Studying in Finland - ***** READ THIS FIRST *****

[sammy]

Here I have a question, not for me, but still I am interested to know. While migri.fi does not specify anything concrete on this question, maybe here are some people who know this. If an EU-citizen is accepted to the university and is coming to study here, will he have to prove his support income to some institution? I have heard about non-EU citizens and the 6000euros per year, how about EU-citizens?

It is a bit vague, yes...

http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/content.asp?path=8,2474,2514

The student may provide proof of funding in any way he or she chooses. Students from Nordic countries do not need to provide proof of funding.

The EU student would most probably need to somehow show his/her financial prowess to the Police, when registering his/her EU citizen residence... but not even the Police pages mention what might be the required sum, they just state that (among other things) one has to submit an "account of the applicant’s means of support".

http://www.poliisi.fi -> Licences -> Permits and Licences for Foreigners

Anyone? I'd be interested to know this as well, if there is a fixed sum one needs to have per month/year for EU citizens too.

[lavenderdiamond]

I'm from Turkey and I came to Helsinki to study the Public International Law LL.M Programme at the University of Helsinki. The tuition is not free, it costs 2500 euro for the programme duration of which is 1 year only. AND we can't join the Student Union, can't get a student card, so no discount in museums, UniCafe, transportation, no @#$% where. So we're not regarded as students although we're studying at their university, moreover, although we pay for it, which is really unfair. Grrrrr.

[sammy]

I'm from Turkey and I came to Helsinki to study the Public International Law LL.M Programme at the University of Helsinki. The tuition is not free, it costs 2500 euro for the programme duration of which is 1 year only. AND we can't join the Student Union, can't get a student card, so no discount in museums, UniCafe, transportation, no @#$% where. So we're not regarded as students although we're studying at their university, moreover, although we pay for it, which is really unfair. Grrrrr.

I see your point - but surely you knew all this when you applied to the programme?

http://www.helsinki.fi/oik/tdk/english/int_LLM/index.htm

This is what the pdf brochure of the programme says:

As the LL.M. Diploma Programme is not part of the Finnish degree
system, LL.M. students are not eligible for Student Union membership.
This means that LL.M. students cannot have a student card and
consequently cannot benefit from the services of the Student Health
Care Foundation.

This particular programme, like a few others (MBAs offered by the HKKK and Hanken come to mind) are not "Finnish higher education degrees" so that's why there are tuition fees... AFAIK those *Finns* who enroll on the MBA programmes, or the LLP programme, can not get student union membership either. Please do not tell us that this all was a surprise to you

[lavenderdiamond]

I'm from Turkey and I came to Helsinki to study the Public International Law LL.M Programme at the University of Helsinki. The tuition is not free, it costs 2500 euro for the programme duration of which is 1 year only. AND we can't join the Student Union, can't get a student card, so no discount in museums, UniCafe, transportation, no @#$% where. So we're not regarded as students although we're studying at their university, moreover, although we pay for it, which is really unfair. Grrrrr.

I see your point - but surely you knew all this when you applied to the programme?

http://www.helsinki.fi/oik/tdk/english/int_LLM/index.htm

This is what the pdf brochure of the programme says:

As the LL.M. Diploma Programme is not part of the Finnish degree
system, LL.M. students are not eligible for Student Union membership.
This means that LL.M. students cannot have a student card and
consequently cannot benefit from the services of the Student Health
Care Foundation.

This particular programme, like a few others (MBAs offered by the HKKK and Hanken come to mind) are not "Finnish higher education degrees" so that's why there are tuition fees... AFAIK those *Finns* who enroll on the MBA programmes, or the LLP programme, can not get student union membership either. Please do not tell us that this all was a surprise to you

Well I read the brochure before, but the fact that I would be treated as an employed/working person although I am a student depending on her parents' support, and of course the fact that Finland is much more expensive than I've imagined as a person who has lived in Sweden and other expensive countries, now those surprise me. And "those Finns" is your quote, I didn't refer to that in my message.

Anyways, a VERY special programme indeed...Let's see if I'll survive the expensive life and the freezing, dark winter of Helsinki.

[sammy]

AFAIK those *Finns* who enroll on the MBA programmes, or the LLP programme, can not get student union membership either.

And "those Finns" is your quote, I didn't refer to that in my message.

You didn't - but I didn't say you did, now did I? I wrote that myself -including that typo on the name, LLP which is a completely different thing from LLM- just to point out that these programmes (LLM, MBA) indeed are different, those enrolling in them usually need to pay and usually get no student union membership, no matter what their nationality. They are further education programmes, provided by Universities, not 'regular' University Master's programmes. Was merely wondering whether you really had not known of these issues beforehand, that's all.

Be as it may, I hope you do survive (and won't sue us all afterwards )

[kelly1305]

hey, Can you not just start from scratch, when it comes to studying a subject in finland? I mean what if you decide you fancy something completely new and different is it impossible to just start a course in the subject of interest? Or do you still recommend we shoould go back to our own counrty to get a degree first?

[sammy]

hey, Can you not just start from scratch, when it comes to studying a subject in finland? I mean what if you decide you fancy something completely new and different is it impossible to just start a course in the subject of interest? Or do you still recommend we shoould go back to our own counrty to get a degree first?

Do you mean: is it possible to apply as a Bachelor's degree (undergraduate) student at a Finnish university, rather than applying to a Master's programme after you've finished your Bachelor's at home?

Well why not, but the problem could be that there aren't too many Bachelor's programmes available at universities in English. The short answer is yes, you *can* start from scratch - if you've got what it takes... in most cases this includes fluent Finnish/Swedish.

English-language Bachelor's programmes are mainly offered by UAS's (Universities of Applied Sciences). Depends on what you'd be interested in, then, whether they'd offer options for you (for example - UAS's do not offer degrees in languages, philosophy, and such traditionally "academic" subjects.)

[Pursuivant]

for example - UAS's do not offer degrees in languages

well, not "philosophical" degrees that qualify you eg. to become a teacher, but you can study languages as part of some degrees like here

[sammy]

for example - UAS's do not offer degrees in languages

well, not "philosophical" degrees that qualify you eg. to become a teacher, but you can study languages as part of some degrees like here

Yep, I suppose many other UAS degrees include at least some compulsory language studies, too... but as you say that's different from "majoring in English/German/French" i.e. philology. Philosophy is quite another matter (though it may not be )

[Pursuivant]

Well your degree says "Master of Philosophy" or FM.

[sammy]

Well your degree says "Master of Philosophy" or FM.

Quite so, it's a bit confusing innit! Don't know why it's called that, most students at the Faculty of Humanities only needed to complete an obligatory introduction course into philosophy, involving mostly the basics of "philosophy of science"... though of course these issues were also interwoven into the other studies... for myself it's sort of appropriate since I also did "cum laude" studies at the Dept of Philosophy - but I'm certainly not a Master in it, like having a black belt in Taoism or 7th dan in Heidegger. But it did spark an interest, especially towards Wein und Zeit

[femalestudent]

Hi everyone who reads this message!

Hopefully, there will be some volunteer to answer my question=) I am currently studying at the university of applied sciences (pursuing the bachelor's certificate) and soon will be close to the graduation; I wanted to wonder how possible is to get accepted to Helsinki University Master program conducted in English (connected with business - i am not specifying with the purpose of getting various kinds of feedbacks). Any statistics is very welcome, i just want to hear sincere opinions and experiences. My personal aim of publishing this post - I would like to evaluate my chances with your help, guys.
P.S. Please, no abusing replies and posts with "i am the coolest in the world" flavor.

MANY THANKS EVERYONE!

[Vlada]

Hei kaikille! I'm a girl from Kazakhstan having a sacred dream to study in Finland))Here is my question:
I know that in such universities Helsingin yliopisto, Tampereen yliopisto and so on there are only English programmes for Master's degrees.But on Tampereen yliopiston offsite I found a Bachelor degree programme on English Philology in English.Some of my friends say it's unlikely and there should be some additional requires for applying or something.So,is it possible - Bachelor degree programme on English Philology in English??
Education in english is very important for me as I've been studying it for almost 10 years but still it seems to me that I know nothing((
I'm really interested in Finnish language, opiskelen sitä itse,have an ardour to speak it))

[sammy]

Hei kaikille! I'm a girl from Kazakhstan having a sacred dream to study in Finland))Here is my question:
I know that in such universities Helsingin yliopisto, Tampereen yliopisto and so on there are only English programmes for Master's degrees.But on Tampereen yliopiston offsite I found a Bachelor degree programme on English Philology in English.Some of my friends say it's unlikely and there should be some additional requires for applying or something.So,is it possible - Bachelor degree programme on English Philology in English??
Education in english is very important for me as I've been studying it for almost 10 years but still it seems to me that I know nothing((
I'm really interested in Finnish language, opiskelen sitä itse,have an ardour to speak it))

Hei!

English philology, strange as it may seem, is difficult to group definitely into the "available in English" category - many lectures (and obviously books) at the English departments of the Finnish universities will most likely be in English, but then again, some general linguistics classes, seminars etc. might not be so. Remember that the English departments in Finland are mainly geared towards educating Finns to become English teachers, interpreters, translators, and what not. I mean that is their main raison d'être - so it's not forbidden for you to apply. But you should remember that they do not necessarily offer any ready-made programmes that would be available completely in English - and you'd also need to include general studies & minor subject studies into your Finnish university degree, and these might present a bigger problem language-wise, if your Finnish skills are at beginner's level.

That's probably why "English philology" is not advertised at the "International Degree Programmes" section of their admissions site: http://www.uta.fi/admissions/degreeprog/

For example, I did English philology at Jyväskylä and while many of our professors & lecturers were native Brits (including some from Ireland and the US), so many lectures & discussion groups etc were "completely in English" - but most of the minor studies & general studies were in Finnish, for example. Also some of the first-year linguistics courses were in Finnish only. But that can also depend on what subjects you choose. (Just an example, it isn't necessarily the same in Tampere... and my studies were -erm- some time ago)

Therefore, my advice for you would be to contact the English Philology dept. at the University of Tampere (or "The School of Modern Languages and Translation Studies" as the faculty seems to be called) directly and ask what they say about it: http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/kielet/index_en.html and especially: http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/kielet/engf/studies/index.html

[sammy]

Incidentally, the first posting of this thread is somewhat outdated. Especialy the bit about "no tuition fees" is misleading, since some Master's programmes may have them in the future.

I'd recommend the whole thread was removed, actually... or at least it shouldn't be a "sticky" anymore.