Studying on an exchange programme

Maxim Zdorovennov, the 4th-year student of the Institute of Mathematics and Information Technology, spent the 2021/2022 autumn semester in the city of Turku (Finland) and shared his impressions. 

I was lucky enough to participate in an exchange program with a European university.

At PetrSU, my program is called Software Engineering, which means that we have a lot of diverse programming, a lot of practice, and, of course, philosophy and economics. Even at this stage, Finnish education at the University of Turku is very different. In Finland, studying at university involves a lot of theory and a minimum of practice. During the entire semester I wrote learning journals all the time. 

There are also Universities of Applied Sciences in Finland. Although it is called a university, in Finland it is perceived as something closer to a college. There is little theory and a lot of practice. 

Another interesting difference is the choice of subjects. At PetrSU, we have a certain set of subjects that we study. At a Finnish university, you choose all the subjects yourself. The number of courses is not infinite; it is also logical to take courses close to your field of study. So over the years of university studies you are likely to pick up about the same set of subjects as other students, just in a different order.  

Absolutely all classes could be attended both face-to-face and online. Moreover, all the lectures were automatically recorded and made available to the public. In other words, it was possible to study the lecture material at any convenient time, at any convenient place.

All the exams I took were electronic, so I wrote them on a computer, without any contact with the teacher. But writing such exams is only allowed in special rooms, on special equipment. These rooms are equipped with everything you need for writing an exam, as well as cameras for monitoring students. You book these rooms yourself, for whatever time you have available, from early morning until late evening (I wrote one exam on a Sunday from 8 to 11pm). On the one hand, this way is very convenient, but on the other hand, we should keep in mind that all students book their own time. And so it turns out that all students pull through, and in December they book absolutely all their time a week in advance. So if you don't remember that you have an exam in time, you might not be able to take it at all (you could also go to another city 100 km away, the university has a building there too). You are given three attempts at each exam, the best one comes out as a result. It's not considered a bad thing to take the exam more than once. If you want to improve your grade, you're welcome to do it even if you want to get a 5, but only on 3 occasions.

Another difference is the division of the semester into periods. In Finland, each semester is further divided in half. That means that every year a student has 4 sessions. This is because many courses last only 1 period (about 2 months). This is a very dangerous situation, because you can get the courses wrong and you can end up like me - the first 2 months I had minimal studies (1-2 online classes a week), but the last 2 months I had 2-3 classes every day (for a Russian university it doesn't sound so scary, but I've had time to forget what it is like).

There are many different student organisations at Finnish universities, all of which you can easily become not only a member of, but also part of the core team of the organisation. I would recommend looking for special organisations for exchange students. Most European universities have an ESN (Erasmus Student Network). These organisations organise many different events and trips. They are happy to welcome new students and provide opportunities to participate in organising events with them. 

Perhaps the most important point is to apply for everything as early as possible. I was late in applying for a dorm and didn't get it. Finding an apartment is always a very nervous and slow process (especially in another country). Also dorms are usually cheaper than normal flats, and they are always close to the university buildings. 

I would like to thank PetrSU Exchange Programs Department for the opportunity to study in a European country.