Oh cheap air travel, here I come...

Academics and legal matters aside, you need to prepare for living in a new country and also need to find the cheapest way of getting there right?
I can't find a ticket for you and we can all do this ourselves, but I can give you a few pointers.
First of all, if you are going to be studying in Jönköping, I would 100% recommend that you fly to Gothenburg. I'm sure you've heard of Stockholm (being the capital), but if you haven't heard of Gothenburg, it's the 2nd or 3rd largest city in Sweden and more than likely this will be your point of entry. It is much closer to Jönköping (2hrs compared to 5 with Stockholm) so not only will arrive sooner, but it will save you a lot on transportation costs.
Here's a website I use very often to book trips. You have to register and verify your student status, but it will have many cheap flights to any place in the world.
Of course, you can use all the other online agencies like Kayak, Cheapoair, Skyscanner, etc...

I would also try seeing if it'd be cheaper to buy separate one-way tickets; it's very unlikely, but it has been less expensive in some cases.
I wish you the all the luck in finding the best least costly flight!!

I would try to book in advance and you can find round trip tickets as cheap as $750-800, but if you procrastinate it can easily reach past $1200

Choosing where to live in Jönköping

This is specifically for those of you who are coming to study at Jönköping University.
I don't remember all the options, but you can choose from
Råslatt
Vilhelmsro
Bäckadal
Ekhagen
Delta House

Here I will post information about how it's like to live in these accommodations. First of all, know that you won't know where you live until you literally arrive to the Accommodation Office at the University and they give you your keys.
I was allocated in Råslatt so I will concentrate on living there, but later I'll try to get colleagues living in the other accommodations to comment on their experiences there.

Råslatt:
This refers to the area and consists of a series of apartment buildings. All the exchange or university students live in a certain area of these. It's basically a square, where the perimeter is made up of all the apartment buildings. In the middle there are just walkways, trash/recycle bins (they really facilitate recycling here and have bins even for electronics), and also a kind of "club house" called Sokertoppen; it's a common area with a billiards table, foosball table, ping pong table, snack shop, sauna, lounge area with big screen TV and a newly integrated Xbox Kinect.
It's a nice hang out and pre party area.
There's also common rooms in each of pairs of buildings (i.e. common room for building 100 and 98, 84 and 86).

Most apartment (or as called often here, flats) contain four rooms, but can vary to 2-4 ppl apartments. They can vary from one to two full bathrooms. There's one decent sized kitchen with two sinks, fridge and freezer, and plenty of shelf and storage space. NOTE ON WHAT TO BRING: If you happen to have extra space, you may want to just throw in a plate, some simple eating utensils, and maybe even a pan, because unless the apartment is already occupied by other people whom have bought their own things, there might not be any. These items can be bought here, but maybe it's good to have some things if you have space and are not too heavy. Not necessary at all so if you already have too many things, just ignore this.

The good thing about Råslatt is that you only share an apartment with only up to 3 ppl and bathroom with one other person. You will have your own room and will have plenty of closet space and shelf space. Rooms differ in size and if you're lucky like me, you'll get a pretty big room with it's own section for the bed enclosed by drapes if you want. Prices are around 2500 SEK (Swedish Kronas) which is around $390, pretty reasonable I think.

Other housing has a more "sharing is caring" approach such as Vilhelmsro and Delta where the building is composed of hallways and the kitchen and bathrooms are in a common area shared by everyone (everyone has their own separate room though). This welcomes an environment in which everyone will get to know each other and hang out since they are all forced into one common area. This can be an advantage over Råslatt since we all have our own shared apartments, but Råslatt is probably the biggest and where most people live. Trust me, you'll probably end up meeting more people here anyway and unless you're just sheltered in your own room, you'll meet many new people and we get together in the common rooms and organize dinners, movie nights, and pre-parties.

LOCATION:
Råslatt is around 10-15 mins from school. You'll need to get a bus card, but either way you'll need it to travel anywhere around the city. I'll go into details about this later. Basically, just know you'll need to travel by bus and as much as you're not used to this, you'll enjoy the change. Most accommodations you'll need to travel by bus to school and to the city center or any places really.

Delta House I believe is the only one located right in the city center and walking distance from school. The rooms are nice, it is has the shared hallway layout, with shared kitchen and bathrooms.

I'll get more info from others to post about their accommodation and I hope that will help you choose your three housing options.

Halt!! Passport!!!

You're probably wondering at this point, well, what do I possibly need to get into Sweden? Obviously, one needs a passport to travel anywhere in the world, but as the world becomes increasingly inter-global, we're trending to facilitating world travel.
MAKE SURE YOU DON'T FORGET YOUR PASSPORT lol

There are of course different requirements for citizens of different countries. It will be more than likely that you are from a country that does not require a Visa or Permit to enter Sweden, but just in case here is a list of countries that indeed DO REQUIRE A VISA.
If you are not on this list then this means that you are allowed under Swedish Migration Laws to enter the country without any Visa, but can only reside in Sweden for less than 3 months.

So we are assuming that you were not on the list on the link provided above. Now there are three options.

Are from a Nordic Country: This encompasses Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland also referred to as Scandinavia. Citizens from these countries need no visas or residence permits and are freely allowed to reside.

EU Citizens: Citizens that are part of the EU are allowed to reside in Sweden without the acquisition of any such permits. However, if planning on staying/studying for more then 3 months then one needs to register with the Swedish Migration Board. Register here

Any non EU/EEA Citizen: Such as myself. My guess is you're from the US, well there are no exceptions for you. There are varying rules slightly, of which I am not well informed, but here are the main points.
Falling under this category, you will need to apply for a Residence Permit if your intending on residing longer than 3 months. **It will only be valid for 1 year, but can be extended**
You will need to register an account with the Swedish Migration Board and apply online here.
You can also print out an application, but this is the easiest and quickest way given you have all supporting documentation in electronic form. 

List of Supporting Documents:

• Copy of your passport
• Letter of acceptance or certificate (proof) of university
• Certificate (proof) of funds to support yourself. ** You can just send a PDF of your bank statement which can acquire through your account online. NOTE: You must show that you can support yourself by having 7,300 SEK per month (Swedish Kronas) for at least 10 months or around $1,100 per month. ---Also, if you have been given any scholarships in support for the study abroad, these would be a good supplement to provide proof of sufficient funds                  More info on supplemental documentation and visa requirements here
• Certificate (proof) of comprehensive health insurance if you are studying in Sweden for less than one year. Can just send them scanned copy of your Insurance Card.

Here are supporting links that have all the information you would need
Swedish Migration Board Online Application Form
Studying in Sweden Help
Embassy of Sweden in Washington
Swedish Consulates in USA

MY ADVICE: I would apply online with all of your supporting documentation. The application costs 1000 SEK or ~$150. It should only take around 45 mins.

I was also surprised how quickly I received a response. You will of course get a confirmation e-mail upon their receipt of your application. I received my acceptance letter within a week. It's in Swedish, I couldn't understand it, and it looks kind of unofficial, but that's it so don't worry. 

Application for Residence Permit √   Next Step:

Now you'll need to get fingerprints taken and photos so that your residence permit card can be made. I live in Florida and the closest Swedish Embassy is in Washington. I was not about to fly all the way there for some fingerprints unless you so happen to have the opportunity. There is also an embassy in San Francisco and New York.

The easiest thing to do, and it is legal, is to enter Sweden without having the Residence Permit and once you get there you can go to a Migration office and get your fingerprints taken there, just make sure it is within three months of having arrived. 

**Important: If you take my advice, just make sure you travel with your Residence Permit letter of acceptance. For US citizens I don't think it is a problem, but when I was checking in at Orlando, I was at first not allowed to board, because I had no Visa and I had no documents showing when I was returning. Maybe it's that for a Mexican Citizen, you need to at least show that you do have a round trip ticket or a return flight.

I was still allowed to board, I think it was just the dumb, senile old lady that I had the unfortunate chance of servicing me, but I would still double check with a Swedish Embassy. They can also confirm that you can do as I tell here.

Washington Embassy Phone Number +1-202-467 2600

I think their calling hours are 10-12 only on Wednesday (may have changed, but they are ridiculous so find out with anticipation)

I want to study in Sweden, now what?

By now, someone has brainwashed you into going to the barren bitter cold of Scandinavia. Before you can decidedly determine you're going to study in Sweden, you need to make sure there are classes available for your major that possibly could be accredited towards your degree. I will discuss over specifically going to Jönköping (Jonshoping) University.

You can first visit Maureen Waked, the study abroad coordinate, which by now you probably already have and she'll get you started or at least let her know you would like to be part of the exchange program at Jönköping. You can visit the school website and download the ECTS guide to look at all the classes being offered. If you ever have any questions about classes, the school, Sweden, anything at all you can ask me of course, but the international student coordinator Andrea Wagner is a great resource and she'd be more than happy to receive your emails.

I don't know in what plan you are going, but I am here studying abroad as well as getting my international engineering minor (for UCF they require you a semester abroad and you must take 3 Engineering courses at least and one Cultural Course). If this is the case, I would find 3 engineering courses as soon as possible that interest you and may apply to your major and pick the cultural course maybe Swedish 1 or International and Intercultural Communications is a good one.
Now you'll need to submit them for approval by the engineering department. Application
**Note: Just put in 3 credits for hours as all courses will be taken as 3 to avoid discrepancies.
You'll need to then turn in the application to Dr. Lin, the current head chair of mmae department. I would advise you to gather any supporting material (emails from Professors offering similar courses that would accept as equivalent) so that the decision will more likely go your way.

Ok, assuming that all your petitions, oh I almost forgot...you'll need to petition more courses a bare minimum of 2 ALTERNATE courses, because it could happen that you arrive and the classes are cancelled or a schedule conflict impedes you from taking one of your chose courses. Now, your courses are petitioned...you'll need to see Alisha Corsi and she will then relay your your petitions to Maureen (as she does not deal with the academic sector) and will not let you apply for the exchange program until this is completed. If your running late on time, you may want to persuade her to let you and as long as your in the process of petitioning your courses and they'll most likely be accepted.

She'll guide you through the application process: consists of both applying through the UCF study abroad program...keep in mind you'll need to write a quick essay on why you want to study and you'll have to provide a reference of recommendation (i.e. professor, advisor, university staff member so have someone before hand)...and applying through the university website.

The latter will occur as follows: As I said, you kind of rely on Maureen to accept that your classes have been petitioned and if that is all done or you've managed to assuage her, she and only her will "nominate" you as a candidate to the university. In less than a week you will receive account info, either directly or through Maureen, that will allow you to hence apply for an exchange program with the school.
This is when you'll be able to choose your classes. **Important** You might be shocked to find at this point that some of the classes you already petitioned for and were ready to take are not appearing anywhere on the list of courses offered. This is when I emphasize: Get to this point in your arrangements ASAP. ****Summary: quickly choose classes, petition right away, get Maureen to "nominate" you so you can apply and see with your own eyes what classes are actually offered. That way if the former were to occur, you don't need to be freaking out and will have ample time to make new arrangements and submit new petitions.

Sounds cool, but what will I offer right?

Well, as you can read in my profile, I'm a UCF student in Orlando, FL and decided to study abroad, somehow ending up in the little Swedish town of Jönköping. My other blog goes into more of a series of experiences, anecdotes, and more of my life through the 5 months in Scandinavia. The best way is to read in tandem and I'll have links directed to more detailed information that this blog will specifically cover. I'll tell you exactly what you need to prepare i.e. what to bring, Visa requirements, housing, choosing classes, etc... (things I would have loved to know before getting here), how to get the most out of  your stay here, living in Sweden, and I'll also go into some very useful information for traveling around Europe while staying in Sweden.
Hope it can be of use to you whatever your needs or interests may be. I put a lot of time into researching and gathering the most detailed information for your ease.
Presto!!