Events and resources for admitted masters students
Find all the webinars, events and other resources for newly admitted masters students on this page.
Student Guide
Congratulations on your admission to Aalto University!
From this moment on, the Learning Services of your school in Aalto University take the responsibility for your guidance. Contact information is available in the instruction letter attached in your admission e-mail.
On this page we have listed the steps to take after admission and before the start of your studies. Read the information carefully and take needed action in due time to ensure a smooth start for your studies.
If you are a student in International Joint Master's programme, please see the separate instructions.
Admission results are published on 5 April 2024. All applicants receive an email notification once their results are published. Admitted applicants will receive an official electronic admission letter by email. Please read the admission materials and follow the instructions.
Accept your admission offer at Studyinfo.fi according to the given instructions as soon as possible after receiving the notification of your admission. The admission offer must be accepted by 25 April 2024 (3:00 pm, GMT +3). If you have any problems with accepting the offer online, please contact the Student Services immediately.
If you fail to accept the admission offer by the deadline, the admission offer will be cancelled.
The notification of acceptance is binding. Once you have accepted the offer, the acceptance cannot be cancelled.
If you decide to decline your admission offer, please inform your decision at Studyinfo.fi. This is important so that the study place can be offered to an applicant placed on a waiting list as soon as possible.
Instructions on accepting or declining the study place:
Applicants placed on a waiting list are informed of their waiting list number when the admission results are published. If an admitted applicant does not accept the admission offer by the deadline, the applicant highest on the study option’s waiting list will be admitted. Admitting applicants off the waiting list ends at the latest on 12 June 2024.
If you are admitted off the waiting list, you will receive an email to the email address you have given in the application system. The deadline to accept the admission offer received from the waiting list is by 25 April 2024 at 15.00 (3 pm, GMT +3) or within 7 days of the admission notification. Check your personal acceptance deadline from your admission letter and then follow the above instructions for accepting the offer.
Did you get admitted to your second priority study option and placed on a waiting list to your first study option?
If you applied to two study options and were admitted to your second priority study option and placed on a waiting list to your first study option, you can accept the offer of admission to your second study option conditionally and choose to remain on a waiting list for your first study option.
The confirmation of accepting the second study place will become binding, if you are not admitted off the waiting list to your first study option. If you are admitted off the waiting list to your first study option, the acceptance of the study place will transfer to your first study option automatically and become binding.
If you have been admitted to your second study option and have chosen to remain on the waiting list for your first study option, you can change the conditional acceptance of the admission offer to your second study option as binding (if it has not changed already) and stop being on the waiting list. This change cannot be withdrawn.
It is not possible to enrol to the university before the conditional acceptance of the study place has become binding.
Note that a conditional acceptance of the admission offer cannot be changed to cancellation of accepting the admission offer. In that sense, also a conditional acceptance is binding.
Note that scholarships are study-option-specific. If you have been granted a scholarship to your second study option, it does not transfer to your first study option. You lose the scholarship, if you do not accept the study place bindingly and are admitted off the waiting list to your first study option. If you wish to receive the scholarship and start studies in your second study option, accept the study place bindingly as soon as possible.
According to the one study place per term provision (Universities Act 558/2009) you 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 you postpone the commencement of studies, or interrupt your studies, you cannot accept another study place for a degree programme starting in the same academic term. Please consider carefully which one you wish to accept. You cannot cancel the acceptance of a study place.
Read more about one student place per term in higher education at Studyinfo.fi.
If you already have a right to study at a Master’s programme in Aalto University, note that you can have only one valid right to study towards the same degree. If you accept a new study right in a master's programme leading to the same degree at Aalto, the old study right is cancelled.
Majority of applicants must submit certified hard copy documents by postal mail to Admission Services. If you are required to submit certified (attested) hard copy documents, it is written in your admission letter.
The certified hard copy documents must be received by the given deadline. Admission is conditional until the certified hard copy documents have been received.
Conditionally granted study right will be cancelled if certified documents; or documents required according to the country-specific document requirements; are not received in the required manner by the deadline.
The deadlines are the same to all applicants and cannot be extended.
If you applied with an incomplete degree and were admitted between 5–7 April, there are two different deadlines for the certified documents:
In case the required documents are not received by the deadline, or if you are not able to graduate by the deadline, the conditionally granted study right will be cancelled.
Read carefully the instructions for certified hard copy documents. Note that the documents are required as hard copies submitted by postal mail or courier service. Make sure to send your documents so that they arrive well before the deadline.
Follow the instructions on Country-specific document requirements page if your degree is completed in any of the listed countries. There is a country-specific requirement also for degrees completed in Finland.
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 or a Finland Scholarship, return the signed document “Aalto University’s Scholarship Terms of Acceptance" by the given deadline. The document is sent with the other admission documents.
Detailed instructions for the payment will be in the invoice, which is issued after you have accepted your admission offer. The invoice is sent by email and payment is due by the given date, normally within 30 days from the invoice.
If you are awarded a tuition fee waiver, the amount awarded will be deducted from your invoice, e.g. 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 as attending (see section 5).
If you applied with an incomplete degree, the degree must be completed by 31 July 2024. Submit a certified hard copy of the degree certificate / diploma (and its authorised translation, if the document is not in English, Finnish or Swedish) as soon as possible. The document(s) must be received at the latest by 15 August 2024 (3:00 pm, GMT +3).
If you are not able to graduate or the required documents are not received by the deadline, the conditionally granted study place will be cancelled.
Read carefully the instructions for submitting certified hard copy documents.
Read and follow the instructions on Country-specific document requirements page if your degree is completed in any of the listed countries. There is a country-specific requirement also for degrees completed in Finland.
After accepting the offer of admission, you have to enrol each academic year as either an attending or a non-attending student. For new master students, the enrolment period begins on 5 April 2024 after the results for student selection has been published. We strongly recommend new students to enrol by 31 July 2024 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 (at the latest 1 September), you will forfeit your right to study.
If your admission offer is conditional, you can enrol at the university after the condition has been fulfilled and the admission is not conditional anymore.
Note that you may be subject to several conditions. The conditions are stated in your admission letter.
Admissions conditions that prevent enrolment are the following:
To enrol as an attending student at Aalto University, login to My Studyinfo and use the enrolment service to pay the obligatory membership fee of the Aalto University Student Union (AYY).
The enrolment period begins on 5 April 2024 after the results for student selection has been published. To ensure that your student status is valid from the beginning of the academic year (1 August) you should enrol no later than 31 July 2024, and preferably sooner if possible. Enrolling as attending is a precondition for using any Aalto services, getting a student number, and registering for courses. Enrolling is, however, possible only after all of the admissions conditions have been met. If you cannot use the payment methods in the enrolment service of Studyinfo and therefore enrol online, contact the student services at [email protected].
In your first year of studies you can enrol as a non-attending student (i.e. defer the start of your studies) only for reasons referred to in the Universities Act (Yliopistolaki 558/2009, Section 39), that is, if you are:
If you do not have a reason specified in the Universities Act for your enrolment as a non-attending student, you have to enrol as an attending student.
Enrol as non-attending in My Studyinfo. You must have one of the reasons mentioned above to enrol as non-attending and you must send a certificate verifying the reason to the university when you enrol as non-attending.
If your reason for enrolling as non-attending is military or non-military service in Finland, send the documents verifying the reason to the Student Services (at [email protected]). Type the following as the subject of the email: "New student enrolment as non-attending, certificate / [your name], [your study option/programme]".
If you refer to a medical condition, parental leave, or your documents includes other sensitive information, send the documents as a secure message via https://securemail.aalto.fi to school-specific Student Service's e-mails. State clearly in the subject of the email: "New student enrolment as non-attending, certificate / [your name], [your study option/programme]".
School-specific Student Service's e-mails when sending a secure message:
Please follow the instructions for sending secure messages.
The certificates must be either in English, Finnish or Swedish. If the original certificate has been translated from some other language, the original document must be included.
Enrol as non-attending and submit the document(s) by 31 July 2024 at the latest, or sooner if possible, in order to allow enough time to process them by the end of the enrolment period (1 September 2024).
If you do not have a valid reason to enrol as a non-attending student, you will receive a notification and instructions on how to enrol as an attending student.
If you have a reason specified in the law for enrolling as non-attending during your first year of studies and it is in effect between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025, you may enrol as non-attending for the entire academic year. Please note that non-attending status may affect the amount of time you have remaining to complete a degree. For further information, please see the effect of periods of absence on the permissible duration of studies.
If you have accepted your offer of admission before year 2023, please contact the Student Services (at [email protected]) to find out about starting your studies.
Because you have already accepted your study place, the instructions on how to accept the offer of admission do not concern you. Enrol on 2 May - 31 July 2024 in the OILI-enrolment service.
Remember to read your Aalto e-mail address! If you have not activated your Aalto IT account yet, do it now.
If you plan to enrol as a non-attending student in your first year of study, accept the offer of admission and enrol following the instructions in the section Enrolment as a non-attending student.
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.
If you are a non-EU/EEA citizen, you are normally required to have a residence permit in Finland.
Read more at Student residence permit and health insurances, and go through the Finnish Immigration Service information about the residence permit application and their instructions for degree students with tuition fees.
The residence permit application process takes time, so please apply for the residence permit immediately, and start making the arrangements for the compulsory visit to a Finnish mission (embassy or consulate). You need to have a valid residence permit before arriving in Finland and starting your studies.
Note that the coronavirus pandemic may affect the residence permit application process. Please see Migri’s pages for effects of the coronavirus on their services.
More information on registering with the authorities and opening a bank account.
EU/EEA citizens do not need a residence permit, but upon arrival in Finland, must register their right of residence. The application for the EU registration must be submitted within three months of the day of arrival, please see Migri’s information on registering an EU citizen's right of residence.
The application can be submitted online, but the registration process requires a personal visit at the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) service point. It is advisable to book an appointment for registration beforehand (already in the summer), as waiting times can be long and in September there may not be time slots available anymore.
More information on registering with the authorities and opening a bank account.
Nordic citizens do not need a residence permit, but upon arrival in Finland, must register their personal data in the Finnish Population Information system. In connection with the registration, you will receive a Finnish personal identity code. More detailed information about the registration process is on Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s (DVV) pages. Please note that you must personally visit DVV for the registration.
More information on registering with the authorities and opening a bank account.
You should apply for housing as soon as you have accepted the admission offer or as soon as possible with the respective housing provider (e.g. not earlier than four months prior to the intended start of the contract).
Student housing is provided by the Aalto University Student Union (AYY) or the Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region (HOAS).
University does not own student apartments and students are responsible for seeking housing themselves.
Please read carefully further instructions for seeking accommodation at housing for students.
Studies in Aalto University start with an orientation during late August – early September.
Check on your programme page (section "starting your studies") the exact start date of the orientation programme and plan your arrival schedule accordingly. Consider reserving a couple of days for settling in before the orientation programme. The courses start on 4 September 2023.
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 "Local transportation and travelling in Finland".
Student guide for international students helps you with the additional tasks after admission and includes further information about living in Finland.
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 your Aalto University IT account at the earliest in July after you have enrolled for the academic year and received an activation email for your Aalto IT account. If you have accepted an offer of admission in 2023 or earlier, you can activate your Aalto IT account right away.
You can activate your Aalto IT account from July onwards. You will receive an invitation email to your personal email. You will receive an email when the activation of Aalto IT account is possible. The email will be sent to the email address you have used when you applied to the university. Please follow the instructions of IT services and activate your account as soon as possible. Note: Student benefits are active starting August 1st (eg. FSHS and HSL).
You can activate your account at salasana.aalto.fi with your Finnish online banking details, Finnish mobile certificate or with a Finnish electronic ID (HST) card.
The student card is a 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 information on the student card, see the AYY website.
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. The app will ask for your Finnish ID number but you can leave this field blank if you do not have one yet.
The right to student discounts begins when the right to study begins, i.e. 1 August onwards. The activation of electronic student card is not possible before 1 August.
If you wish to get the student card and discounts at the beginning of the semester (1 August 2024), enrol as attending at the latest by 31 July 2024.
University students who are entitled to use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) have been required since January 2021 to pay a student healthcare fee to Kela for each academic term.
All students who are registered as attending for the current term and are studying for a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree are entitled to FSHS services. However, you do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country or from Switzerland or the United Kingdom. Even if you do not have to pay the fee, you can still use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service. Read more on KELA's website.
If you are entitled to FSHS services, you must pay the student healthcare fee. You cannot get an exemption for example for using occupational health services instead of FSHS, or for not receiving any financial aid for students.
You are not billed for the student healthcare fee but must make sure to pay it in OmaKela for each academic term. The due date for paying the student healthcare fee is determined based on the date on which you register as attending. Read instructions on KELA webpage: How to pay the student healthcare fee.
Non-Finnish students with permanent residence (type A or P) in Finland may qualify for the governmental financial aid. A description of the right to receive student financial aid is available on the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA) website.
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.
Besides taking care of the above-listed items, we recommend you to also familiarize yourself with your new study environment. For that purpose we have collected information to the Student guide, "Support for studying". See also "Starting your studies" on your programme pages.
Complete a self-study preorientation on MyCourses learning platform in July/August, when you have activated your Aalto user ID. Activation of Aalto IDs is possible starting from July. Pre-orientation takes 3-4 hours to complete.
If you are entering Finland for the first time, have a look at the student guide for international students. To settle in smootly, you should also plan and schedule the registration processes that are required outside the university.
Find all the webinars, events and other resources for newly admitted masters students on this page.
Welcome, new students, to the Aalto Welcome Fair on 31 August 2023!
Connect with other newly admitted students on Goin’!
Aalto University has partnered with Goin’ Connect to provide a social networking platform for newly admitted students. On Aalto’s Goin’ platform you can chat with students coming to the same programme, find people from different countries, and get to know people who share your interests.