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

In the spring joint application for study programmes offered in English, the results can be published at different times, but no later than by 5 June 2020. As you do not need to set your study options in order of preference in the spring joint application for study programmes offered in English, you can be accepted to several study programmes in the same application. You may receive the results for some study programmes before the results of other study programmes have been published.

You will receive an email with a link to the admission results letter when all the results have been published. The letter includes the admission results of all the study programmes you have applied to in joint application. In the results letter you will also find your points for each study programme and the lowest score for gaining admission. If you have access to the My Studyinfo -service (Finnish social security number and online banking codes with e-identification enabled, mobile certificate or an electronic ID-card needed), you can also access your results letter there.

Instructions for accepting your offer of admission can be found at My Studyinfo service.

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 2020-2021 no later than 29 July 2020

After accepting an offer of admission, you have to enrol each academic year as either an attending or a non-attending student. We recommend new students to enrol by 29 July 2020 to ensure smooth start of studies.

All degree students must enrol as either attending or non-attending each academic year. If you do not enrol as either attending or non-attending by the end of the enrolment period (no later than 4 September 2020), you will forfeit your right to study.

Enrolment as an attending student

Additional information on enrolment as an attending student

To enrol as an attending student at Aalto University after accepting your offer of admission, go to the OILI service of Studyinfo and pay the membership fee of the Aalto University student union (AYY). If you wish to join the student association of your field of study (guild or subject-specific association), also pay any related membership fees.

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

Due to additional regulations attached to tuition fees, 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 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.

To ensure you do not miss any orientation sessions or tutor groups, you should enrol no later than 29 July 2020 and sooner if possible. Enrolling as attending is also a precondition for using any Aalto services, getting a student number, and registering for courses.

Enrolment as a non-attending student

Additional information on enrolment as a non-attending student

In your first year of studies you can enrol as a non-attending student only for reasons referred to in the Universities Act (Yliopistolaki 558/2009, Section 39), that is, if you are:

in active service referred to in accordance with the Conscription Act (1438/2007), the Non-Military Service Act (1446/2007) or the Act on Voluntary Military Service for Women (194/1995);
on maternity, paternity or parental leave; or
unable to start your studies due to a medical condition or injury.

Please note that the possibility to enrol as non-attending in the first year of studies for reasons of active service is valid only for service performed in Finland.

For academic year 2020-2021, you can enrol as non-attending also in case you are unable to get to Finland to start your studies due to official COVID-19 related restrictions on immigration, travel or other processes required to enter Finland. Note however, that if you enrol as non-attending, it is not possible to complete any studies even by participating in remote teaching.

Please also note that personal choice not to start your studies, illness of a relative or otherwise difficult life situation caused by COVID-19 are not valid reasons for non-attendance.

Fill in the application form for non-attending status. Include the relevant attachment(s) verifying the reason for your non-attendance.

If you are going to perform military or non-military service or refer to official COVID-19 related restrictions, send your application and documents verifying the reason for your non-attendance to studentservices@aalto.fi.

If you refer to a medical condition or your application includes other sensitive information, send the application and appendices as a secure message to confidential@aalto.fi. Please follow the instructions for sending secure messages.

We strongly recommend you to submit the application and attachment(s) by 29 July 2020, or sooner if possible, in order to allow enough time to process them by the end of the enrolment period (Friday 4 September 2020). If your application to enrol as a non-attending student is rejected, you will receive notice of the matter and instructions on how to enrol as an attending student.

If you have already enrolled as attending, but wish to change your enrolment status to non-attending, please follow instructions above. You may change your enrolment status until the end of the official enrolment period (no later than 4 September 2020).

Duration of non-attendance

If you have reasons specified in the law for enrolling as non-attending during your first year of studies and they are in effect between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021, you may enrol as non-attending for the entire academic year. Please note, however, that non-attending status may affect the amount of time you have remaining to complete a degree. For further details, please see additional information on the effect of periods of absence on the permissible duration of studies.

If you enrolled as non-attending for the whole academic year but you want to have non-attending status for the autumn term only, you must change your spring term 2021 enrolment status to attending at your school’s student service desk starting 30 November 2020 and no later than 8 January 2021. For this purpose you will need a receipt of your payment of the Aalto student union (AYY) membership fee.
If you enrolled as attending for the whole academic year, but you want to be non-attending for spring term 2021 only, you must change your spring term 2021 enrolment status to non-attending starting 30 November 2020 and no later than 8 January 2021. To do this, submit a non-attending status form with attachment(s) to your school’s student service desk. You may apply for a refund of your student union membership fee for spring term.

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

Additional information

If you have accepted the offer of admission before year 2019, please contact the student services of your school to find out about starting your studies.

Students who have accepted an offer of admission in 2019

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 (see the activation instructions below).

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

New students admitted in 2020

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 (see instructions in section Enrolment as a non-attending student).

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 2021 for up-to-date information on starting your studies in 2021–2022.
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 2021–2022.

In Aalto University an orientation is organized also in January and courses have been organized 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

The right to study is valid for only a definite period of time. This means that you can only enrol as a non-attending student for a certain amount of terms without it having an effect on the time you have left to complete your degree. The maximum duration of studies is defined in different ways depending on the reason for absence. For further details, please see additional information on permissible duration of studies.

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 2020–2021. The table below shows the timetable for activation. If you have accepted an offer of admission in 2019 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
29^th July 2020	1^st August 2020
11^th August 2020	13^thAugust 2020

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.

Complete our self-study Pre-orientation on MyCourses learning platform in August, when you have activated your IT credentials. Pre-orientation takes 3-4 hours to complete.

For additional information, see Getting started with your studies.