studying in U of Helsinki this September; Having Questions

[persia]

Hi dear freinds,

I am a newbie to this forum and this is my first post. I had two questions that I would be grateful if anyone could help me:

1. I have been admitted to study an M.Sc. course at the University of Helsinki and my studies starts from September (actually, late Aug). I applied for a Visa about a month ago and last week I was questioned about a translation issue of my document which was the first acknowledgemnet about my Visa process from the embassy. I went to the embassy, explained and solve the problem or better say "misunderstanding". there, I was informed that I have to wait another month or two for my visa and they also said that if I want to speed up the process of my Visa I have to ask s.b. in Finland to follow my Visa process form Finland! Does anyone know how is this possible I don't know anyone in finland and is there any ways to contact the Visa authorities of Finland and Request the speed up of the Visa process via Email?

By the way I am applying from Tehran, Iran.

2. I have heard alot about the global reputation of the University of Helsinki but there is just s.th about it that I would like to know. All of the Professors of the our department have got their BS, MS, and PHDs from the university of Helsinki or at least from one the finnish Universities. Will I have a good chance of being accepted for a PHD in another Country, specificaly USA, after my graduation in M.Sc. and Do many M.Sc. graduateds apply successfully to US universities? Actually, This is not my certain plan for the future but I like to make sure that I would always have the option.

Regards,

[moomintroll]

Regarding question 1, it would be best to circumvent the embassy in Iran and contact the office in Finland "somebody" would visit. You would have to do this either via email or telephone, telephones usually get you a much faster response. There is a process that must run its course, but if they said that it is possible to speed it up there is no harm in calling.

Question 2: Degrees obtained in the EU are accepted anywhere within the member countries. American universities, generally, are very welcoming of European-graduated students. If you have the degree, the good grades, and a good English comprehension score, admission is very possible. But you are talking about something that is years in the future, you have plenty of time to research this on your own.

[persia]

Regarding question 1, it would be best to circumvent the embassy in Iran and contact the office in Finland "somebody" would visit. You would have to do this either via email or telephone, telephones usually get you a much faster response. There is a process that must run its course, but if they said that it is possible to speed it up there is no harm in calling.

Question 2: Degrees obtained in the EU are accepted anywhere within the member countries. American universities, generally, are very welcoming of European-graduated students. If you have the degree, the good grades, and a good English comprehension score, admission is very possible. But you are talking about something that is years in the future, you have plenty of time to research this on your own.

Thanks for your advice, moonintroll; I think I'll wait 2 or 3 weeks and if I hadn't got my visa till then I'll call Finland Immigration Service.

Talking about "good grades" is it hard to gain them in Finland universities?

I have read some articles on the Internet, comparing the evaluation systems of diffenret universities in diffenret countries. As an example I remember reading that in Canada gaining a high score in French universities requires much more effort than gaining high grades from english universities I have also read some articles about some Europian universities but I don't know much about Finnish universities garding system and the difficulty of gaining high grade there.

Regards,

[moomintroll]

Well, all of the EU countries now use ECTS credit systems. Previously there were separate credit systems, and the equivalencies are listed next to the ECTS credit number. Some older students are still on the finnish credit system, but it should be phased out within the next two or three years.

Difficulty is all a matter of perspective. I know several Russian students who have come to tampereen yliopisto and find it difficult and/or impossible to achieve high marks because of the degree of difficulty. That said, I have no problems whatsoever - if I do not receive a 4 or 5 I am extremely disappointed. Here, you study at your own pace and make your own decisions, there are general course requirements one must take but after that you have a myriad of options that are available to you in most fields. It's up to you to decide which to take based on your interests or future career goals. If you don't have an ECTS study guide from your university you should download it or request one to be mailed to you.

[persia]

Thanks for your information dear monintroll,

I read in the university's website, "All courses are graded either on the six-step scale 0–5 or the two-step scale fail/pass....". Accordingto your information, I think the difficulty is fair.
Actually the grading system in Iran is much more complicated; the gardes are from 0 to 20, the passing grade is 10. It is impossible to gain a 20/20 and a miracle to gain a grade higher than 18. The professors are also stingy in giving the scores, since there isn't a unique strategy for it; usually we find ourselves studying hard (and fighting!) to gain even a 0.25 of a score.
I think I would enjoy this finnish grading system.

Tere's just one last favour to ask; Could you also give information about "Maturity test" for master level studies? I know that it is a test, taken at the time of submit of the MS thesis, and it includes most of the studied subjects but since I have not heard of such test in our country or oher palces I'm curious to find out how it's like.

Regards,

[Hank W.]

Basically in the Finnish programmes its just an essay you write on a subject of your own thesis... to a reader that hasn't read your thesis, on a subject in there... its to verify you did it yourself and didn't use a ghostwriter and pass it as your own. Don't know how it is in the English programmes, but in the Finnish ones it also is more of a test you are "able to write", so you get there points for spelling, grammar and style besides the context itself.

[sinikala]

Fantastic scenes.

We (I) the finnish taxpayer will provide a free education to somebody from Iran, so they can get a degree in Finland which they intend to use in order to gain entry to the US?

Am I the only one who sees something a little bit wrong there?

Are folk over at Opetusministeriö naïve or just a bit thick?

[persia]

Basically in the Finnish programmes its just an essay you write on a subject of your own thesis... to a reader that hasn't read your thesis, on a subject in there... its to verify you did it yourself and didn't use a ghostwriter and pass it as your own. Don't know how it is in the English programmes, but in the Finnish ones it also is more of a test you are "able to write", so you get there points for spelling, grammar and style besides the context itself.

Thanks for your information dear Hank,

This is what hasbeen defined as a Maturity test:

"Maturity test
The maturity test required for the Master's degree is taken as a separate exam when the Master's
thesis has been submitted for evaluation. A new test is required even if the student has taken the test
at the Bachelor level. If a Finnish student has previously taken the Bachelor level maturity test in
his or her mother tongue, the student may take the Master’s level maturity test either in English or
in mother tongue. Otherwise, the Finnish student is required to take maturity test in mother tongue.
Non-Finnish students take the maturity test in English."

Actually I thoght that it's an exam including what has been studied. On the second thoght I might have mistaken!

[persia]

.

[persia]

Fantastic scenes.

We (I) the finnish taxpayer will provide a free education to somebody from Iran, so they can get a degree in Finland which they intend to use in order to gain entry to the US?

Am I the only one who sees something a little bit wrong there?

Are folk over at Opetusministeriö naïve or just a bit thick?

Dear Sinikala, I think this is not how it actually works!

What if I tell you that I'm going to come back to my Home country? In that case You'll be providing me free education without any benefit for your own nation?!

What if I was willing to stay finland? Then I would be that stupid immigerant who has occupied the career opportunities in your country and would not leave!

I'm sorry my friend but if you're willing to think negative anything that I do would be against your benefit whereas beleive me that in reality this is not true.
Paying taxes is the duty of every person who lives in a society and is for everyones benefit! Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that I will too be paying taxes.
On the other hand you're not saying that Finnish universities choose thousands from hundred-thousnad of world wide applicants for nothing! An MS and PHD student has to perform some projects in order to be graduated and rewarded with a degree and those projects must be approved and leaded by the university and it would be to the university and the nation's benefit!

By the way, just to let you know, that "somebody" who you mentioned has already preferred a Finnish university over few Canadian universities and he might also prefer Finland than US for his PHDs. I never said I have decided to go to US I siad I just want to have the oppotunity in the future since I have an opportunity right now! People always make decisions that has the most advantages for them.

Regards,

[interleukin]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that I will too be paying taxes.

I can't say for certain how it will be in your case, but the masters students I know all have had a stipend "salary" so they are not paying any taxes.

[Hank W.]

Actually I thoght that it's an exam including what has been studied.

I think its a test to be able to tell what you have studied; this is from Turku, but they're all more or less the same:

The maturity test (kypsyysnäyte) is a requirement for the Master's degree to evaluate the student's ability to write a scholarly essay as well as his/her familiarity with the theories and problems of the thesis. The subject of the exam is based on the thesis; its purpose is to show the student's familiarity with his/her field of study as well as his/her skills in writing. The exam is given in an essay format with a three page minimum. Finnish students write this essay in their mother language (i.e. Finnish or Swedish); foreign students normally write it in the language of instruction, i.e. English.

The student registers no later than one week before the exam and after the thesis had been submitted for evaluation. The maturity test takes place on either faculty or department examination days (check from your department about when examination dates are and where the examination takes place). The maturity test is graded on a pass / fail (hyväksytty / hylätty) basis. The thesis can then be approved after the examination has been passed.

[Hank W.]

What if I tell you that I'm going to come back to my Home country? In that case You'll be providing me free education without any benefit for your own nation?!
What if I was willing to stay finland? Then I would be that stupid immigerant who has occupied the career opportunities in your country and would not leave!

Gives you a win-win situation doesn't it?

Well, actually it is I think one of these "philanthropic" ideals I guess is to give someone a free education especially if they're from an underdeveloped nation so they can go back and benefit his own nation... you know, teach a man how to fish & so forth. Only some guys come with dynamite and a dragnet And now they're trying to lure people here to come and stay... only problem is that you need to find someone crazy to come here and if they come too crazy their home country won't soon have them back. So you watch yourself.

[Hank W.]

but the masters students I know all have had a stipend "salary" so they are not paying any taxes.

You men they're on the KELA handout? Erm.. actually one pocket to the other, but it *is* taxed

[interleukin]

You men they're on the KELA handout? Erm.. actually one pocket to the other, but it *is* taxed

No, I mean they are being paid a stipend sum from the graduate school and the supervisor pays for the time they do an end project.
But I am not saying that it is never a salary, I just mean that it does not have to be.
So never mind me, I am not an expert on these things, its been too long since I was a student and it wasnt in F.

A foreign student cannot get the KELA handout, can they? Unless they first came to F. to do something other than work, etc.

/interleukin