Master’s Degree Programme in Business Management and Entrepreneurship
Admission criteria 2011

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 separate application form.

APPLICATION PERIOD

Next application period is in August - September 2012.
Studies start: January 2013

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 applicants are required to 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 Finnish vocational college diploma or higher vocational diploma (the diploma may have been completed in any field of study).

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 work experience, that will be considered in the application process, should be acquired by 31 December 2011.

The original degree and work certificates shall be checked for the admitted applicants in the entrance exam.

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.

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:

The work experience in the relevant field after graduation shall be scored so, that two months of full-time work experience equals 1 point. An applicant does not receive points from the work experience that fulfills an eligibility factor (the required three years, see Eligibility).

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 original certificates will checked in the beginning of studies. Do not send original certificates by mail.

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. Applicants, who participate the entrance examination abroad, are required to prove their English language skills by the end of the application period (30 September 2011 at 4:15 pm.). The means to prove one's English language skills are descibed in the following two paragraphs.

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 6.0, 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.

Entrance examination

All eligible applicants shall receive an invitation to the entrance examination held on 28 October 2011 in Rauma, Finland. An eligible applicant who is a citizen of a non-EU/EEA country will receive information about the possibilities of making the entrance examination in his/her home country as soon as his/her eligibility has been checked. During July 2011 no information about one's eligibility, invitations or entrance examination is sent or given to applicants.

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

There are two admission groups.

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.