Studying in a university without a high school diploma

[Spirit of the Forest]

So, one big reason I moved to Finland is that its education system is acknowledged as one of the best in the world.

In Israel, however, the education system is quite different, and in my opinion one of the worst in the world.

I never completed high school. It was a nightmare period for me and I dropped out at 15.
Therefore, I don't have a high school diploma.

However, I can program, and I would love to study computer science in one of the universities.

What do I have to do to reach that goal? I doubt they would accept someone who doesn't have a high school diploma.
So how can I complete my high school education beforehand, if I do need to do it?

Will it be possible for me to only study certain fields that are required for CS? Like mathematics, electricity, some history, etc, rather than doing lukio from scratch?

[inkku]

http://www.opiskelupaikka.fi/Virtuaalio ... todistusta

http://www.opiskelupaikka.fi/Virtuaalio ... -tutkintoa

[Pursuivant]

You can get into "vocational" path easy. They have some IT programmes, and with vocational papers you can apply for polytechnic or even university. To cram the courses you can go study in night school. Nobody will find it weird, Finland has a long history of adult education. One of the presidents was originally a stevedore and studied at night school to become a graduate.

[Spirit of the Forest]

http://www.opiskelupaikka.fi/Virtuaalio ... todistusta

http://www.opiskelupaikka.fi/Virtuaalio ... -tutkintoa

Thanks for the links. They themselves contain references to dead links, though.

You can get into "vocational" path easy. They have some IT programmes, and with vocational papers you can apply for polytechnic or even university. To cram the courses you can go study in night school. Nobody will find it weird, Finland has a long history of adult education. One of the presidents was originally a stevedore and studied at night school to become a graduate.

Alright, good to know. I'll search for that. One of my cousins also went to night school, so I'll talk to him, maybe he can guide me through the process.

Thanks

[ProspectiveFinn]

So, one big reason I moved to Finland is that its education system is acknowledged as one of the best in the world.

In Israel, however, the education system is quite different, and in my opinion one of the worst in the world.

I never completed high school. It was a nightmare period for me and I dropped out at 15.
Therefore, I don't have a high school diploma.

However, I can program, and I would love to study computer science in one of the universities.

What do I have to do to reach that goal? I doubt they would accept someone who doesn't have a high school diploma.
So how can I complete my high school education beforehand, if I do need to do it?

Will it be possible for me to only study certain fields that are required for CS? Like mathematics, electricity, some history, etc, rather than doing lukio from scratch?

I was recently accepted by University of Helsinki for the Masters program in Computer Science, and I never graduated from High School. I did, however, earn the US equivalent which is the GED (General Education Development). If Israel has an equivalent to the GED then I'm sure that would be sufficient and your not graduating High School would not be a limiting factor in your application.

[Spirit of the Forest]

I was informed of something called Valinta Kokeet:

https://www.utu.fi/fi/Opiskelu/hakemine ... okeet.aspx

Anybody got any experience with that?

[Beep_Boop]

I was informed of something called Valinta Kokeet:

https://www.utu.fi/fi/Opiskelu/hakemine ... okeet.aspx

Anybody got any experience with that?

That's just a regular entrance exam used to assess students for acceptance into available places. You only get there after you satisfy the other criteria.

Like inkku mentioned, try for discretionary admission. If you have demonstrable knowledge in the field to which you're applying, it wouldn't be surprising if you get accepted. If you're applying for CS/IT, then show your contributions and proof of knowledge and experience.

[Spirit of the Forest]

That's just a regular entrance exam used to assess students for acceptance into available places. You only get there after you satisfy the other criteria.

Like inkku mentioned, try for discretionary admission. If you have demonstrable knowledge in the field to which you're applying, it wouldn't be surprising if you get accepted. If you're applying for CS/IT, then show your contributions and proof of knowledge and experience.

Alright. Sounds reasonable. Thanks.

[juliediane]

So, one big reason I moved to Finland is that its education system is acknowledged as one of the best in the world.

In Israel, however, the education system is quite different, and in my opinion one of the worst in the world.

I never completed high school. It was a nightmare period for me and I dropped out at 15.
Therefore, I don't have a high school diploma.

However, I can program, and I would love to study computer science in one of the universities.

What do I have to do to reach that goal? I doubt they would accept someone who doesn't have a high school diploma.
So how can I complete my high school education beforehand, if I do need to do it?

Will it be possible for me to only study certain fields that are required for CS? Like mathematics, electricity, some history, etc, rather than doing lukio from scratch?

Hi, I have actually 3 years of experience and a bachelor's and master's from a US university, the problem is that I lost my original high school diploma and I can't have a new original one, am I gonna be accepted on the day of the interview? knowing that I have with me my bachelor's and master's diplomas original ones?