My daughter wants to study in Finland.

[Pursuivant]

No, she will not eat cheap food.

With a student handout? Thats about 350. After rent and schoolbooks that leaves enough for canned tuna and macaroni on the weekends when theres no school lunch.

[rinso]

No, she will not eat cheap food.

The "cheap" food in the school restaurants is also subsidized with tax money.

[ajdias]

No, she will not eat cheap food.

With a student handout? Thats about 350. After rent and schoolbooks that leaves enough for canned tuna and macaroni on the weekends when theres no school lunch.

350 including housing supplement and after taxes, right?
http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/liite.ns ... penElement [PDF]

Most students I know have part time and/or summer jobs for curriculum enhancement and to get extra money for lifestyle costs

Will she? Most people who come to Finland to study can not get a job after their studies so they leave the country after the studies. And contribute nothing to Finland other than having eaten cheap student food for three years.

"Most people" do not bother to learn the language nor are they asked to do so in exchange for the subsidized education; and they are often given the impression that a degree in Finland will land them a job even if they do not speak the language.
Also, "most people" does not look much of a criteria to judge someone applying for education, even when one sits in a position to judge others...

[msorsa]

After much research this weekend we have come to the conclusion that "Physiotherapy" will suit her better as she is inclined to want to help people. SAMK in Pori has has this in English.
I must also add that she is a proud Finn and keeps in touch with all her cousins and nieces in Finland as she has no other family here and we, her parents are getting old now.
I have been teaching her some Finnish that I know and she is very enthusiastic and will learn it quicker than foreigners.

Thank you for all the input.

[sinikala]

After much research this weekend we have come to the conclusion that "Physiotherapy" will suit her better as she is inclined to want to help people. SAMK in Pori has has this in English.
I must also add that she is a proud Finn and keeps in touch with all her cousins and nieces in Finland as she has no other family here and we, her parents are getting old now.
I have been teaching her some Finnish that I know and she is very enthusiastic and will learn it quicker than foreigners.

Thank you for all the input.

Has she ever been to Pori? Do you have some connection with the town or is this just pulled out of the course guidebook?
Does she know the reputation of Satakunnan ammattikorkeakoulu?

You do know that there are quite a few bright foreigners around who are rather motivated to learn the language yet still struggle. Finnish language courses for foreigners in Pori are thin on the ground, there are some language courses related to integration programmes, but I think they are only for unemployed people seeking work, which may (probably?) exclude students. The wife of one of my colleagues tried without success to get onto such a course.

I´ve been working here for 8 years ... (though thanks to a recently announced series of job cuts in our company, that may soon end, interesting times!) anyhow, to paraphrase Luke Skywalker... if there´s a bright centre to Finland, this is the town that´s it´s farthest from ... or to put it less euphemistically ... Pori is as dull as f....

[sinikala]

blah

[msorsa]

blah

I hope it is a dull place. That way she will spend more time on her studies.
Also I understand that Finnish is a difficult language to learn and as she is still young and can pronounce the words properly when reading it (as I tought her) I don't think she will have much trouble over 4 years to learn it.

[Pursuivant]

I hope it is a dull place. That way she will spend more time on her studies..

- though students make parties even in them boonies...

[Linza]

Suomea ei ole puoliksi niin vaikea kuin nämä hirviöt sanovat. Minä olen ollut täällä kuusi kuukautta, ja jo minä tiedänkin tarpeeksi elää. Ja minulla on työ. Jos sinun tyttäresi osaa ystävystyä helposti, hän voi asua täällä.

Pursiviant was a dick to me, too. I'm studying in English, but I've half a mind to get citizenship here just to piss him off.

Edited for umlauts. For my birthday, I will ask for a Finnish keyboard.

[Huusel]

Finland is a good place to study, we have high quality teaching and students still have some freedom left. Finland is ranked number one in PISA tests, which means finnish students deliver the best scores in international education tests.
Some times exchange students think studying and exams are easy in Finland, but they are fooled by the special treatment they get. Normal finns are expected to do more. One American professor was surprised to hear that university students need to do such a comprehensive masters thesis. He said it is almost equivalent to American doctoral thesis.

Anyway, finnish people are highly educated, but what some foreigners forget is that it's extremely hard to get a job in Finland. We have lot's of unemployed highly educated people. And if one is lucky enough to get a job, it will probably be only for few months to year max. We have high tax rate and really high prices. We also have highly educated people, but they are paid in many cases less than for example construction workers.
I know lot's of highly educated people who are eaten up by the system. Some of them even regret they ever studied.
We have good social care in Finland, but that's only because we need it, we have such big problems with unemployment (and don't forget the harsh winter). If social care is weakened we are going to face really big challenges. Our society might not be be able to take it. Rents are high in Finland partly due the good social care (asumistuki).
We have almost 500 000 unemployed people amongst 5 million inhabitants. Official number is something like 230 000 unemployed people but all finns know that's not the real truth, bureaucrats just a have way to hide unemployed people with help of statistics, trainee programs etc.

If you are studying you are all right, but after you graduate you are fu*ked.

[LamerKessler]

My daughter is interested in studying in Finland this summer but she is too late to apply through her university here (in the U.S.). Can you come on a visitor visa for the summer and enroll in a few college courses?

[Pursuivant]

Well, yes, but the open universit doesn't offer a huge variation, what would she be interested in? Language classes get filled in instantaneously.

[jazzori]

I have been teaching her some Finnish that I know and she is very enthusiastic and will learn it quicker than foreigners.

So how much exactly do you know about what motivates a foreigner to learn and what's the pace of his/her learning? Hm, actually, you might be right... it's really hard to say who's going to learn faster, an enthusiastic student that has her parents' support emotionally and, in emergency, financially or a desperate foreigner that has no one whatsoever to help her survive hard times and has no home, maybe, to go back to...
Tough, tough.

(I'm not saying, however, that all foreigners are desperate, btw)

[jazzori]

I hope it is a dull place. That way she will spend more time on her studies.

One that is inclined to study, studies even in a disco. One that's not so much into study, will do anyway something else, even if that means spending time talking to the squirrels in a woodsy area.(okay, I'm exagerrating, but you get my point)

But hope is always good.

Gahhh, parents. Will I be like that, too? : -)

[trotties]

On the topic of studying in Finnish without being fluent...

I applied to several art programs (at Kuva, TaiK, TAMK, LAMK, SAMK, Turun AMK and Ikata) which are all taught in Finnish. I've been studying Finnish since 2007, but I'm definitely not fluent yet. More like intermediate level. For this type of program, do you think the schools would be more lenient with Finnish language requirements? I'm definitely going to submit all written coursework in Finnish, but for the entrance exams do you think my lack of fluency will kill my chances of getting in?

Thanks!

Ps. Pori rules