American high school student looking to go to uni in Finland

[iphaith]

im currently in 10th grade in California. If i go to college here ill end up having $20,000+ in student loan debts, which i dont want. I also plan on traveling alot, so i figured going to college in another country would be perfect, then possibly live their or go to a different country. Considering Finland has free tuition, it seems perfect. I have a lot of questions though, so if you could answer in as much detail as you can that would be amazing.

Is it hard to get into a university? Are certain universities more prestigeous then others? Is there a lot of pressure to get into a good school? Do employers care what university you went to, or do they just care if you have a degree? Please name a few of the tougher schools to get into please.

Whats needed to get accepted into a college? Im america A LOT of pressure is put on having a good GPA and taking honors/AP classes and being realy involved in sports. What should i do in american highschool im order to get accepted to a uni in Finland?

Thanks so much! I hope this is the right place to post this haha

[luulio]

What should i do in american highschool im order to get accepted to a uni in Finland?

You should learn fluent Finnish so that you can pass the compulsory university entrance exams (in Finnish) and cope with your university studies (in Finnish).

[rinso]

There are some programs in English (like International business) but you still have to do the entrance exam. And you will be competing with all the foreign wannabes who also want a cheap education. To get in you have to get better grades than your competitors. (and there are few places and many candidates)

If you go for English lessons, forget about good or bad uni's, you'll have no choice.

[SNorkola]

I was having deja vu when I read this post topic!

I grew up in Maryland and decided junior year in high school that I wanted to go to school in Finland. I'm not sure if the situation would be completely different for you, but I am a Finnish citizen because my mother was born in this country. Once the government recognizes you as a resident, it is possible to get different types of assistance (asumistuki - living assistance, opintotuki - student assistance, and others) so I don't think it's necessary to have tens of thousands of dollars saved up to survive in Finland through a four year degree unless you're planning to not work or if there is some way that you can not receive these financial benefits.

I do speak and understand Finnish well (as other Finnish people have told me I'm just repeating ) but I am not yet fluent enough to go to the University of Helsinki and complete a four year degree in Finnish, for example. So currently my plan is to apply to a University of Applied sciences such as Haaga-Helia or Metropolia, and begin a degree course in English while I take Finnish language courses in the evening.

As I understand it, once your language improves, you can switch degrees, switch schools, just as easily as in the States. Though I'm not sure that applies to all universities and trade schools. Some of this for me is still guess work because unfortunately I don't know too many people who have gone to trade school or uni here.

However I think that a lot of what people will tell you and a lot of the things government offices will tell you, depends on your specific situation.

Good luck with everything!! It might be frustrating at first (but I want the same thing you do!!) so just persevere and it will all come together

[Upphew]

I grew up in Maryland and decided junior year in high school that I wanted to go to school in Finland. I'm not sure if the situation would be completely different for you, but I am a Finnish citizen because my mother was born in this country. Once the government recognizes you as a resident, it is possible to get different types of assistance (asumistuki - living assistance, opintotuki - student assistance, and others) so I don't think it's necessary to have tens of thousands of dollars saved up to survive in Finland through a four year degree unless you're planning to not work or if there is some way that you can not receive these financial benefits.

http://www.kela.fi/web/en/financial-aid ... n-students so yeah, it could be possible to get assistance from kela... if you don't come here to study.

[kaveribrother]

im currently in 10th grade in California. If i go to college here ill end up having $20,000+ in student loan debts, which i dont want. I also plan on traveling alot, so i figured going to college in another country would be perfect, then possibly live their or go to a different country. Considering Finland has free tuition, it seems perfect. I have a lot of questions though, so if you could answer in as much detail as you can that would be amazing.

Is it hard to get into a university? Are certain universities more prestigeous then others? Is there a lot of pressure to get into a good school? Do employers care what university you went to, or do they just care if you have a degree? Please name a few of the tougher schools to get into please.

Whats needed to get accepted into a college? Im america A LOT of pressure is put on having a good GPA and taking honors/AP classes and being realy involved in sports. What should i do in american highschool im order to get accepted to a uni in Finland?

Thanks so much! I hope this is the right place to post this haha

you can check www.admissions.fi and there will be every information on the type of study and requirement needed. You can also check the map of finland to know where the towns and cities are because the closer to helsinki the more the competition for places.... or its maybe a myth.

[Rip]

you can check http://www.admissions.fi and there will be every information on the type of study and requirement needed. You can also check the map of finland to know where the towns and cities are because the closer to helsinki the more the competition for places.... or its maybe a myth.

Except it is only about the polytechnics/UAS. Then the other/academic universities have only few non-Finnish (or Swedish) degree programs at the bachelor level.