Aalto University - Schulich, Haskayne & SAPL Only

Aalto offers English-taught courses in Architecture, Engineering, and Business. Most other Bachelors-level courses are taught in Finnish. Students in their final year of studies may qualify for Masters-level courses as long as they meet any academic prerequisites.

Course requirements: Students at Aalto typically take 24-30 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits per semester (3-5 half courses). 6 ECTS = 1 UCalgary half course equivalent. 

When selecting courses, please check carefully the language of instruction and the term when the course is offered. There are five teaching periods in one academic year. Courses marked with teaching periods I & II are taught in the autumn term while III, IV & V are in the spring term. At the time of your application, the course timetables will not be available (the annual timetable is normally published in June prior to the autumn term). However, there are opportunities to change your courses even upon arrival in case of timetable conflicts.

The academic year is divided into 2 terms. Autumn term runs from early September to late December, and Spring term runs from early January to late May. 

Aalto University does not itself own any student dormitories. The main student housing providers for Aalto’s students are the Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki region, HOAS (hoas.fi) and Aalto University Student Union, AYY (ayy.fi). The apartments are located in Espoo and in Helsinki, all with public transportation connections to the university campuses.

Please note: Aalto University, HOAS or AYY unfortunately cannot guarantee housing for all exchange students. The earlier you apply, the better your chance of getting housing. Prepare yourself to seek for accommodation from the private rental market as well. In Helsinki, rental prices are high (starting from approx. 600€ for a small studio apartment in Helsinki and 500€ in Espoo) and there is a lack of apartments and student housing within the area.

HOAS is the biggest student housing provider in the Helsinki region with over 17,000 tenants. HOAS's exchange student rooms are located in the cities of Helsinki and Espoo, all with good public transportation connections. The monthly rent is approx. 400€/month including furniture, internet connection, electricity and water. The deposit payment is 500€. Aalto University has reserved a quota of furnished rooms from HOAS for Aalto's new incoming exchange students. Unfortunately the amount of rooms is insufficient and thus they cannot accommodate all exchange students. If you are on the waiting list, there is still a possibility to get a HOAS furnished room if cancellations happen.

It is highly recommended to apply immediately for HOAS housing as soon as you have been nominated by the University of Calgary.

Schulich students: for more information on housing, please visit the Housing for Schulich students page.

This exchange is open to regular, full-time students in:

• The Schulich School of Engineering at UCalgary, who will have a 4th year academic standing at the time of their exchange, with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5
• The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, who have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7 or approval of their department

Haskayne Students: There are additional eligibility requirements – see the Haskayne Outgoing Exchange Students page for details. When applying in the online application portal, be sure to select the Haskayne version of this exchange. If you do not meet the eligibility requirements, contact your Haskayne exchange advisor to discuss.

For many courses, no Finnish is required. However, to take courses taught in Finnish, applicants must have a command of Finnish language (suomi) at minimum B2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR), and certification of language proficiency may be required.

Do I need to speak Finnish?

No. For studies in Finnish it is required, but for courses in English it is not, and most Finns speak excellent English. However, part of the experience of living in a foreign country is learning its language and culture, so you might want to learn at least the basics of the Finnish language before or while studying in Finland.

How can I learn or practise Finnish (Suomen kieli)?

In the past exchange students could take the following Finnish language and culture courses in the Language Centre:

• Get to know Finland (Kie-98.7009, 1 cr), a Finnish culture course.
• Survival Finnish for exchange students (LC-7007, 1 cr), a Finnish language course. (This is an introductory language course and does not qualify you to continue on to more advanced Finnish language courses.)

Unfortunately one-semester exchange students cannot study on other Finnish courses at the Language Centre, because the courses are extremely popular and the Language Centre has to give priority to Aalto's international degree students.

For those who want to study Finnish beyond these two courses, the Aalto Open University offers Finnish 1A and Finnish 1B courses (2 ECTS credits each) every semester. The course fee is 30 euros per course. Registration and more information here.

Other Finnish Learning options including some online courses are available here. 

What's so special about Aalto University and Finland?

Finland is considered the greenest country in the world, and is in the top 2 worldwide for freedom, safety, gender equality, innovation, and quality of life, making it an incredible choice for an exchange. It is known worldwide for innovation in design in the fields of architecture, technology, and fashion - from brands such as Marimekko, tech start-ups like Rovio and Supercell (creators of gaming apps Angry Birds and Clash of Clans respectively), Nokia, and famous architectural designers Alvar Aalto and Eliel Saarinen. Due to its innovative tech sector and support for entrepreneurship, Finland has one of the strongest economies in Europe.

It is also the "Land of Lakes" with over 180,000 picturesque lakes with cosy cottages, pristine woodlands, and citizens who truly value health and the outdoors, including their famous love of saunas (invented in Finland, there is 1 for every 2 citizens!). For information on outdoor or sport activities and clubs, visit their sports page. 

Aalto emphasizes on the importance of multidisciplinary teaching of science, technology, business and art. So in addition to technical studies, there are diverse opportunities available for your exchange students to get involved in cross-disciplinary activities and projects, for example, by selecting interdisciplinary courses, University Wide Arts Studies and Aalto Cross-school courses.

Aalto also has a strong student union (AYY) as well as one student Nation for Engineering and Architecture students (Teknologföreningen), which owns an unusual building Urdsgjallar, with a sauna called "Pi" (which has a radius of 3.14m). 

International Startup Event Slush in Fall.

Fall exchange students have also had a unique opportunity to volunteer in an international start-up event Slush which takes place in Helsinki at the end of the year. Slush is an annual event, where startups and technology talent meet with international investors. Slush started in 2008 as Aalto students’ initiative with 300 participants and in 2018, Slush brought together over 20,000 attendees, 3100 startups, 1800 investors, and 650 journalists. Previous exchange students have greatly enjoyed the Slush experience!

Student Tips: "With plenty of layered-style clothing and other basic gear, I was able to get on absolutely fine with what I brought. If I come back to Helsinki, however, I will be making room to pack (a) rain boots – I was told that this autumn was “unusually dry” and indeed, there was almost zero snow but more rain than I had anticipated; and (b) some more semi-formal clothing – Finnish students tend to dress a bit nicer for university than I normally see in my Calgary classes, and sometimes “blending in” in this way is important!"

"For transit, there are buses, trams, and metro for getting around the city, plus ferries for getting between the metropolitan islands; tram tickets are the cheapest, but bus is the cheapest way to go long-distance between cities e.g. Onnibus – just buy your ticket in advance as prices double about a week before departures!
In Helsinki, definitely visit:

• the Central Park forest
• long shoreline walking trails that run along the cliffs from Kamppi to Meilahti and beyond
• the Kallio neighbourhood (which is comparable to Kensington in Calgary)
• Seurasaari historical open-air park
• unique aesthetic cafés like Café Regatta and Café Plootu
• the restaurant Savotta for lovely higher-end Finnish cuisine

More places to go (outside of Helsinki) include:

• the WeeGee centre in Espoo hosts a whole assortment of cool museums
• Tampere has an interesting arts/music scene in addition to the famous moominvalley
• Tornio is a good city for wilderness hikes
• Of course you must hop a ferry to the beautiful city of Tallinn."

What kind of supports and services are available at Aalto University?

For LGBTQ+ students, Aalto University operates on high equality standards regardless of gender, race, or sexuality. Queer Aalto, or "Q" for short, is a student association that arranged activities for LGBTQ+ individuals.

For students struggling with mental illness and/or depression or are finding it hard to cope with the transition, the Nyyti - student support centre also offers counselling support. 

For students wanting a space for prayer or reflection, Aalto offers a quiet room for prayer and meditation and a chaplain centre as well. 

For students with accessibility needs, Aalto offers support for exams and technical aid, though personal assistants and some adaptive technology may need to be self-funded. More information can be found on the Accessibility page for International students. 

For information on accessibility and support services at campuses across Europe, please check out Inclusive Mobility. For city-specific services and places in Europe, the Jaccede interactive platform (website and/or smartphone app - both Android and iOS) also provides a searchable user-built database to identify important accessibility information of public places and locations.