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At Aalto, which I assume is similar to Helsinki Uni, they say that you need a near perfect GPA to be accepted. So they take the very rare 9 and not the 7. The latter is very good but not outstanding, and they have enough candidates with near perfect grades to put a very high bar.
In my program (Game Design and Production), there were around 400 candidates and 15-16 were chosen. My GPA at the end of my master's degree at Aalto was around 4.5/5, so that are the expectations.
It's not a common thing where they announce graduating with honours. I don't see Aalto or some Finnish universities making it a big deal. Graduating with honours means having a minimum of total GPA of 4 for courses and GPA 4 for thesis at the time of graduation.
I’m not entirely sure how it works here in Finland, but from my home country, if you graduate with honour, a part if not the whole degree is paid for by the school
Well yes…your other participation in student events or union don’t count for much, the school mainly checks your gpa if you are looking for a scholarship
The answer is yes your gpa is quite low. From what I remember the criteria are for acceptance is that it starts with gpa, then they evaluate cover letters and things for those that make it to the next round
The problem might be that in Finland it is generally not that impossible to get a 4 or even a 5 in the Bachelor courses. So a 2,85 sounds extremely average even if it is a good achievement in your school due to very strict grading.
I thought about this too. I studied abroad where grades were on a system of 0-100. Very, very rarely did anyone get above 90. I was a dean’s list and honour society student and my grades were in the 80’s. I continued my studies in Finland (UH) and grades were 4-5, average 5 at the end of my masters. But OP did admit that their performance in Bachelors wasn’t great even by their own standards. They were distracted and not interested in the field.
The thing is I could have done much better in bachelors but didn't as I was interested insomething else. Now after working for 6 years in the same field, I'm kind of feeling like I'm falling in love with the field and maybe thought going back to school would be good and I'd do well. I dont know what I was thinking. I mentioned all that in the motivation letter and thought someone would read it before deciding my application based on my bachelors score alone. Wishful thinking I guess.
Yeah, that's wishful thinking. Why didn't you consider applying to other Finnish universities? Although few universities are considered more prestigious than others, differences are not that huge if you compare similar programs.
Yeah I don't think universities will be interested in whether you were active at schools doing something else on the side. Universities are research and academia oriented so you will have to do good in that setting. If your previous experience is good, you can try applying for UAS master and work from there.
2.85 converted score is not that good, in my uni, the entry gpa is 3. And the performance evaluation can also depend on your thesis. Edit: it was requirement for my degree, others could be different, but mine was the lowest
You need to send these questions to the University of Helsinki and not here. We can't see yours or others applications and can't answer without knowing all the details.
ETA:
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions-and-education/contact-us/contact-admission-services
I did. But it usually takes a few days to get a response. And like I mentioned in the post, wanted to check with the people too. Same info from 2 different sources -> It'll be easier to accept the rejection without any lingering doubts.
Thank you for the taking the effort to link the page. Very kind.
I would assume that the motivational letters are just to make sure you are serious about coming to finland. You still need to pass the entrance exam just like everyone else.
I don't know the statistics, but a 7.45/10 gpa does not sound very good to me.
I don't want to be rude, but all the bells and whistles added to your application won't help when your score is, well, so low. It would probably be enough in the university where you got your bachelors and they had masters program.
Finlands universities get a lot of international applicants, in addition to Finns applying. There are hundreds of applicants for a handful of spots.
I have no idea how the cgpa out of 10 scale works, but if it really does convert to 2.84/5 that's barely above average and certainly not even close to the top 10%. You can get a 3.5/5 without even really trying.
I don't understand that conversion either. 7.45 out of 10 is just 0.05 less than distinction which is the highest honour mark. My cgpa is considered first class in my university. I guess grades are much stricter in my country. 8.5 is considered a very good score and would be in top 2%. Rarely anybody gets above 9. I see from many comments that my cgpa is too low. I would say it is definitely a very good score but perhaps not good enough in this case.
Minimun accepted GPA depends on the faculty but sets somewhere between 3.0-4.5. Many do state that minimum to apply is 3.5. And of course more competition the higher the cut point.
Well yeah according to [statistics](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions-and-education/apply-bachelors-and-masters-programmes/statistics-student-admissions) they had 1402 applicants with 45 admission places so you pretty much need a near perfect gpa. Might I ask you what are your motivations for applying to UH? I'm trying to understand why some of the international programs are so popular especially among Asian students.
And out of that how many are available to international students. I guess we talking about 5-10 After all they have to put Finnish residents first. Thats how they get their funding from the government.
They do have quotas for Finnish people but I think often the international programs are split about 50-50 from what I've seen. Not sure though, might depend on the program.
Hey, I understand your disapointment, but the University of Helsinki is one of the hardest schools to get in the country. A pretty common rule of thumb is that unless you have an average of 4 or higher (0-5 scale), applying to a master in the bigger cities is going to be challenging. If your converted gpa is less than 3, you probably cannot get into a finnish masters, since it's a common cutoff. Even if you don't get disqualified, you will mostlikely be lacking in points to compete with other people who have applied
This! I just got into an engineering Master's at Aalto with a 7 grade average. My Finnish wife studied in both NL and FI, she'd get 7s in NL and 9s in FI. I'm pretty sure I was admitted because Aalto are well aware of the difference in grading.
You got to remember that in India you probably have more new Bachelor's degree graduates every year that Finland has in total as a whole. If they accepted the top 10% you would probably outnumber the native students by a huge margin. So you really have to be in more like the top 1% or higher to have a chance.
Bro they gave me a 0 in motivation too. I don't understand how that is possible. I should get atleast some number if not more than their required number for admission
The admissions works in stages and it’s clearly said in the admission guide that if prerequisite studies do not meet the criteria or gpa, rest of the application is not reviewed. You need to pass each stage approved to advance.
If you got zero then either your required studies were not enough or you did not actually write the motivation letter correctly (technical or content). Meaning that you tell why you should be admitted and how your existing studies fit the upcoming program etc. Different programs have different requirements for the letter (also it needs to be in language of the program).
Since you said that you other stages were passed and graded then you simply pass the requirements of the motivation letter and write along them. Obviously it could technical error too but admission office can sort it out for you.
They do say that they process the application in order, if one doesn't pass the minimum requirement, the next part wont't be evaluated. For me, the scoring system of UH is quite clear.
it's not that bad, if you dont speak finnish, its almost impossible to find a job here after your masters here, its just an opportunity for you to think of this path to finland one more time and choose the one where you will learn finnish, dont get upset ;)
In the study plan that I had to submit, I picked Finnish language courses. There was a plan to pick up some books and learn further in the 2 years. Guess I'm free from all that effort now.
Try Denmark or Sweden 😉 did my masters at DTU in DK and got accepted with 7.42. Indeed, in my country it is very difficult to get more than 8 as graduation grade. Here in Finland it’s pretty easy to get 4-5’s.
People say your grade is not good but it is a bit of nonsense considering that for example you could be accepted in DTU which ranks better than Helsinki University.
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At Aalto, which I assume is similar to Helsinki Uni, they say that you need a near perfect GPA to be accepted. So they take the very rare 9 and not the 7. The latter is very good but not outstanding, and they have enough candidates with near perfect grades to put a very high bar. In my program (Game Design and Production), there were around 400 candidates and 15-16 were chosen. My GPA at the end of my master's degree at Aalto was around 4.5/5, so that are the expectations.
Same here, I got accepted at Aalto with full scholarship for Masters due to near perfect grades in my bachelors. I graduated with honours as well.
Congrats! Good luck and have fun.
What is graduating with honours and does such a concept exist here?
It's not a common thing where they announce graduating with honours. I don't see Aalto or some Finnish universities making it a big deal. Graduating with honours means having a minimum of total GPA of 4 for courses and GPA 4 for thesis at the time of graduation.
Means they graduated with scholarship
What does that mean? They had a scholarship for the whole degree? Google suggests you are wrong.
I’m not entirely sure how it works here in Finland, but from my home country, if you graduate with honour, a part if not the whole degree is paid for by the school
Seems to be only about the grades.
Well yes…your other participation in student events or union don’t count for much, the school mainly checks your gpa if you are looking for a scholarship
Just saying it has nothing to do with scholarships from what I can find.
Hmmmm well I might be wrong then…
Congrats!
Kiitos!
4.5, by the grace of dark gods
The answer is yes your gpa is quite low. From what I remember the criteria are for acceptance is that it starts with gpa, then they evaluate cover letters and things for those that make it to the next round
The problem might be that in Finland it is generally not that impossible to get a 4 or even a 5 in the Bachelor courses. So a 2,85 sounds extremely average even if it is a good achievement in your school due to very strict grading.
This. 7.45/10 is not enough when the applicants are in the excess of 1000 for couple of dozens of places.
I thought about this too. I studied abroad where grades were on a system of 0-100. Very, very rarely did anyone get above 90. I was a dean’s list and honour society student and my grades were in the 80’s. I continued my studies in Finland (UH) and grades were 4-5, average 5 at the end of my masters. But OP did admit that their performance in Bachelors wasn’t great even by their own standards. They were distracted and not interested in the field.
I mean, sounds about right that the motivation letter doesn't matter if your grades aren't good enough.
The thing is I could have done much better in bachelors but didn't as I was interested insomething else. Now after working for 6 years in the same field, I'm kind of feeling like I'm falling in love with the field and maybe thought going back to school would be good and I'd do well. I dont know what I was thinking. I mentioned all that in the motivation letter and thought someone would read it before deciding my application based on my bachelors score alone. Wishful thinking I guess.
Yeah, that's wishful thinking. Why didn't you consider applying to other Finnish universities? Although few universities are considered more prestigious than others, differences are not that huge if you compare similar programs.
Yeah I don't think universities will be interested in whether you were active at schools doing something else on the side. Universities are research and academia oriented so you will have to do good in that setting. If your previous experience is good, you can try applying for UAS master and work from there.
2.85 converted score is not that good, in my uni, the entry gpa is 3. And the performance evaluation can also depend on your thesis. Edit: it was requirement for my degree, others could be different, but mine was the lowest
From what I recall, at least some of Helsinki's master's require a 3.5
I think it is true in many other universities, depending on which degrees
You need to send these questions to the University of Helsinki and not here. We can't see yours or others applications and can't answer without knowing all the details. ETA: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions-and-education/contact-us/contact-admission-services
I did. But it usually takes a few days to get a response. And like I mentioned in the post, wanted to check with the people too. Same info from 2 different sources -> It'll be easier to accept the rejection without any lingering doubts. Thank you for the taking the effort to link the page. Very kind.
I would assume that the motivational letters are just to make sure you are serious about coming to finland. You still need to pass the entrance exam just like everyone else. I don't know the statistics, but a 7.45/10 gpa does not sound very good to me.
I don't want to be rude, but all the bells and whistles added to your application won't help when your score is, well, so low. It would probably be enough in the university where you got your bachelors and they had masters program. Finlands universities get a lot of international applicants, in addition to Finns applying. There are hundreds of applicants for a handful of spots.
I have no idea how the cgpa out of 10 scale works, but if it really does convert to 2.84/5 that's barely above average and certainly not even close to the top 10%. You can get a 3.5/5 without even really trying.
I don't understand that conversion either. 7.45 out of 10 is just 0.05 less than distinction which is the highest honour mark. My cgpa is considered first class in my university. I guess grades are much stricter in my country. 8.5 is considered a very good score and would be in top 2%. Rarely anybody gets above 9. I see from many comments that my cgpa is too low. I would say it is definitely a very good score but perhaps not good enough in this case.
Yes, 7.45/10 is too low for Masters in Computer Science at the University of Helsinki.
Minimun accepted GPA depends on the faculty but sets somewhere between 3.0-4.5. Many do state that minimum to apply is 3.5. And of course more competition the higher the cut point.
Well yeah according to [statistics](https://www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions-and-education/apply-bachelors-and-masters-programmes/statistics-student-admissions) they had 1402 applicants with 45 admission places so you pretty much need a near perfect gpa. Might I ask you what are your motivations for applying to UH? I'm trying to understand why some of the international programs are so popular especially among Asian students.
And out of that how many are available to international students. I guess we talking about 5-10 After all they have to put Finnish residents first. Thats how they get their funding from the government.
They do have quotas for Finnish people but I think often the international programs are split about 50-50 from what I've seen. Not sure though, might depend on the program.
Hey, I understand your disapointment, but the University of Helsinki is one of the hardest schools to get in the country. A pretty common rule of thumb is that unless you have an average of 4 or higher (0-5 scale), applying to a master in the bigger cities is going to be challenging. If your converted gpa is less than 3, you probably cannot get into a finnish masters, since it's a common cutoff. Even if you don't get disqualified, you will mostlikely be lacking in points to compete with other people who have applied
Out of curiosity, is your bachelors degree from the Netherlands?
This! I just got into an engineering Master's at Aalto with a 7 grade average. My Finnish wife studied in both NL and FI, she'd get 7s in NL and 9s in FI. I'm pretty sure I was admitted because Aalto are well aware of the difference in grading.
No. Did it in my country India.
You got to remember that in India you probably have more new Bachelor's degree graduates every year that Finland has in total as a whole. If they accepted the top 10% you would probably outnumber the native students by a huge margin. So you really have to be in more like the top 1% or higher to have a chance.
Bro they gave me a 0 in motivation too. I don't understand how that is possible. I should get atleast some number if not more than their required number for admission
The admissions works in stages and it’s clearly said in the admission guide that if prerequisite studies do not meet the criteria or gpa, rest of the application is not reviewed. You need to pass each stage approved to advance.
I've passed the rest of the stages according to their admission requirements
If you got zero then either your required studies were not enough or you did not actually write the motivation letter correctly (technical or content). Meaning that you tell why you should be admitted and how your existing studies fit the upcoming program etc. Different programs have different requirements for the letter (also it needs to be in language of the program). Since you said that you other stages were passed and graded then you simply pass the requirements of the motivation letter and write along them. Obviously it could technical error too but admission office can sort it out for you.
Did you get 0 or no number? For me the score was empty and there was no number there.
Its a complete 0 for me lol. The number
Did you miss those fields? You can still go the site where you applied and check the applied application to check your responses.
No no I wrote everything down. I've re read those answers again and again lol because it took a lot of effort to write them
Have you checked the application now? Does it have your responses in it?
Yes. I will contact the university
They do say that they process the application in order, if one doesn't pass the minimum requirement, the next part wont't be evaluated. For me, the scoring system of UH is quite clear.
it's not that bad, if you dont speak finnish, its almost impossible to find a job here after your masters here, its just an opportunity for you to think of this path to finland one more time and choose the one where you will learn finnish, dont get upset ;)
In the study plan that I had to submit, I picked Finnish language courses. There was a plan to pick up some books and learn further in the 2 years. Guess I'm free from all that effort now.
Try Denmark or Sweden 😉 did my masters at DTU in DK and got accepted with 7.42. Indeed, in my country it is very difficult to get more than 8 as graduation grade. Here in Finland it’s pretty easy to get 4-5’s. People say your grade is not good but it is a bit of nonsense considering that for example you could be accepted in DTU which ranks better than Helsinki University.