Visiting Students

Visiting Student Status

The Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences has established the terms for the acceptance of visiting students 18 December 1991. According to the decision taken, the procedure mentioned below will be used in the admission of visiting students at the Faculty of Social Sciences and its departments.

An international applicant can be granted a visiting student status, if he/she satisfies at least one of the requirements below:

• He/she participates in an international exchange programme (Socrates/Erasmus, Nordplus, ISEP etc.). In this case, the applicant should first contact the International Relations Office of his/her home institution and ask for instructions on applying. Please consult your International Relations Office for more detailed information on exchange agreements.
• He/she is a scholarship holder.
• He/she can indicate with a verified document from his/her home institution that the studies completed at the University of Helsinki can be transferred to his/her home institution and integrated into his/her degree programme. This means that the applicant has to be enrolled at a university at the time of applying. If this document is not included in the application, chances of being admitted are very small. This also means, that applicants who have not studied at a university can not be admitted.
• He/she can give other significant academic reasons for his/her studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki.

Interpretation of the conditions above is reserved for the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Visiting student status is usually granted for the maximum of one year at a time. During the period of visiting student studies the student can not graduate from the Faculty. The application must include certificates/transcripts of previous studies, a language certificate and a verified document giving evidence on one of the following points: scholarship, exchange programme or credit transfer (see below). The decisions on admission are made by the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences on the basis of an evaluation statement from the appropriate department.

The visiting student's status is not meant for students studying for a degree in a Finnish university or polytechnic. Students studying for a degree in a Finnish university or polytechnic ought to apply using the JOO-agreement instead.

Application Deadlines

The deadline for submitting applications are 15 May and 15 October . By this date all the applications with the required supporting documents have to be delivered to the Faculty of Social Sciences: Faculty of Social Sciences, P.O. Box 54, Unioninkatu 37, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.

The deadline of May is primarily meant for those students who want to study:

1. either the full academic year (1.8.- 31.7.)
2. the autumn term (1.8.-31.12.)

The one in October for those students who want to study the spring-term (1.1.- 31.7.). Study rights can not be granted for a period that exceeds the end of academic year (i.e. 1.1.-31.12. is thus impossible).

N.B.These closing dates do not concern students applying through official exchange programmes. There are no fees for individual courses, but the accepted are strongly encouraged to become members of the Student Union of the University (the membership is compulsory for other students). The fee in the academic year 2012-2013 is € 92.

Application and Supporting Documents

The application must include enclosed the following documents:

• The application form
• The Statement of Purpose / Motivation letter (details in the application itself).
• Verified document from the home institution stating that the studies completed at the University of Helsinki can be transferred to the home institution and integrated into the degree programme.
• Language certificate
• Study plan (a list of courses you plan to take, approx. 30 ECTS/semester) and/or research plan if applicable.
• Official transcript of home institution.
• If you have received a scholarship (e.g. from CIMO or the Fulbright Center), please enclose a copy of the decision.

Application portal starting page, please choose the heading for visiting student applications from top of the page (the blue bar).

Applications that are not complete, there are documents missing or the copies are not certified by the correct authorities will not be processed. All the requested documents must be in either in Finnish, Swedish or English.

All translations must confirmed by a sworn/official translator. All photocopies must be officially certified, i.e. they must bear the stamp and signature of an official entitled to attest documents: an authorised university official or a notary public. The University of Helsinki will not attest any documents or photocopies.

Language test scores are accepted only if they are received directly from the organisation that administers the test. The faculties of the University of Helsinki will check the validity of their applicants' documents (diplomas, transcripts, language certificates etc.). The use of forged or invalid documents causes a cancellation of the student's admission.

For further information, please contact the International Coordinator of the Faculty, soc-sci[at]helsinki.fi.

The decisions are usually made within a month. For selection criteria, please see the criteria used for graduate admission.

Important Remarks on Applying as a Visiting Student

• One should have completed at least two years of study at one´s home university before the beginning of the studies at the University of Helsinki, since the applicant is expected to have the skills that enable him/her to study directly the field s/he has applied. Furthermore, more and more the teaching in English is concentrated on the Master's level.
• If one is accepted to study as a visiting student, it should be noted that it is not a preparatory year and will not have any effect in the admission at the university as such, although the credits obtained will be taken into consideration should one decide to apply to a Master´s Programme offered at the Faculty or otherwise apply to study for a Master´s degree at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
• Economics is not business, finances, trade or marketing. Economics taught at this university are theoretical economics, and if you have studied business, finances, trade or marketing and want to be admitted to study economics at this faculty your chances are extremely small. It might be a better idea to take a look at the web- pages of the Aalto University School of Economics , Hanken School of Economics or other Finnish Universities or Center for International Mobility.
• The Statement required should also contain a study plan, that should contain with as much as possible the courses and examinations one intends to take while studying at this university. The guides containing information about the examinations and the instruction in English ought to be consulted before applying.
• The visiting student´s right to study is a temporary one, and will not be extended without very exceptional reasons. Those applicants who want to study in Helsinki longer than a year ought to apply as degree students.
• The visiting student's status is not meant for students studying for a degree in a Finnish university or polytechnic. Students studying for a degree in a Finnish university or polytechnic should apply using the JOO-agreement instead.