Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam 2014

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pilvi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:11 pm

Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam 2014

Post by pilvi » Fri Dec 19, 2014 2:05 pm

I am posting this because before taking the International Business entrance exam last year, I searched for information everywhere on this forum but barely found anything in addition to what was already available on the polytechnics' websites. Maybe these details will help someone who takes the exam this year.

I took the entrance exam in Budapest. It wasn't mentioned on the polytechnics' websites last year, but the exam was held a week earlier than in Finland, and we had to pay a registration fee for taking it abroad, the equivalent of 50 EUR.

It was a very good idea to take the exam abroad because there were only six of us and the atmosphere was quite relaxed. The written part started at 13:00. We had to go through the registration at 8:00 but we were allowed to leave and come back before 13:00.

Essay question: the topic was something like "Itella's business groups, their geographical location and financial position", not exactly this but I cannot remember exactly anymore. We had 1,5 page for the essay and we were not allowed to write more than that. This was a very broad topic and it wasn't easy to decide what exactly to include out of the many relevant details from the annual report.

Multiple choice questions, annual report: some were really nasty; you had to remember even data from the figures, there were two questions related to the amount of mail deliveries sent to different distances. There was also a question related to the very last page of the report, which only contained disclaimers.

Multiple choice questions, logical thinking: these were easier but in some cases one had to handle quite big numbers without a calculator, in one case even divide something by a two-digit number. Three answers are provided, and the fourth is: other answer, and if you chose "other answer", you also had to write what it is.

Group discussion: we did this in two turns, three people in each. First we got a short paragraph from a news article, it was about people in their thirties who switch jobs all the time and barely spend a year or two at a company. We were allowed to think for a few minutes and then we had to discuss what the reasons of this trend are, and what companies can do to retain their employees. The teachers didn't intervene; they were just listening, and stopped us after about 15 minutes. They were really friendly and encouraging, and did their best to make the exam experience as positive to us as possible.

My advice to you:
- Learn the whole annual report by heart, or as close as you can get. It’s not enough to “read it carefully”.
- 1,5 page seems a lot but in fact it's very little, so keep it short and to the point from the beginning. You are allowed to write a draft but time is limited and you may remember important points to include while you are writing.
- Practice doing calculations without a calculator. You may think that you are fine without, but you may be wrong, and better to discover it before the exam.
- Practice debating in English if you don't have enough routine yet.
- Don't worry about the number of applicants, most of them just apply but never take the exam.

I hope you found this useful. I can answer questions related to _this particular entrance exam_ if you have any.



Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam 2014

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swiss_student
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:20 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by swiss_student » Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:58 pm

Hi pilivi,

Thanks for your short report about the entrance exam for IB. I have the intention to take the exam this spring and I would like to know more about the "logical thinking" part. Most people write that it's quite easy to solve (high-school knowledge...whatever that should be?), but I still don't know what exactly the framework is. Would you or anyone else mind to describe it a little bit more in detail. Which topics did they ask about exactly in this part? Maybe you could give some examples. I'm just worrying about this part of the exam because for the rest I should be able to fulfill their expectations.

Cheers!

pilvi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:11 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by pilvi » Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:39 pm

Hi! I don't remember much because this was the easiest part for me :) but you don't even need most of what you learned at high school. There is no geometry, trigonometry, algebra... you only need to use the four basic operations and you should be able to convert values into percentages, and the other way round.
that there was a problem of this type:

http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~lori/mathed/p ... hlc11.html

And then the most difficult one was about a sum of money put into the bank with compound interest, but it was enough to make an estimation and choose one of the answers, all of them were "approximately xx percent of the original sum of money"

I will write here if I remember something else. But don't worry, this is really the easiest part :)

And one thing I forgot to mention in my original post, just for other readers' information: when we had to write the essay, the 1,5 page room on the paper was lined... so you cannot really squeeze in more content by making your letters smaller.

Summer90
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:59 am
Location: [img]https://www.finlandforum.org/pics/flags/pk.png[/img]

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by Summer90 » Fri Dec 26, 2014 2:24 am

Hi Pilvi,

I'm applying for admissions in Jan 2015 and I am from Pakistan so I will have to go to Nepal for the entrance exam.
I just want to ask you where are you from and did you get in ?
And I would also like to know if it's hard for international students to get into Undergrad English courses ?
Any information will be helpful.

Thank you
:)

pilvi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:11 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by pilvi » Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:36 pm

Summer90
Hi! I'm from Hungary and I got in :) I think it's not more difficult for international students to get in than for Finns. Just learn the annual report word by word (almost), and you will be able to get enough points.

To my previous comment: I've noticed that part of it doesn't show, even if I read it through before posting. So, the missing part: the first task I remember from the logical thinking test was to express two cents as a percentage of one euro.

ttk197
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:32 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by ttk197 » Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:55 pm

Gosh, it's absolutely useful for me, pilvi :) Thks so much :)
I'm considering what the hell the essay might be :v
Nonetheless, could u remember how many words you used per line or the whole essay? Does the paper size close to A4 size? I just want to practice writing on time :)
Learn this Finnair Anual Report by heart seems to be an impossible mission :( It contains 76 pages filled with words :(
I'm looking forward to seeing ur response soon!
Once again, thks for ur precious information

pilvi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:11 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by pilvi » Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:21 pm

ttk197

Hi! Good that you found it useful :) As for the essay, I started it with a comfortable letter size which I then reduced gradually as I was running out of space :D but on the average, I think I wrote 8-10 words in a row. The rows were quite spacy, maybe one centimeter high, and the paper size was A4.

Our report was also long and very difficult to learn, but if you read it once in every two days or so, and someone helps you and "interviews" you about it, then you will remember enough to get in :)

Neha Joshi
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 11:16 am

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by Neha Joshi » Thu Feb 05, 2015 9:21 pm

Hi Pilvi,

Thanks for the detailed description, this is extremely useful :). I have also applied for the program and have few questions for you about the program and the course. Hope you will be able to help me with answers for the same.
1. I am yet to receive the study material, when should I expect that to arrive?
2. Have you already started the studies, do you find them hectic?

Thanks,
NJ

pilvi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:11 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by pilvi » Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:32 am

Neha Joshi
Hi!
1. they won't send you the study material, you have to download it from the link provided at the polytechnics' websites
2. I'm a first-year student and I don't find the studies too difficult. Most exams have been really easy but there is a massive amount of essays and other homework to be submitted. It's not difficult but the quantity is quite big, and we have to complete the majority of our tasks in groups, so it lasts longer than doing it yourself... but overall I think the workload is quite reasonable

Kzed
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 3:19 am

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by Kzed » Wed Feb 11, 2015 3:24 am

Hello guys i'm a new applicant in UAS in finland i'm from morocco and i don't know where i'll pass my entrance exam, can someone help me please ?
in studyinfo, my country doesn't exist in the list of the countries when we can take the entrance exam
i hope that i'll take it in finland because i can't take it anywhere else

thank you guys for replying :)

Neha Joshi
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2014 11:16 am

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by Neha Joshi » Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:13 pm

Hi Pilvi,

Thanks for the info. This is very useful :).

Regards,
Neha

pilvi
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:11 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by pilvi » Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:46 pm

Neha
You're welcome :)

Kzed
Once you are invited to the entrance exam, you will be able to choose from two options:
1.) take the exam in Finland at the polytechnic of your first preference
2.) take the exam abroad, at the nearest location to your place of residence

tomasleiva
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 7:17 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by tomasleiva » Sat Mar 28, 2015 7:31 pm

Hello everybody. I'm Tomás from Chile.

I would like to thank you Pilvi for all the info you have given to us. I have looked all over the web, and I haven't found anything helpful until now. Unfortunately, I have always had troubles trying to memorise details, specially if I'm studying in the university meanwhile, so I do not know how I will recall every detail from the inform.

Even though we live pretty far away one of each other. We could gather (online) to practice for the entrance examination. Therefore we all help each other.

if you like the idea, you can contact me by email: [email protected] or whats app: +56993599293

i don't think i gonna check this blog so often.

Greets

Good luck!!

hamyoblo
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2015 1:11 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by hamyoblo » Wed Apr 01, 2015 1:22 pm

Hi pilivi,

thank you for your help, i have been searching for answer on the web for a long time , but this is the only site where i found real answers. so thanks very much uve been very helpful. and my question is how many words are you allowed to write on the essay, do you have to finish all the paper given. and do you know any other group discussion questions that might appear on the exam, form you previous research. look forward to hear from you,

again thank u

Kupliva Hirvi
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 3:17 pm

Re: Detailed story: my International Business entrance exam

Post by Kupliva Hirvi » Mon Apr 13, 2015 3:27 pm

Hello Pilvi,
I am also writing the exam at Tamk next weekend.
Please can you remember last year Maths exercise ?
Most of the informations which I have found here from other people is about "precent and I don't remember"!!
My biggest worry is maths
:D
you can also mail me:
[email protected]

Best regards,
Gael White


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