Reviews of Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki (SHH) | Finland

Useful | 0

Victoire E

EDHEC Business School, Lille, France
Business Studies, Graduate, Erasmus

Housing

Type of housing: Apartment/House

Arranged by: Host university

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why?

Because it is well located (20 min from down-town, near the forest and the sea, in a student area). Moreover, I share it with two flatmates: one Spanish and Swedish. Therefore, the atmosphere is very international and friendly.

Personal assessment

Cost

Facilities

Location

Cleanliness

Space

Personal comments

If you go to Hanken, choose Harustie as your accomodation. The apartment is cheap, many students live there, it is not that far from Helsinki and rooms are big!

Useful | 0

Victoire E

EDHEC Business School, Lille, France
Business Studies, Graduate, Erasmus

Student life

Describe host city:

Student life dominates the city

Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment

Activities: Takes place both within and outside of the university/student environment

Personal social experience

Activities

Nightlife

Travel

Overall

Personal comments

The problem with clubs in helsinki is that they are sometimes expensive, you also have to be over 22 to be sure to enter and they lose quite early (2h30). Nevertheless, I would recommend the Tiger (40 FIM to get in, music OK, closes at 4h). Also, Pravda: free entrance, latino music, finnish design. To have dinner, go to Zetor: not that expensive (around 80 for main course and desert), finnish dishes and strange decorations. (tractors everywhere)

Useful | 0

Victoire E

EDHEC Business School, Lille, France
Business Studies, Graduate, Erasmus

Overall

I wish I had known...

That kitchenware was so expensive!

In my opinion:

I loved it but I'm not sure everybody would.

Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important

Academic reasons

3

Culture

4

Costs

3

Activities

3

Campus life

3

Party / people

3

Weather / location

4

Personal recommendation

Well, I would strongly recommend it because the university is very welcoming and really takes care of its exchange students. Moreover, it is an opportunity to discover a very different culture. At last, if you like travelling a lot, Helsinki is a very good place to discover Russia, Sweden and Finland, of course. However, you must be aware that life is quite expensive. And that from November to February, the sun goes down very early (around 4 PM) and it is quite cold. (even if in Helsinki, the weather is nicer than in Lapland).

During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot

Became familiar with another culture

3

Traveled

4

Improved language skills

3

Met people from other countries

4

Became more independent

4

Partied a lot

4

Experienced a change in life

3

Advanced my studies & career

4

Final comments

To prepare your stay, check the student union website: www.shsweb.shh.fi

Useful | 0

Victoire E

EDHEC Business School, Lille, France
Business Studies, Graduate, Erasmus

Academic

Course recommendations

International Marketing course: very interesting and concrete. International Trade Law: very desappointing. Cultural Environment of International Business: very desappointing, too theoretical. Strategies for Asia Pacific: Incredible. Taught by Ingmar Bjorkman, an INSEAD teacher as well, this course is time consuming but really worth it. The teaher is amazingly interesting, dynamic. He knows how to share its past and current experiences in this area. Just go for it! (even if you are planning to work in Asia. Just try!)

My academic experiences

Quality of courses

Variety of courses

Access to resources

Interaction with teachers

Interaction with international students

Interaction with local students

Personal comments

none

My opinion of the university assessment

Exams at end of course

Exams throughout the course

Essays and/or projects at the end of course

Essays and/or projects throughout the course

Overall

Useful | 0

Victoire E

EDHEC Business School, Lille, France
Business Studies, Graduate, Erasmus

Languages

Language of instruction: English

Local language was: Different than language of instruction

Was learning English a key decision factor?

Yes, I wanted to improve my English

Was learning the local language a key decision factor?

Yes, I wanted to improve my the local language

How much did you improve your English?

My level before: At ease in most situations
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)

How much did you improve your the local language?

My level before: Did not speak it
My level after: Did not speak it

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

Well, Finnish language is really hard to cope with. if you only to go Finland for one semester, do not expect to learn Finnish! Forget it! However, in Helsinki, most people have a very good English level. So, there is no problem to communicate with Finnish people. Even if, it is harder to get to know local people without speaking their language. At last, all student exchange speak English. So noimportant communication problem. But you have to know that it is sometimes frustrating to speak another language because it prevents you from expressing yourself completely. (for instance, at the beginning, it is hard to make jokes)

Useful | 1

Victoire E

EDHEC Business School, Lille, France
Business Studies, Graduate, Erasmus

Expenses

Main source of funding:

Family

Other sources of funding:

Government assistance<br> An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities:

I worked during my study abroad experience

Personal spending habits

Finnish food is a litttle more expensive than in France. Telephone bills are higher because of international communications. And Internet is useful but you sometimes need to hear your family or boy/girlfriend. My accomodation was really cheap: 1412 FIM with electricity , heating and water included. Travelling is one of the main activities for foreign students in Finland. If you want to make the traditional trips, you had better save money before coming. Personnally, I went to Stockholm for a one day trip (125 FIM by boat), Tallinn (35 FIM by slow boat), Saint Petersbourg (around 1200 FIM for a three day trip: everything include even the visa), Lapland (400 FIM by train).

Telephone, Travel, Food, Overall:

was more expensive than at home.

Nightlife:

was the same price as at home.

Housing:

was less expensive than at home.

Accessibility of student needs

Second-hand text books

Second-hand household items

Computers / Internet

Administrative

Money from home

Personal comments

To save money, you should eat like Finnish people. (no vegetables, no fruits) Also, have lunch at university: 13,50 FIM for main course+rice or potatoes+ salad buffet+bread. Very good and cheap!

Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki (SHH)

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