Attending University in Finland

How to? Read other's experiences. Find useful advice on shipping, immigration, residence permits, visas and more.
Post Reply
El_Chris
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003 11:35 pm
Location: Albany, New York

Attending University in Finland

Post by El_Chris » Wed Feb 25, 2004 4:54 am

I couldn't find anything too easily by searching the forum, so I'll just ask here.

I want to go to colledge in Finland, and that won't be too far away. I live in New York, and am currently in 11th grade, and I can't seem to find any basic information on attending university in Finland for foreingers.

Can anyone point me towards a site or thread with info on that?

I'll be going to Finland this summer, in late August, if there would be any way to check out campuses and stuff while I'm there, I'd like to find out the sooner the better.



Attending University in Finland

Sponsor:

Finland Forum Ad-O-Matic
 

User avatar
Hank W.
The Motorhead
Posts: 29973
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2002 10:00 pm
Location: Mushroom Mountain
Contact:

Post by Hank W. » Wed Feb 25, 2004 8:53 am

This begs the question, whether you want to study in a polytechnic (bachelor's degree) or an university (master's degree) and moreover *what* do you want to study. Universities have very few 'in English' degrees available, to pass you have to master the obligatory Finnish & Swedish anyways.

Getting into a polytechnic you have to pass an intelligence test, have decent grades and some work experience. For an university you have to read about a dozen books by heart and take an ordeal by hard benches called entrance examination. In Finnish usually.
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

El_Chris
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003 11:35 pm
Location: Albany, New York

Post by El_Chris » Wed Feb 25, 2004 10:07 pm

That's a matter of how good my Finnish gets by then, I suppose. I have been studying it for about 2 years now, and I got interested in Finland because of the language.

Is there any detailed information about this all? I was hoping for some reference I could go to...

User avatar
Great Scott
Posts: 200
Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2003 12:21 pm
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Post by Great Scott » Wed Feb 25, 2004 10:45 pm

How about this link? http://www.helsinki.fi/eng/campus/index.html

Though it may sound daunting and negative, good advice is given on this board. Hank has given you the cold hard truth about the system here. If you are applying for the University you need to already know what department you will be studying in. After that you will have to take an entrance exam in either Finnish or Swedish. It's really not an easy task, but not impossible if that's what you want. There are extremely few opportunities to study an entire degree programme in English in University. You might be better off in one of the Polytechnics (roughly equivalent an American 4 year college). Congratulations on your dedication to learning the language and good luck in your plans to move, just be prepared for the difficulties you may face.

From New York originally myself, so if there are any specifics you need to know feel free to ask...
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."

User avatar
ajdias
Posts: 2544
Joined: Sun May 04, 2003 9:01 pm

Post by ajdias » Thu Feb 26, 2004 12:55 am

take a look at Cimo.fi pages. Here, for instance, you can find a database of international programmes (=taught in english) available from Finnish uni's and poli's.

User avatar
kookaburra
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2004 8:37 pm
Location: Helsinki

Post by kookaburra » Thu Feb 26, 2004 2:01 pm

Maybe this embassy link could be helpful (and there's also a link to Ministry of Education pages from this page):
http://www.finland.org/doc/en/about/stu ... .asp?&lan=

If it proves to be very difficult to gain entrance to a Finnish uni/polytechnic, you could start your studies in US and then come here as an exchange student and try to work it out so that you can finish your degree here. Just an idea, don't know how this would work in practice though. Probably there are some laws against this sort of behaviour...
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That's not a monkey that's me

dusty_bin
Posts: 2208
Joined: Sun May 04, 2003 10:56 pm
Location: Estonia
Contact:

Post by dusty_bin » Thu Feb 26, 2004 2:20 pm

kookaburra
Actually, that is exactly what I did.

I came on exchange, went to a poly here for a year, studying in English. I could not complete my degree as it was a dual centre/dual degree program and I did not want to go to the UK or Netherlands to studym having just arrived...

So, I applied to HSE's English track and the fools let me in!

On a formal exchange program changing instituion is often not too much of a problem. A benefit of doing this is that if youare studying at some poly somewhere, then you still have the US institution on your CV. This can be owrthwhile if you go back home for a job as nobody in the US will be familiar with 'Joensuu woodchopping poly'; but in conjunction with your community college studies in the US you may be OK.

A secondary advantage of a year or so studied in the home country before arriving is that if the degree here is not fully in English, you may be able to transfer the courses done in the US against Finnish only courses here and complete the degree in English, particularly as the exchange programme will almost inevitably comprise English language courses anyway.

kevinmcintire
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:03 pm

Post subject: Attending University in Finland

Post by kevinmcintire » Fri Mar 05, 2004 4:19 am

Hi,

I have some first-hand experience in this area, as I received my bachelor's degree from the Helsinki School of Economics. I think you will find that business is one of the few university degrees that you can get completely in English. In the past, I think there was also a master’s in International Education program in Oulu that is also in English.

I know that the polytechnic in Mikkeli has (or had) a large foreign group of students who are completing their entire degree in Finland.

I am also from the US and had almost no Finnish skills when I started my studies. In fact, my experience is that it was easier for a foreigner to get accepted because of their desire to internationalize the program.

Kevin

kevinmcintire
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:03 pm

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BScBA)

Post by kevinmcintire » Fri Mar 05, 2004 4:31 am

This is the link to the program that I attended:
http://www.mli.hkkk.fi/bscba/default.htm

Let me know if you would like any other info.

Kevin

User avatar
aRabbit
Posts: 220
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2003 5:32 pm
Contact:

Post by aRabbit » Fri Mar 05, 2004 10:42 pm

http://finland.cimo.fi/
a place u can find basically all the information concerning High Education of Finland. Previous posts point out quite much. All polytechnics have complete English-taught program, in fields of, e.g. business, IT, tourism, nursing, etc. HKKK/HSE is good one(university level), as kevinmcintire mentioned, which offers bachelor degree in English track. You may obtain Master degree after that I suppose.

Universities are generally harder to get in. They do arrange extrance examinations in English. You should check out the details about the subjects you are thinking to apply to. The biggest issue will be most of the lectures in universities are in Finnish. Foreign students must study hard(self-study, reading lots of books, material) to get credits. It usually takes quite a long time before u can graduate with a Master degree. Well, it takes 5-7 years from a Finnish to get a Master too! Fact.

Go and check webpages of all schools will give you a picture!

- :)
Reality is when you stop believing, it will not vanish.

User avatar
Hank W.
The Motorhead
Posts: 29973
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2002 10:00 pm
Location: Mushroom Mountain
Contact:

Post by Hank W. » Sat Mar 06, 2004 12:17 pm

More info on polytechnics (and english-language programs links to)
http://www.arene.fi/english/
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.

User avatar
heidieh
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 1:52 pm
Location: Lohja

Post by heidieh » Fri Mar 26, 2004 8:08 pm

Hi,

You could also apply to English Philology as your major (all studies in that can be done in English, of course) and then take Suomen kieli ja kulttuuri as one of your minors - probably the easiest way for you to get into a university. Although, the entrance examination is NOT easy - not even for native speakers so be prepared to study HARD for ANY entrance examination you're taking.

I'm majoring in English Philology myself and if you want futher info on that, pls send me a PM. Here's a link to the English Department and the Suomen kieli ja kulttuuri program:
http://www.eng.helsinki.fi/
http://www.helsinki.fi/hum/skl/opiskelu/2_2_6.html

And the International Applicant's Guide (Helsinki University only):
http://www.helsinki.fi/admissions/

Heidi


Post Reply