Stockholm School of Economics in Riga Students' Magazine

Most probably all of us know what the segmentation is. Have you ever thought what the result would be, if we tried to somehow segment SSE Riga community? Of course we could talk about the traditional segments – Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Russians, and, say, Exchange students.  Or we could differentiate guys and girls..or locals and foreigners..or so-called ‘top performers’ and the ‘ordinary’ ones..or something else. However, let’s focus on the certain group this time. In SSE, we have quite many students who have entered SSE Riga after some studying in other universities, mostly in Riga, Vilnius, or Tartu. So, how do they feel here? Is their attitude towards things somehow different? Are they more comfortable than other students? Are they more successful?

So, what SSE has that other universities do not?  As experienced by Arturs (Y2), studies in Riga Technical University were boring and primitive:  only theoretical stuff, no teamwork, no motivated colleagues – all in all – no possibilities for fast personal development. Kadi feels that Economics studies in Tartu were far less demanding and she had lots of free time there. Imants describes his year in the University of Latvia as quite pathetic: bad quality lectures, outdated learning material, and again – lots of unmotivated people, most of whom even did not have any interest in Economics field. SSE Riga strives to provide it all: ‘lecturers who usually tend to deliver information not only efficiently, but also in an interesting and appealing way. The info you get is usually updated and not obsolete.  What you get here is welcoming and warm environment, both in academic and personal fields, and loads of challenges, that I believe makes SSE Riga students so well known around the Baltics’ (Egle). 

Yes, it is pretty clear that SSE ‘wins’ in the field of the academic environment. However, studies elsewhere help a lot in terms of attitude towards life, people, and studies as such. There is no doubt that people feel more comfortable when they have some experience of ‘true life’ – that is,  living separate from parents,  working part- time jobs, and having enough time to think about who they want to be and how they may achieve it. ‘They are usually able to look at things from more angles and not to do faulty reasoning’ (Imants). Moreover, such students commonly strongly appreciate everything SSER provides for a simple reason – they have something to compare with.

On the other hand – nothing is perfect – SSER should have some drawbacks while comparing with ‘traditional’ Baltic universities. And it certainly does! The first thing, perhaps appealing only to guys, is the extremely high proportion of girls in other universities (Arturs, Marius). The second drawback might be that the schedule in SSER is quite strict – for example, in Tartu students have a lot of freedom to choose the courses they want to take. The first year there is like the introductory year with such courses as Psychology or Sociology with just the purpose to broaden students’ minds (Kadi). The University of Latvia can also be proud of its wide choice of elective courses, not necessarily very closely related to Economics (Imants). 

What is more, while studying elsewhere, you can easily combine your personal life, leisure activities, and even part-time job with studies. I guess many of you have already noticed that the ‘intensive studies’ system of SSER often harms your relationship, always keeps you extremely busy and stressed, until one day you realize that you are living from one deadline to another, and your life-work balance is far away from a normal lifestyle scale. If looking at the differences between people ‘here’ and ‘there’, motivation, intelligence, engagement in various activities, and high personal goals are what SSE people can boast about. However, this could be perceived not only as the positive features of the SSER community. The over-motivation, insincerity, and pragmatism can be also seen on the day-to-day basis. When I see some ‘wannabe careerists’ who are ready to move heaven and earth for a better mark, who would deceive their friends and quickly make the new ones for a higher score in a project work, and who behave as they were the smartest business people in the universe, I feel the urge to get away from such environment. In such cases I miss your ordinary friends from your hometown or former university, who perhaps study in less famous universities and have much less ambitions and achievements, but are so simple, sweet, and down-to-earth.

Diana Pauna, when asked to comment on this topic, admitted that SSE Riga study program is more suitable for 19-years-old than for those who have just graduated from the secondary school and are usually at the age of 18. She also told that from experience over many years, it is clear that students coming from other universities are more motivated, more focused, and more mature. Their attitude towards life and the way they perceive everything is quite different from others. However, she divided this group of students into two categories. The first one is those who become excellent students, put much effort into studies and know what they want. The other group is students who experience a quite tough transition process. The problem is that they are already used to the slow pace of studying and make a bad start, which leads to some serious problems with catching up. 

It is hard to make any strict conclusions regarding what and who is better. It is pretty clear that SSE Riga offers a very challenging experience of high quality studies in the particularly motivated community. However, I would like to wish everyone to be successful in acquiring only positive skills and features and stay away from the ‘bad stuff’.

Good luck!

Agne Pranulyte

Special thanks for Kadi Pung, Arturs Pulkis, Imants Auzins, Egle Gruselionyte, Marius Miskinis

To start with, it should be mentioned, that studying at SSE Riga was my dream for two years, therefore nothing written here should be understood as weighted words of a serious and clear-minded person, but more like subjective and emotion-based thoughts. It is a question whether we can compare some local universities (especially in Baltic region) with the international ones, but I will try to make a short insight of my previous year spent in Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius.

Firstly, what comes to my mind when thinking about the differences, are people you study with. Although the period of time we are here is arguably short, it seems that the entire buzz about active, motivated and open-minded students is not plucked out of the air. It gives you lots of energy when you see enthusiasm in peoples’ eyes and understand that it is really possible to make things happen together. In contrast, the majority of students in local universities (at least in case of Lithuania) are ‘existing’ and studying only in order to get their diplomas without putting any effort.  You cannot say that all people here are prodigies, so basically the attitude towards studying; socialising and so on is what really matters and what distinguishes SSE Riga students from others. What is more, there is a strong link in cooperation among faculty, administration and students, which really helps to avoid tiring bureaucracy and creates friendly atmosphere. Comparing other things, such as technical base or library resources, is very similar with what I got last year. The one thing that is definitely a huge advantage of Mykolas Romeris University over SSER is that about 70% of student there are ladies.

There is a saying, that “learning from experience is a faculty almost never practiced“, but I would disagree with that. It is the only thing, that students, coming not straight from the secondary school, could have as an advantage. It is not their special knowledge or their superb skills, as those can be improved over time – it is their ability to manage time more efficiently (how to use overnights ), learn more productively or just that they have this sense when there is time to chill and not stress about deadlines, though it is not always a rule.  On the other hand, I keep respect for those, who saved a year of their life and got here right after the school.

By Marius Miskinis (Y1)