Aalto University, School of Business Exchange Report (spring 2014) – Vicky Kwok
BBA (FINA&ECON)
Aalto University, School of Business • • • • • •
P ART I – M ONTHLY ACTIVITY LOG January 2014 I arrived Helsinki on the 3rd of January. Spring semester in Aalto commences in early January; I attended the official exchange student orientation on the 7th January and started lessons. Since only master-‐‑level courses are available in English, most of the exchange students would be taking master-‐‑ level courses. During the weekends, I spent time around the neighborhood I lived in. In late January, we went to Tallinn, Estonia for a day cruise tour.
February 2014 The weather is becoming colder with snow some time. In early February, the student group KY, organized a Lapland tour for all the exchange students, which we had much free time at the cottage houses with private sauna, we could also go skiing and visiting ice hotels. Unluckily, we weren’t able to hunt aurora due to the bad weather. Later in the Month, the first exam period began. I spent some time studying and preparing for two exams. Since the spring semester in Aalto is divided into three periods, I took two courses in the first two periods.
March 2014 After the exams I took in late February, I travelled to the UK to find my friend in Cardiff. The second study period started right after I return to Helsinki, I took another two courses in this period. The class schedule is less packed when compared to that in UST, so exchange students can join most of the activities organized by the student groups. In mid-‐‑March, I took a 3-‐‑day cruise tour to Stockholm with some other exchange students. After that, I joined another 5-‐‑day tour to St. Petersburg. I spent most of my time preparing presentations and doing homework after travelling back to Helsinki after the trips.
April 2014 The second period ends in early April, so I spent my days doing revision and preparing for exams. Since I had taken all the courses for the semester, I started planning the travelling schedule for the next two months. I travelled to Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium in later April.
May 2014 I spend the whole month travelling to other parts of Europe. I travelled to London for another week in early May, and then Oslo, Warsaw, Prague and Budapest in later May.
January 2014 ! 1
Aalto University, School of Business • • • • • •
P ART II – G ENERAL EXCHANGE INFORMATION Visa procedures For HK permanent residents staying in Helsinki less than 6 months, a Visa is not required if you are holding a HK passport or any passport issued in EU. However, you would need to a residence permit for staying more than 3 months if you are holding a HK passport. You can apply for the Finnish residence permit online. Some documents are required to be uploaded to the online form, like passport photos, copies of passport, acceptance letter from the oversea university and bank statement. The application also requires a proof of insurance. The insurance provided by SAO normally covers the requirements, however, you should confirm it with the Finnish Embassy before submitting the application since the amount varies with the exchange rate. You will need book an appointment at the Finnish Embassy for fingerprint collection and other document collection after the online form is processed. The whole process approximately takes three weeks, so make sure you have enough time for the application before you depart. ***Application is also available in Finland, but it would be more expensive.
Orientation Activities There is a compulsory orientation day for exchange students; you can also apply to the activities organized by the student group KY later on. The orientation is useful for you to get course registration, transportation documents and other documents you need. The student tutors will also lead a short tour around the campus, in the Helsinki campus of Aalto, there are three different building which are separated in few blocks away from each other.
International services & activities You will meet the staff of international exchange program during the orientation. You can easily approach the team using email. Also, the student tutors assigned by the KY-‐‑sub are also helpful if you have any difficulties.
Accommodation My accommodation is a studio apartment in the Kamppi area, which is in the central part of Helsinki and is the closet accommodation to the school campus provided by HOAS. It’s a convenient area; metro station, some major shopping malls and the Aalto business campus can be reached in a few minutes. You can buy groceries in few minutes walk to several large supermarkets. There are also other accommodation options in other areas, like the three or six rooms shared apartments, you will have a private room and shared kitchen and bathroom with other housemates, these accommodations offers more privacy and facilities, and, it’s more expensive. The business campus can be easily reached by public transportation.
May 2014 ! 2
Aalto University, School of Business • • • • • •
Course Registration Unlike UST, the spring semester in Aalto is divided into 3 periods (i.e. period III, IV &V), most courses are offered in the first two period. You will send a learning agreement form to the school in HK before you depart, and you will receive the form back on the orientation day. The learning agreement includes about 10 courses that you wish to take in Aalto, it’s usually more than enough for your maximum load, since each course is about 6 ECTS. The courses that are offered in the first period will be enrolled you if there’s any restrictions in open registration. Also, the registration for courses in the second period would start in late February. The policy in Aalto is totally different than in UST, where you can easily register for any courses that you wish to join in Weboodi, the quota is always flexible and adequate, you can feel free to add or drop a course during the period. Also, time clashes in lectures is acceptable, given that you can finish all the assignments and classwork. Another difference in the system is that you need to register examinations separately with the course, as there are usually more than one exam for each course, you can take it at the end of either of the three periods. Also, there will be no make up exam for any course, since more than one exam is offered, you can easily register into the exam in the next period. Courses that I completed in Aalto: 28E29000 Advanced Corporate Finance (FINA 4104) 28C00400 Derivatives and Risk Management (FINA 3204) 28E34500 Banking and Financial Intermediation (FINA 3504) 28E00900 Fixed Income (FINA 4304)
6ECTS (4Credits) 6ECTS (4Credits) 6ECTS (4Credits) 6ECTS (4Credits)
Teaching and assessment methods Most of the courses offered in English are Master-‐‑level courses, so it would be a bit more difficult that what we usually do in UST. However, the workload is comparatively lower, as each course normally only consisted of 6 weeks of lecture, there are also more reading materials and reference papers. Since each period is shorter than one semester, so there is no midterm exams normally. However, you will still have homework, group assessment, presentations, etc. Every exam is of 4 hours, where you can leave after you have finished your paper. For finance courses that I took, only the more advanced courses would require all 4 hours to finish the paper, most of them can be done in less time. For the course materials, you can easily find it on Noppa, which is a platform similar to LMES in UST, the difference is that materials for all courses are available for all students, you can easily get access to all information there.
May 2014 ! 3
Aalto University, School of Business • • • • • •
Sports and recreation facilities There is a sports club, Unisport, which offers gym facilities and sports classes. The gyms are easily found in the Toolo campus and also other parts of Helsinki that are easily accessible by public transport. However, you will need to pay for the gyms, it is around 60 euros for access in the whole semester. Sauna is also available in the gym. For public facilities, every apartment building has sauna facilities that are free for use by residents. Also, the public swimming pool is located in the central Helsinki, can be reached through public transportation.
Cost/ Expenses The costs and expenses for your exchange semester depends on how often you eat outside and travel pattern. Monthly expenses Mobile phone services
Additional Notes This is the cheapest data pre-‐‑paid SIM plan available, you can go for more expensive plans for better mobile data experience. Rent EUR 275 For the accommodation of shared studio apartment, it is approximately EUR550 for a month. Local transportation EUR 30 It depends on how often you travel to other regions. Groceries EUR 150 Buying your groceries at Lidl might be the cheapest way to save some money on daily expenses. Food & Drink (variable) EUR 200 A meal at fast food chain is around EUR 7, you can go for some better options at EUR 20. Entertainment (variable) EUR 200 For travelling, it depends on your travel pattern. If you are travelling a lot within certain period, like a EUR 10
month, you can purchase those monthly bus/ train tickets that allow you to have unlimited rides to certain countries. Booking.com and Skyscanner can be some useful tools for searching economic flight tickets and hostels.
Social clubs/ Network opportunities Most of the students clubs are in Finnish and seldom do exchange students know about the activities. However, all international exchange-‐‑in students will be invited to join a Facebook group as early as the school confirms your enrolment. Student tutors and exchange-‐‑in students will post events like parties and dinners, cottage trips, cruise trips, etc. You can apply to these events through the KY-‐‑Sub, which is the student group that all exchange students are required to join. You can always meet other exchange-‐‑ in students during class, as most of the exchange student would take the English-‐‑teaching courses.
May 2014 ! 4
Aalto University, School of Business • • • • • •
Health and safety Helsinki is absolutely one of the safest cities. There is no student clinic in campus, but you can also make a reservation online at the student health service provided by the student union. The health services offers recommendation through phone calls and also doctor appointment if you are seriously ill. Their clinics are located at multiple areas in Helsinki that are convenient to travel to with trams.
Food There are a few student cafeterias in the Aalto Toolo Campus and Unicafe near the central station. Since the course schedule is not that tight in Aalto and there is usually half an hour break between lectures, so you can always have lunch at the cafeteria, the food is quite good in the student cafeterias and costs less than 3 euros per meal. The restaurants close quite early when compared to HK and there are less options for dinner, fast food stores only open till 2200 normally and 2300 on Friday nights.
Transportation The Toolo Campus (campus for business courses) is just next to the tram stops, since there are a few blocks in the campus, you can get off at the stops that are closer to the building you getting to. You can easily change trams at the central station or the Kamppi station if you come from other areas. You will apply for a student travel card on the orientation day. It costs around 2 euros for a trip within 1 region (almost everywhere you need to go), and 23 euros for an unlimited monthly plan for students. The travel card can be topped up with cash at convenience stores and supermarkets.
Climate In January to March, the weather is quite as you can expect, with snowing some times. Normally, the temperature is between -‐‑20 °C and 0 °C and it snows some times. The day time is quite short in winter, with sun rises at 9 am and sets at 3 pm. In April to May, the weather will become a bit warmer to 10 °C and the daytime is much longer, sunset usually occurs around 10pm. Keeping warm is very important during January and February if you need to walk outside, remember to have your scarf and beanie, also, a thick down jacket or feather jacket. Also, the floor is quite slippery and cold when snow melts, so you should wear boots to keep warm in the winter.
May 2014 ! 5
Aalto University, School of Business • • • • • •
Communication Most Finnish people speak English. Some staff in the library or elderly may not be able to understand English very well. However, Finnish are very nice, you can always speak slower or use body language to get what you want easily. For Internet issues, you can use the free university Wi-‐‑Fi and the computer room 24-‐‑hr a day in the campus. You will get an access card to the computer room, which you can get to the room during weekends when the school is closed. In apartments offered by HOAS, you can either connect your computer directly with a LAN cable, or use a portable router for Wi-‐‑Fi signal. For phone data usage, there is a cheap monthly plan of 6 euros for unlimited data plan from Elisa. You can buy a prepaid SIM at the convenient store, R-‐‑Kioski. However, if you are using a phone that requires nano-‐‑SIM, then you will need to cut the micro-‐‑SIM on your own or purchase a monthly plan at the service providers.
Cautionary Measures Helsinki is a safe place, though there might be some drunken people gather at the central station during late night to early morning. If you are planning to go to other touristy cities in Europe, like St. Petersburg, Paris, etc., you should always keep an eye on your belonging and make sure luxuries are placed in a bag with a zipper.
May 2014 ! 6
Aalto University, School of Business • • • • • •
P ART III – ITEMS TO BRING • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
L APTOP , CAMERAS , MOBILE PHONES AND CHARGERS M EDICINE TRAVEL PLUG A DAPTORS (UK TO E UROPEAN -‐‑3-‐‑ PIN TO 2-‐‑ PIN ONES ) R OUTER ( FOR WIFI IN APARTMENT ) C ABIN SIZE LUGGAGE / BAG OR BACKPACK FOR TRAVELLING TRAVEL WAIST WALLETS ( FOR PUTTING YOUR MONEY DURING TRAVEL ) W INTER APPAREL AND SOME FOR SUMMER ( IT ’ S WARM IN MAY ) B USINESS APPAREL ( FOR PRESENTATIONS AND INTERVIEWS ) D OWN FEATHER JACKET / COAT FOR KEEPING WARM WATER -‐‑ PROOF OUTER WEAR ( FOR SNOWY AND RAINY WEATHER ) P OCKET HEAT PACKS P ASSPORT C REDIT C ARDS / ATM CARDS FOR OVERSEAS ATM SERVICES A DAPTORS S TARTING CAPITAL (CASH) S WIM SUITS FOR SAUNA AND SWIMMING M INI L OCKS FOR LOCKERS AND BACKPACKS DURING TRAVEL C OMFORTABLE BOOTS FOR KEEPING WARM ( ANTI -‐‑ SLIPPERY DESIGN RECOMMENDED ) DOCUMENTS , E . G . ACCEPTANCE LETTER , RESIDENCE PERMIT , INSURANCE CERTIFICATES , ETC . STATIONERY ( IT ’ S EXPENSIVE TO BUY THESE IN F INLAND )
May 2014 ! 7
