Details

• Finland
• MACEMS-17
• Graduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

As part of the CEMS program the allocation to an exchange school takes place automatically, however, I would like to emphasise that Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, is a great place for an exchange, especially due to the great student culture and English proficiency in the country. Additionally, the preparation for the semester abroad is relatively easy compared to other destinations. As an Austrian national there was very little administrative tasks to complete prior to my exchange. However, all relevant informations regarding OLA and Erasmus applicatipn have been clearly communicated jointly by WU and Aalto in advance. For accomodation it is great to connect with others who have done an exchange at Aalto before, preferably in the CEMS community and try to sublent a room through Aalto home students who are on exchange as the same time as you are-- me and many of my friends took this option and were really satisfied with the results.

2. Accommodation

For accomodation I would advice to try and sublet a room from other students as one of the easier and quickest options, especially as HOAS or AYY housing is not guaranteed and is allocated shortly before the start date of the semester. I chose to sublet a student residence on campus for my exchange and was very happy with that option, especially because it allows you to really take advantage of Finland's subsidies student meal services. Location-wise I would recommend to look for a place either on-campus or in Helsinki as some people regretted living closer to Kivenlahti due to the long commute especially in the evenings. Overall Helsinki and Espoo felt really safe. Vallila is considered the most unsafe area of Helsinki as there are quite a lot of homeless people there, however, some of my friends lived there and they never mentioned anything bad happening there.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus infrastructure is really nice and there are many different student restaurants to choose from with subsidised meals costing 2.95EUR on average, and 5.50EUR at most. All of the cafeterias are open during the week from 11-15 o'clock with A-bloc and Computer science serving food until 18:00. The academic culture is similar to WU's CEMS courses. Most of the grades are based on a mix of participation, home assignments, group works, and a reflection paper. For those who struggle with speaking up in class, there's also oftentimes the option of handing in a written comment after class in lieu of in-class participation, attendance is mostly mandatory. Teaching has been mostly lecture-focused with many guest speakers.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport is really reliable and great, however, be mindful of which zones you are travelling in as ticket controls are quite common. My social life mostly revolved around CEMS-organised social events with sauna being a common leisure activity. Additionally, I would highly recommend getting a Unisport subscription which allows you unlimited access to a gym and sports classes in one of uniforms multiple locations (one is in Otaniemi right next to campus and another popular one is in the city centre). Overall I would describe Finnish life as very mindful and calming. In my experience it is not the biggest party location, however, there are tonnes of social events which do not revolve around drinking and also options to participate in some Finnish traditions, especially at the start of the semester.

6. Testimonial

Studying in Finland has been a great experience, while Finns have a reputation for being introverted, they are the nicest people once you get to know them. Student life in Finland is a very social environment with many events hosted by the student government and student groups where everyone is welcome to join. I really appreciated the quiet, calm life style I got to experience there, however, investing in some Vitamin D supplements is a definite must.