Faculty of Social Sciences

Admission

Please note: The period of applying has expired for the General Admission and the Direct Admission for the year 2005. Information concerning applying for the year 2006 is available on the December 2005.

The Faculty of Social Sciences is one of the largest faculties of the University of Helsinki and has a relatively large body of international students, both as exchange and degree-taking students.

International students may complete all offered degrees from the lower basic degree (Bachelor's) up to the Doctor's degree (PhD). The Faculty of Social Sciences offers the following majors. All of them may be completed in English.

• Moral and Social Philosophy
• Economics
• Social Policy
• Social Work (accepts students only in direct admission)
• Social Psychology
• Sociology (Includes General Sociology and Demography as specialisation lines)
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Statistics
• Communication
• Political Science (Political Science Proper, International Relations and Administrative studies are the specialisation fields)
• Social Sciences History (Includes Political History and Economic and Social History as specialisation lines)
• Development studies

There are three separate admission procedures for those students, who wish to obtain a degree from the Faculty of Social Sciences. The annual degree-taking student enrolment at the Faculty of Social Sciences is approximately 450 students, of whom 86 at the most are international students (33 at the most in the entrance examination and 53 at the most with their previous studies). Applicants, notwithstanding whether they are Finnish-, EU-nationals or coming outside the European Union, are considered as international applicants, if they have completed their upper secondary school or high school outside Finland or if they have been studying at an university-level institution abroad. The Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences has established the selection procedures for international students in November 2004.

The Faculty also sends and receives about 150 exchange students per year. The different ways for those students wishing to study for a degree are the following:

The General Admission

Procedure is primarily meant for those students who have not yet studied at a university-level institution or whose earlier degree obtained at a university is not from a field offered at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Helsinki. The deadline to submit the application expires on the 31^st of January 2005 by 16.15. All the applications sent or received after that date will not be handled before next year. However, if the applicant

• is a citizen of the Nordic Countries (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland) OR
• has a permanent residence permit in any of the countries listed above OR
• has finished his/her secondary School in the Nordic Countries (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark or Finland) and has received a diploma to confirm this.

S/he should get in touch with the  International Relations Officer as soon as possible.

Applicants satisfying the requirements (please see the link above) receive a letter of invitation to participate in the Faculty's entrance examination for international students. The examination is given in English, and it is based upon books in English only. The examination is arranged once a year on the 6th of June 2005 in Helsinki.

In the entrance examination only the score obtained in  the examination itself will count. Only students with excellent entrance examination results will be given admission to the Bachelor's degree programme, since the applicants have to obtain at least 2/3 of the maximum amount of points in the examination.

Starting from the year 2005, all applicants accepted at the entrance examination will have to first complete the lower degree, Bachelor of Social Sciences (B.Soc.Sc.), before they may proceed to studies leading to Master of Social Sciences. The details regarding this form of admission can be found from here.

The Direct Admission

Those who already have a Bachelor´s degree from a field offered at the Faculty (or similar). In the Direct Admission students will be selected solely on the grounds of the material they provide, and a failure to enclose all the required appendixes etc. leads to an automatic disqualification of the applicant. Please see the respective page above for details. This deadline is the 25th of February 2005 by 15.45. All the applications sent and received after the deadline will not be handled before next year.

It is strongly recommended for holders of the Bachelor´s degree (or similar) apply with both general admission and direct admission procedures, since due to the amount competition and the strict rules and conditions of acceptance in the direct admission procedure, one has better chances of being accepted with the entrance examination. The reason for applying with both processes is that if one is not admitted in the direct admission, one can still take the entrance examination next summer. Please also note, that the deadline to submit applications for the entrance examination expires before before the one for direct admission.

Naturally if the applicant is accepted with his/her previous studies, no entrance examination is required.

Due to changes in legislation entering into force on the 1st of August 2005, all applicants accepted with their previous studies in this form of admission will have the right to study for the higher academic degree only (Master of Social Sciences), i.e they may not finish their lower academic degree (B.Soc.Sc.) at the University of Helsinki, but they must have completed the lower degree before applying. The details regarding this form of admission can be found from here.

The post-graduate admission

For those applicants who have already obtained a Master´s (or similar) degree or similar from a recognised university. The procedure for those students who have already a Master´s -level degree from an established and recognised foreign university. The deadlines for submitting the applications are the 15^th of May and the 15th of November. The details regarding this form of admission can be found from here.

In addition, an international student may apply for a visiting student or non-graduate student status that does not include the right to complete a degree.

Visiting students

The visiting student´s status is meant for those students who want to study at the Faculty of Social Sciences only for limited period of time and whose university does not have a formal student-exchange agreement with the university of Helsinki or its departments. The deadlines for submitting the applications are the 15^th of  May 2005 and the 15th of November. Please note, that visiting students may not graduate from the university.

However, if your university has a valid student exchange agreement with the Univeristy of Helsinki (please check with the international relations´ office of your own university), please see here.

Non-Graduate studies

It is also possible to take separate courses at the Faculty, but contrary to to other forms of admission these courses do not give the student the right for student discounts, access to computers etc. Furthermore, each of the courses has a set price, contrary to admission as a visiting- or degree student. The latter normally enable the student to participate in all the courses s/he wants (some restrictions apply). Next deadline for the applications for non-graduate studies is April 30th 2005.

The documentation required to include with the application varies according to the admission procedure in question. At the very least the following documents ought to be included: an official school-leaving certificate, a transcript of the studies and, when applicable, an official transcript of the university or college records (for required documents please see the respective pages below).

All applicants must also present a language certificate on proficiency of either Finnish, Swedish or English. The knowledge of English can be indicated with an international language test: e.g. a computer-based TOEFL minimum of 237 (= 580 paper-based) or equivalent, or by taking a test arranged at the Language Centre of the University of Helsinki (see Language Requirements at the International Applicant´s Guide and the acceptable language tests at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

All questions concerning international students should be directed to the Planning Officer of the Faculty, tel. 09-191 24808, fax 09-191 24835 and email soc-sci@helsinki.fi

N.B.! The University of Helsinki does not have grants orscholarship programmes for newly accepted graduating students. Since higher education is mostly funded by the state through the Ministry of Education, students pay no tuition fees. Even though university instruction in Finland has traditionally been free of charge, all undergraduate and graduate students are required to pay the annual Student Union (HYY) membership fee (€ 61.62 in 2004-2005).

Those applicants who have finished their secondary education abroad must have a sufficient educational background and language skills: the main rule is that if the applicant is eligible for university studies in his/her home country, he/she has similar eligibility at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Deadlines

The five ways of admission differ from each other in several ways. Please consult the links for details. The admission procedures do not exclude each other, i.e. if the applicant applies with the direct admission, s/he can also apply in the general procedure (and this is advised, please see below). Nonetheless, a few things ought to be observed. first:

1. The deadline for submitting the applications for the the general admission, i.e. the entrance examination procedure is the 31^st of January 2005. Late applications will not be considered.
2. The deadline for submitting the applications for the direct admission , i.e. the transfer-procedure is the 25th of February 2005. Late applications will not be considered.
3. The deadlines for submitting applications for visiting students are the 15^th of May and 15^th of November. Late applications will not be considered.
4. The deadlines for submitting applications for post-graduate studies are the 15^th of May and the 15^th of November. Late applications will not be considered.
5. The deadlines for submitting applications for non-graduate studies are the 30^th of April and 30^th of November.Late applications will not be considered.