Since 1986 we have an exchange program of students between Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston, Texas and University of Uppsala, School of Engineering, Uppsala. Since 1989 this also includes KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. If a Swedish technology student wants to study at UH, he (or she) will start as graduate student . Normally this takes 4 years at the university in USA and the students have a Bachelor's degree here, before moving on to graduate studies. Since the last year at the Swedish Gymnasium is like first year at a univeristy at USA, we can start after only 3 years at a Swedish university. After two years as a graduate student, the student will get a Master's degree, which is like the Swedish "Cilvilingenjörsexamen", with an extended Master Thesis (exjobb). The studies will include some courses and a bigger project, which will last for about 6-12 months. When the student has finished the courses and most of the Master Theises, the student can show proof of this and graduate from Uppsala. This means, that after 5 years, you can get a double degree - from UH and from Uppsala. If you get an assistenship you will also earn some money and the tuition fees will be reduced.

UH is a state university with about 35 000 students. The education is spread among several Colleges. The most interesting one (for Swedish technology students) is Cullen College of Engineering, which has (among others) Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Since 1990/91 the Department of Natural Science is also included in the exchange program. UH is a young university. It was founded 1927, but didn't grow much until 1950. Since 1970 the management have been working on rebuilding and improving the university to compete with other famous universities.

The campus is in the middle of Houston, only a mile from downtown. At the University Center you can find restaurants, bookstores, activity center, bowling, tabletennis and so on. Most of this is underground, due to the heat. There is also a big pool, which is hardly used by anyone, which is really strange for us Swedes.

Houston is a enormous city like Los Angeles. Flat, green, with only two stores buildings, except for in downtown. The freeways and the concrete is everywhere and since there's almost no public transportation you really need a car. There is no underground, but there are busses. But for a European it's not acceptable for such a big city. Houston is the fourth biggest city in USA and the poulation is a big mixture of Texans, Americans, Mexicans, and even some Asians and Europeans. Most of the graduate students at Collen Cullege are asians.

The city is located in the south of Texas, close to Galveston Bay at the Mexican Golf, which is 50 miles south of Houston. It's at the same latitute as Cairo, but the humidity is very high, often about 95-100%. The Summer is from April to September, with temperatures above 90 Fahrenheit. It's as best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) in August when it's more than 100! The "Winter" is in December and January. Sometimes the temperature sinks below 32 degrees, but usually the weather is perfect for a Scandinavian. You can reach the beaches at Galveston within an hour by car.

During the 2 years here you will have to take at least 7 classes. Each class is 3 hours a week. Usually you take these during the first three semesters and concentrate on your Master Theises at the end. You can get help with selecting courses from your advisor or the general graduate advisor.

To do the Master Theisis you need an advisor, who you have to select yourself. This should be done as soon as possible, but make sure you select someone who is working with something you're interested in. You can get som help from the Swedish students who are already here or from Ken White at Mechanical Engineering, who has a large varity of projects for students interested in Mechanical Engineering.

UH is a commuter university, which means that most of the students get here by car every morning (one in each car!). There's also space for about 3000 students in dorms, but most Swedes have selected to live in an apartment. Usually together with another Swede. It could be good to live at the dorm to meet other students and to improve the language. If you live at campus you have close to school and are not in urgent need of a car. Application can be found among the other material. You sign a contract for 9 months and have to pay a deposit, which you loose if you earlier.

If you're looking for an apartment you should better get some help from the other Swedes here when you selecting an area. Most of the Swedes have used an apartment locator, which helps you (for free, he gets paid by the apartment owner). Since there's a lot of nice apartments in Houston, you don't have to be in such a hurry with this. It can be taken care of when you get here. Then you can also get some help from the Swedes here.

On page 7 in "International Graduate Admissions" you can find the estimated costs of living. We have made some adjustments:

Other fees (1999) (excl. insurance, $301)	$731,50
Tution fees (9Hrs)	$2768,50
Tution fees (12Hrs)	$3638,50

Additional:

Parking	$36
Insurance	$301

If you get accepted as assistent, your tuition fees will be reduced. But then you need to be registered during the Summer semester.

Living

Books $100-300, varies. You can usually find used books in the UH Bookstore.

Food, Cloths You can get a "meal plan" on Campus, 12 meals each week is $800 per semester (19 meals/week = $900. Meat is ³ $1 per pound at Krooger's. Levis jeans are ³ $20 at Marshall's.

Car Cheaper than in Sweden. Petrol is from $1.50 per gallon (11.2000). There are lots of cars in Houston, and they are usually cheaper than in Sweden. The insurance is about $800 a year.

Salary If you become an assistent you will get paid from September 1st. Usually it's about $800-$1200, depending on department and TA/RA.

You will need some money to stay alive until you get your first paycheck at October 1st (in $):

Then you may add meal plan or car, if you want to buy that. You have to pay the tuition fees some time around September 1st and you can't be sure that your assistentship is in the system then, so you may have to pay much more than you expected. The minimum amount is 50% of the total, and then you have about 4-5 weeks until you have to pay the rest. By then your papers should be in order and you will get some money back if you paid more than you should have done.

It's really good to have a VISA. It can be used almost everywhere, even when paying the tuition fees. You should also consider getting a bank here. The most popular banks among the Swedes are Wells Fargo and Compass.

You can get financial aid from CSN i Sweden. Most of the Swedish student use this, even if they get a job here. CSN can also pay for travel and tuition fees.

If you spend some money to get a decent car here, you could make some money on bringing it back to Sweden when you're done here. If you have had it for more than a year here, you don't have to pay and taxes when getting it in to Sweden. Although, you have to pay for transportation and an environmental fee (about $1000). Cars are generally much cheaper in Houston than in Sweden.

 Travel

A round trip is usually about $600, but this can really vary. Check with the travel agencys, e.g. Kilroy Travel Sweden.

 Arrival

You need a few days here before the semester starts. You have to get used to the time change, the climate (it's really hot in August), but most of all you need to get a driver's license, get somewhere to live, and so on. They arrange an orientation for new students about august 15th. It can be pretty interesting. Especially since you have to pay for it even if you don't participate. The lectures start around August 20th, but you need to sign up for the classes much earlier. The most popular classes at EE are usually full when they start (I know this is strange for a Swede to hear, but that's the way it is). Get the address to one of the Swedes in Houston, and send time of arrival, flightnumber och airport (there are more than one), and we can pick you up. You will get some help and advices the first days (years) by those who got it last year. Next year it's your turn to help the new comers.

TIP: Get Social Security Number (SSN) as soon as you can! You need this to get your paycheck and to get a driver's license, which is needed for many other things, e.g. get a car insurance and as ID. To get SSN you have to have a note from UH saying you really need it.