Bachelor's in Finland

[suomalainenamerican]

Hello,

I am a Finnish-American interested in studying in Finland. I currently have my Associate's Degree (two-year degree) and would like to obtain my bachelor's from a Finnish university.

Are bachelor's degrees earned in Finland recognized elsewhere especially in the US? Even though a bachelor's in Finland is 3 yrs. while in America it is 4 yrs.?

Also would my two years of college that I have already earned transfer to Finnish Universities?

Thanks for any responses

[Pursuivant]

So is that "associates degree" the stuff like reading and writing the Finns learn in kindergarten?

The question is, if you want to study in "university" or study in English? Bachelors degrees in "university" are more or less "dropout" degrees as there you enter to go do your masters - but theres no entry path in English, only Finnish. And the admissions tests... well, you really need take a prep course to learn how to answer "how they want" properly and learn a few coursebooks by heart - so only doing a bachelors is a waste. Then theres the polytechnics or UAS ('versity of applied sciences) that churn out bachelors degrees, also in English programmes => http://www.admissions.fi

[Pursuivant]

Well its a bigger kettle => http://www.universityadmissions.fi/ *generally* you'd need a bachelor's degree to apply for the master programmes (in English), but different years, different universities, different programmes. And then there is www.yhteishaku.fi for all the Finnish & Swedish programmes (though you need to go to the universitys specific pages to get the entrance books information and if they have joint applications or not)

[the_yank]

As an American in Finland doing my Bachelor's, here's my two cents...

There's only one university in Finland (to my knowledge) that offers a Bachelor's entirely in English. There are numerous polytechnics (universities of applied sciences) however, which offer various degrees in English.

If you are Finnish-American, how good is your Finnish? Perhaps studying in Finnish could be an option for you if you speak the language to some extent... although I'd imagine you'd need to speak it quite decently.

What are you hoping to study? You should definitely take a look at the other links posted here, and generally research your subject specific options. Application deadlines should be February or March, for the following Autumn.

Also would my two years of college that I have already earned transfer to Finnish Universities?

In regards to an Associate's degree transferring here, you'll most likely be able to get some credits transferred here from the degree. An Associate's degree itself isn't a familiar concept outside the US, so best case scenario I'd imagine you could get some "electives" or "additional studies" requirements knocked out, barring some other specific courses you've already taken fulfilling specific requirements over here. Just expect any sort of transfer to thoroughly confuse everyone here, and be prepared to explain the concept of a junior college to everyone you meet (if you have in fact, been attending one). Also, get as much information (course syllabi, whatever) to ease the transfer along. I had a lump of credits transfer here (foreign language, science, philosophy, etc, etc) but without the grades. Just one sum of "transferred credits" marked as a "pass", along with two other individual course compensations transfer to fulfill more specific requirements.

Are bachelor's degrees earned in Finland recognized elsewhere especially in the US? Even though a bachelor's in Finland is 3 yrs. while in America it is 4 yrs.?

I assume that a Bachelor's is a Bachelor's whether it's completed in the States or in Finland. I can't confirm this, being in my last year of studies, but I don't anticipate any difficulties upon returning to the US (or indeed, going elsewhere) somewhere down along the line. Are you curious about doing your Master's back in the US? Or just generally worried that no one will have a clue about your degree completed in Finland? Something to worry about later on, although likely not a big deal.

Also, the difference in time 3 years (in Finland) vs. 4 years (in the US) ... well, I'd attribute that to Finland's academic calendar being a bit more rigorous (than in American junior college, anyway). My American credits were transferred at a 2:1 ratio, yet in Finland, the course load is double that of the US. i.e. an entire Bachelor's degree here, is 180 ECTS (credits) over 3 years, or 30 per semester. In the US (at least in my state's university system), a Bachelor's program was 120 credits over 4 years. Hence, 15 credits in the US per semester, vs. 30 ECTS credits in Finland per semester. Credits here seem to be randomly assigned to courses; I've taken an intensive lecture series (20 hours of lecture) plus an exam, which equaled out to 6 ECTS, yet I've had other courses, meet weekly for an entire semester, plus an essay, only come out to 3 ECTS. There are options other than lectures/seminars to obtain credits (book exams, etc), though.

Hope this helps.