Master’s Degree Programme in Business Management and Entrepreneurship
Admission criteria

IMPORTANT: The Master’s Degree Programme in Business Management and Entrepreneurship is NOT included in the Finnish Joint Application. One must apply to this Master’s programme with a paper application.

APPLICATION PERIOD

The application period to The Master’s Degree Programme in Business Management and Entrepreneurship starts on 14 April 2009. The application can only be done with a paper application form. The application form must reach the Admissions Office of Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK) by 30 April 2009 4:15 p.m. Finnish time (GMT +2).

The address where the application forms, certificate copies and other documents concerning the application are sent is:
Satakunta University of Applied Sciences
Admissions Office
Tiedepuisto 4
FI-28600 PORI

ELIGIBILITY

Those applying to pursue studies leading to a Master’s degree are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration awarded by a university of applied sciences or an equivalent higher education degree. The applicant must have completed at least 40 ECTS credits of business administration studies in higher education. The applicant are required have work experience of at least three years in the relevant field after graduation. Relevant field can mean either the field now being applied for or the field in which the previous higher education degree was completed. SAMK shall also accept work experience acquired after the completion of an earlier vocational college diploma or higher vocational diploma (the diploma may have been completed in any field of study). In this case, too, the applicant is required to have work experience of at least three years in the relevant field, of which at least one year took place after completing the Bachelor’s degree.

The applicant must have acquired the work experience by 31 July 2009. Part-time work shall be converted into full-time work according to the principle that 150 hours or 20 full-length working days (at least 7 hours per day) equal one month. The work experience does not have to be continuous nor acquired from a single employer. Only work experience attested by the employer's certificate shall be accepted. Entrepreneurship shall be accepted on the condition that the applicant produces a certificate that he or she is or has been covered by the YEL or MYEL pension insurance scheme.

The degree and work certificates shall be checked for the admitted applicants. In order to demonstrate eligibility, an applicant applying with a non-Finnish qualification must submit a copy of the original degree certificate to the Admissions Office of SAMK by 8 May 2009 4:15 p.m. Finnish time (GMT +2).

ADMISSION CRITERIA

Student selection among the applicants applying with Finnish qualifications shall be based on the points obtained from the entrance examination, the grade given for the thesis and the work experience.

Entrance examination 50 pointsGrade given for the thesis30 pointsWork experience20 pointsTotal100 points

All eligible applicants shall be invited to the entrance examination. The applicant must obtain at least 20 points in the entrance examination in order to qualify for admission.

The grades given for the theses shall be scored as follows:

Grade given for the thesis

 5 / 3 / 10 / L/E / et

 4 / - / 9 / M / -

 3 / 2 / 8 / C / ht

 points

 30

 20

 10

Student selection among the applicants applying with non-Finnish qualification shall be based on the entrance examination only. The maximum number of points awarded in the entrance examination is 100, and the applicant must obtain at least 40 points in the entrance examination in order to qualify for admission. Note: even though the applicants with non-Finnish qualification don’t receive points from their work experience, they are required to have at least three years of work experience -> check Eligibility.

ADMISSION PROCEDURES

In addition to the degree certificate, an official Finnish, Swedish or English translation of the certificate must be provided, if the certificate is not written in any of these languages. The translation must bear the translator's signature and stamp. The applicant with a non-Finnish degree, must send the certificate copies and the official translations by mail and they must reach the Admissions Office of SAMK by 8 May 2009 at 4.15 pm Finnish time (GMT+2).

The applicants’ English language skills shall be evaluated in the language test included in the entrance examination on a pass/fail basis. An applicant who has failed the language test is withdrawn from admission.

An applicant can be exempted from the English language test if he or she has provided a certificate of his or her language skills to the university of applied sciences by the application deadline. The minimum language skills requirement is IELTS score academic level 5.5, or TOEFL score 550 paper-based test / 213 computer-based test / 79-80 Internet-based test, or Level 4 in English in the Finnish general language examination (www.oph.fi > Tutkintopalvelut > Yleiset kielitutkinnot). Both TOEFL and IELTS test results are valid for two years. The Finnish general language examination does not have a set period of validity. TOEFL score results are accepted only when delivered directly from the Educational Testing Service (ETS).

In addition, primary and secondary school education in English completed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, or a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree completed in English in one of these countries, is also accepted as a demonstration of sufficient English language skills.

Selection between applicants with equal admission points

In case there is a tie in admission points, the applicants to the universities of applied sciences will be ranked on the following grounds:
1. points obtained from entrance examination
2. grade given for the thesis
3. volume of work experience

ADMISSION GROUPS

50% of the applicants will be admitted on the basis of the entrance examination only, and 50% on the basis of the combined points for the entrance examination, the grade given for the thesis and the work experience. The ratio may change if there are not enough students for either of the admission groups. If study places become available later, applicants on the waiting list shall be admitted in the order indicated by their admission points.

1. Admission on the basis of the combined points for the entrance examination, the grade given for the thesis and the work experience concerns applicants applying with a Finnish higher education degree. The maximum number of points is 100, of which at most 30 points can be awarded for the thesis, 20 points for the work experience and 50 points for the entrance examination.

2. Admission on the basis of the entrance examination concerns applicants applying with a non-Finnish higher education degree. The maximum number of points in the entrance examination is 100.