss internationalization.

European universities more popular

The International Office doesn't know yet what universities are the most popular ones this time but the interest for European universities has increased during recent years. If this is due to the Covid-19 situation or maybe a sign of environmental thinking is hard to tell. Another reason why students apply for Europe may also be the scholarships that the university can offer, the rail travel grants for Erasmus+ mobility, that enable students to get grants for going by train to their study destination.

Now it's time to go through all the applications and decide who gets these highly sought-after exchange places. Alice will, together with her colleagues Sara and Maria, begin the work with going through the statements of purpose and grades and the students will be notified before Christmas. The accepted students will go abroad either autumn 2022 or in the spring 2023. The students going to the University of California are going for a whole year, starting autumn 2022.