After admission to Bachelor's studies

Checklist for new Bachelor students

Accept your offer of admission and enrol as an attending student as soon as possible after receiving notification of your admission. Once enrolled, you can submit an application for student housing and financial aid for students. Getting the process started as early as possible helps you avoid peak application times and long waits.

1. Accept your offer of admission

The Finnish National Board of Education will send a results letter by email on 28 June 2019 to all applicants who have applied in the joint application system of higher education and have given consent for communication regarding student admissions by email. If you have not given consent for that, a paper letter will be sent to you on 28 June 2019 and you will receive it on the week that begins on 1 July 2019.

The results letter contains information on your success in all the areas of specialisation (programmes or majors) you applied to and instructions on accepting the offer of admission.

Please note that Aalto University does not send those accepted a separate acceptance letter by mail; all communication is done via e-mail. To stay informed, make sure to follow up on your My Studyinfo service and e-mail.

You can accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland

More information about the one study place per term provision

According to the one study place per term provision (Universities Act 558/2009) students may accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland during one academic term. Higher education degrees include bachelor’s, master’s, licentiate and doctoral degrees awarded by universities as well as polytechnic degrees. The academic terms run from 1 August to 31 December and 1 January to 31 July. Even if the student postpones the commencement of studies, or interrupts his/her studies, the student cannot accept another study place for a degree programme starting in the same academic term.

If you already have a right to study at Aalto University and you wish to accept a new offer of admission

More information about several study rights at Aalto University

The Aalto University students of business or technology may only have one right to study towards the same degree. Students who accept an offer of admission to education leading to the same degree (for instance, the Master of Science (Technology)), the old right to study will be replaced by the new one. This does not apply to the Aalto University field of art and design.

Tuition fees and waivers

More information about tuition fees and waivers

Information about requirement to pay tuition fee and possible waiver are found in the letter of admission. Please read the instructions carefully.

More information about tuition fees and waivers.

2. Return the Aalto Scholarship Terms document and/or pay the tuition fee if applicable

Degree students who are citizens of countries outside the EU/EEA or Switzerland are generally required to pay tuition fees. The amount of the tuition fee as well as information of possibly awarded scholarship is in the admission letter.

If you are liable to pay tuition and have been awarded an Aalto University scholarship to partly or fully cover your fee, please return the signed document “Aalto University Scholarship Terms Of Acceptance” by the given deadline. The document is sent with the letter of acceptance.

Detailed instructions for the payment will be in the invoice, which is issued after you have accepted your study place. The invoice is sent by email and payment is due before the start of the academic year. If you are awarded an Aalto University scholarship, the amount awarded will be deducted from your invoice, i.e. if you are awarded a 50 % scholarship, your invoice will concern half of the tuition fee due for that academic year. If you are awarded a 100 % scholarship no invoice will be sent. Tuition fee needs to be paid before enrolling at the university.

More information on tuition fee and scholarships: Tuition fees and scholarships.

3. Enrol for the academic year 2019-2020 no later than 30 July 2019

Please enroll at the university within 2 May—30 July 2019. All students need to enroll for each academic year. We recommend new students to enroll already by 30 July to ensure smooth start of studies.You cannot use any Aalto services, receive a student number or register for courses before you are enrolled as attending. Students lose their study right if they have not enrolled by the end of the official enrollment period, 6 September 2019.

Enrolment as an attending student

Additional information on enrolment as an attending student

Once you have accepted an offer of admission, enrol as an attending student at Aalto University and pay the membership fee of the Aalto University student union (AYY) in the Studyinfo's Oili service. If you wish to join the student association of your field of study (guild or subject-specific association), also pay the related membership fee. To ensure you do not miss any orientation sessions or tutor groups, you should enrol as soon as possible and no later than 30 July 2019.

If you are unable to accept the offer of admission electronically in Studyinfo and/or enrol as an attending student in the OILI service, please contact your school or send an e-mail to studentservices@aalto.fi.

Due to additional regulations attached to tuition fees, all first year students liable to tuition fees must register manually with the student services. You need a receipt for the payment of your student union (AYY) membership fee and, where applicable, your tuition fees will also need to be fully received by the university before enrolment is possible. Contact your school’s student service desk or studentservices@aalto.fi for registration.

Enrolment as a non-attending student

Additional information on enrolment as a non-attending student

You can enrol as a non-attending student in your first year of study only on grounds referred to in the Universities Act (Yliopistolaki 558/2009, Section 39), i.e. if you are:

currently performing military service referred to in the Conscription Act (Asevelvollisuuslaki 1438/2007), the Non-Military Service Act (Siviilipalveluslaki 1446/2007) or the Act on Voluntary Military Service for Women (Laki naisten vapaaehtoisesta asepalveluksesta 194/1995). Please note that military service being performed in other countries than Finland is not an acceptable reason for enrolment as a non-attending student;
on maternity, paternity or parental leave; or
unable to start your studies due to personal illness or injury.

Please make sure to submit your application for enrolment as a non-attending student no later than on 30 July 2019 to the student service desk of your school to give them time to process your application within the official enrolment period. For detailed guidelines, see the application form (pdf) .

Duration of non-attendance

If your non-attendance for permissible reasons is scheduled between 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020, you can enrol as a non-attending student for the whole academic year. If the permissible reason applies only for the other semester, the other one will consume the non-attendance semesters you have on your disposal.

If you wish to enrol as non-attending for the autumn term 2019 only, you need to change your enrolment status into attending for the spring term at the student service desk of your school starting 25 November, 2019 and no later than 10 January, 2020. To do this, you must present a receipt of the paid student union membership fee (payment with Bank Details).
If you wish to enrol as non-attending for the spring term 2020 only, you need to change your enrolment status into non-attending for the spring term starting 25 Novermber, 2019 and no later than 10 January, 2020. To do this, you must submit the application and appendices to the student service desk of your school. You can apply for a refund of the student union membership fee from the Student Union.

Military service, non-military service or other long period of non-attendance

Additional information

If you have accepted the offer of admission before year 2018, please contact the student services of your school to find out about starting your studies.

Students who have accepted an offer of admission in 2018

During the summer, your school will send you information on starting your studies by e-mail. Because you have already accepted your study place, the instructions on how to accept the offer of admission do not concern you. However, other instructions on this webpage are relevant to you, except that you should enrol via WebOOdi instead of the OILI service in Studyinfo. To do this, you need to have an Aalto IT account (check the activation instructions below).

Remember to read your Aalto e-mail address! If you have not activated your Aalto e-mail yet, do it now.

New students admitted in 2019

If you plan to enrol as a non-attending student in your first year of study, accept the offer of admission and submit a certificate for your reasons for the non-attendance to your school (see guidelines). Please note that non-attendance is only allowed for specific reasons defined in legislation.

If you enrol as a non-attending student only for the autumn term, contact your school no later than in November to ensure a swift start to your studies in January, please see also the page Getting started with your studies in January.
If you enrol as non-attending for the whole academic year, follow up on these pages in summer 2020 for up-to-date information on starting your studies in 2020–2021.
If you are a non-attending student for the spring term, contact your school no later than in November to ensure a swift return to studies in the academic year 2020–2021.

In Aalto University an orientation is organised also in January and courses have been organised in a manner that allows studies to be started also in January. However, the schools recommend starting studies in September if possible.

Duration of studies

Additional information

Your duration of studies is limited to seven academic years (both Bachelor's and Master's degree) or four academic years (only Bachelor's students) as an attending student.

You can also enrol as a non-attending student for some terms without them being counted towards your duration of studies. You can enrol as a non-attending student in your first year of study only on grounds referred above. Later on, it is recommended to enrol as non-attending if you plan not to study. For additional information, refer to the Into page or the student services of your programme.

4. Apply for Residence Permit (non-EU/EEA Citizens) or register your residence (EU/EEA Citizens)

NonEU/EEA citizens

If you are a non-EU/EEA citizen, you need to apply for a residence permit at a Finnish Embassy in your home country. The application process takes time, so please apply as soon as possible. Please see the Finnish Immigration Service instructions and start the application process. When you apply for a residence permit please ask to be registered in the Finnish Population Information System so that you receive a Finnish personal identity code at the same time as the permit is issued. You will need the personal identity code for identification purposes, for example in banks, hospitals, registering for classes outside the university, and the registers of different authorities.

Download a checklist to make sure you make a perfect application

EU/EEA citizens

EU/EEA citizens do not need a residence permit but upon arrival in Finland, you must apply for registration of EU citizen's right of residence at the Finnish Immigration Service. When registering your right of residence, you can also apply for Finnish personal ID-code.

Please note that citizens of Nordic countries register at the Local Register Office (Maistraatti) of their place of residence.

Registering as resident, all nationalities

If you are intending to stay in Finland for more than a year (regardless of your nationality), you are required also to register at the Local Register Office (Maistraatti) in the municipality you live in and register your personal information in the Population Information System. If you have not received Finnish personal ID-code before (when applying for a residence permit or when registering as EU citizen in Finland), you can apply for that in Maistraatti too.

For more information on registering your residence and Finnish personal ID-code, please see the pages for international students.

5. Apply for student housing

You should start to look for an apartment as soon as you have accepted the offer of admission. In the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, student housing is offered by, e.g. the Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region, HOAS, and the Aalto University Student Union AYY. Since HOAS and AYY cannot offer housing to all students in the area, it is advisable to use all available resources for your search, including the private housing market. For additional information, see the AYY website.

6. Apply for financial aid for students

The right of non-Finnish citizens to receive student financial aid from the State is decided on a case-by-case basis. A description of the right to receive student financial aid is available on the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA) website.

The majority of Finnish students finance their studies with the state-funded financial aid for students distributed by Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. For details, see the Kela website. To avoid peak application times in the autumn, it is best to apply for financial aid as soon as you have accepted an offer of admission at the university. The easiest way to apply for funding is via the Kela e-services.

Adult Education Allowance is an allowance granted by the Education Fund on certain conditions to students who have already been employed before starting their studies. In some cases, adult students may also finance their studies with their unemployment benefit; for additional information, see the TE services (employment services) website.

7. Organize your travel to Finland

Check on your programme when you need to arrive in Finland and where you need to present yourself after arrival. You´ll find link to your School´s orientation website in your programme's Into pages and you'll receive information via email during summer. After that you are ready to book your trip to Finland.

More information about how to continue your journey from the airport and how to use public transportation in Helsinki region is found in the section international students.

8. Activate your Aalto IT account

The Aalto IT username and password are used to login to all Aalto online services. Once you have activated your IT account, you have access to many electronic services, including your Aalto email. The university uses email as the primary means of communication, so it is essential that you keep on top of your Aalto email at all times. You can activate the Aalto University IT account once you have enrolled as an attending student for the academic year 2019–2020. The table below shows the timetable for activation. If you have accepted an offer of admission in 2018 or earlier, you can activate your IT account right away.

You should also activate your account as soon as possible, or latest upon enrolment. You can activate your account at salasana.aalto.fi with your Finnish online banking details or with a Finnish electronic ID (HST) card.If you don't have strong identification, you'll receive activation email either 1st August or 14th August, depending on your date of accepting the offer of admission, please follow instructions at aalto.fi. If these are not possible, you must visit the IT service desk during the enrolment to activate your account. Please remember to bring official, photographic ID with you (such as passport).

Accepting the offer of admission completed no later than on	Account activation possible no sooner than
30^th July 2019	1^st August 2019
12^th August 2019	14^thAugust 2019

9. Apply for a student card

The student card is proof of your student status, and it is the simplest way to get student discounts in, for instance, the university restaurants and public transport. For additional information on the student card go to the AYY site. You can download an electronic student card for mobile devices, after you have enrolled as an attending student. The electronic card is accepted in the university restaurants and public transport as proof of student status.

You need to apply for personal ID-code (see details above in section 4) and inform the code to student services before downloading the electronic card. Please note that the right to student discounts begins when the study right begins, i.e. August 1^st.

10. Next step: getting started with your studies

To get off to a swift start with your studies, you should look at the contents of your studies and practicalities during the summer and reserve time for orientation. For additional information, see Getting started with your studies.