Has anyone here successfully come to Finland as a student?

cadnoess · Post by **cadnoess** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:07 pm

Hi- I'm considering moving to Finland and study would be an option. However I've read all these pages telling me that it will be practically impossible to get in or get any kind of supporting work. Have any of you actually managed to get to uni in Finland and survive? I need come hope! It would be masters study for me, and the fact that it takes 2 years in Finland instead of one (as it would be in the UK) makes it pretty expensive...

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rinso · Post by **rinso** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:17 pm

Have any of you actually managed to get to uni in Finland and survive?

Many have done so, but they have brought their own money with them.
(for non-EU a requirement for the residence permit)

AlexInHelsinki · Post by **AlexInHelsinki** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:33 pm

Erm...of course it's possible, but unless you have some sort of external monetery support system (i.e. rich relatives) or oodles of savings, it's much much more difficult to stdy here and you have to be willing to make a LOT of sacrifices. I'm here for my MA, and I, like many others, have been really struggling with the job thing. I mean, it's difficult to generalize because everyone has different skills and different luck and so on, but it's certainly doesn't help if you don't speak the language, and personally I find the whole situation REALLY stressful. Obviously finding a decent job is a huge piece of that puzzle. For me, there is NO going out, NO drinking unless it's on friends (and then you feel like a mooch), shopping alongside the homeless people at the junky smelly thrift stores, and pretty much living on tinned tuna and rice. And then ALWAYS worrying about how you're going to make enough money to pay next month's rent (while most of your Finnish classmates aren't too worried because they get student money from the government and a lot of times something from the parents as well). Combine that with culture shock (yes, it will happen...Finland is not like many other places), and the weather and language and so on, and it's a pretty tough recipe, albeit definitely not impossible. On the positive side, the schools are really good and the people are nice, and it's certainly an interesting experience. My advice would be to weight the reasons why you'd want to come study here, and don't count on finding work. I know that sounds a bit discouraging, but it's really the truth.

As far as getting accepted, you'll never know if you don't try, right?

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:45 pm

AlexTroublemaker wrote:For me, there is NO going out, NO drinking unless it's on friends (and then you feel like a mooch), shopping alongside the homeless people at the junky smelly thrift stores, and pretty much living on tinned tuna and rice.

so whats different from 1992-1994 when I was a student?

EP · Post by EP » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:08 pm

AlexTroublemaker wrote:

For me, there is NO going out, NO drinking unless it's on friends (and then you feel like a mooch), shopping alongside the homeless people at the junky smelly thrift stores, and pretty much living on tinned tuna and rice.

so whats different from 1992-1994 when I was a student?

Or 1970s when I was a student... Macaroni and ketchup brings variety to tuna and rice.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:41 pm

we had tabasco.

and then we had apples, lots of apples...
...and sugar and yeast...
- what does the boy say?
- boy says blub blub

EP · Post by EP » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:48 pm

I remember the boy. When there were no apples, rice had to do it.

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:57 pm

UHH.. EP tells secrets about her wild years

I currently have boy bubbling but with strawberries, time tells what there comes.

And about studying and food. I once ate potatoes with black pepper and salt for 3 days, then i found few coins and bottles and bought 300g of minced meat and onion. That was probably my best meal ever. (i ate that 4 days but still better than plain potatoes)

Rabs · Post by **Rabs** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:03 am

cadnoess wrote:Hi- I'm considering moving to Finland and study would be an option. However I've read all these pages telling me that it will be practically impossible to get in or get any kind of supporting work. Have any of you actually managed to get to uni in Finland and survive? I need come hope! It would be masters study for me, and the fact that it takes 2 years in Finland instead of one (as it would be in the UK) makes it pretty expensive...

thousands of international students are doing their studies here and that includes me too. if you are thinking of supporting yourself with jobs, you should think of it as a gamble . in Finland, they say you need 12000 euroes for 2 years and in uk, i think, you will need much the same i.e. fees plus living expenses in one year.

TampereOwl · Post by **TampereOwl** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:10 am

EP wrote:
AlexTroublemaker wrote:

For me, there is NO going out, NO drinking unless it's on friends (and then you feel like a mooch), shopping alongside the homeless people at the junky smelly thrift stores, and pretty much living on tinned tuna and rice.

so whats different from 1992-1994 when I was a student?
Or 1970s when I was a student... Macaroni and ketchup brings variety to tuna and rice.

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:39 pm

cadnoess wrote:Hi- I'm considering moving to Finland and study would be an option. However I've read all these pages telling me that it will be practically impossible to get in or get any kind of supporting work. Have any of you actually managed to get to uni in Finland and survive? I need come hope! It would be masters study for me, and the fact that it takes 2 years in Finland instead of one (as it would be in the UK) makes it pretty expensive...

Rabs wrote:thousands of international students are doing their studies here and that includes me too. if you are thinking of supporting yourself with jobs, you should think of it as a gamble . in Finland, they say you need 12000 euros for 2 years and in uk, i think, you will need much the same i.e. fees plus living expenses in one year.

And there in lies the reason that a "free" Finnish tertiary education costs more than a fee paying UK education.

Finland 2 leisurely years @ €6k p.a. subsistence. Net cost = €12K

UK 1 year of working your nads off @ €6k subsistence + tuition fees. Balanced by 1 year of earning. Net cost = zero or better.

It is total no brainer. I would advise any EU national student to study in the UK over studying here. Prohibitive tuition fees for non-EU nationals in the UK might start to tip the balance back in Finland's favour... but still there is the issue of long times before graduation.

cadnoess · Post by **cadnoess** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:40 pm

sinikala wrote: Finland 2 leisurely years @ €6k p.a. subsistence. Net cost = €12K

UK 1 year of working your nads off @ €6k subsistence + tuition fees. Balanced by 1 year of earning. Net cost = zero or better.

Yeah I did the money maths, but my other half's Finnish so I need to look at other factors too. Is the workload so different then? I can't believe it's really only half the study hours of a UK masters if you do it over there.

jen · Post by **jen** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:40 am

I managed to survive here, but then I came with my husband (also non-finnish). It stated on the KELA website that foreign students could get student support if their parents work in Finland. It turns out that as an older student, my husband counts in the place of my parents (although this was not stated on the website - we had to put them on the spot in the office) so once my husband has been working for 4 months then I qualified for student support. We also qualify for the housing support.

You can be either very lucky with KELA or very unlucky, so far we have been very lucky. Long may that continue.

There is a Masters programme inn my department at uni which is made up almost completely of foreigners, most of whom have no work or KELA support. They manage to survive on small research grants or sponsorship I think.

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