By: Kush Shriram Patil Semester: 7th Sem, Autumn 2024

application process:

I applied in March, started in mid February to make equivalency mapping document for courses. I applied for 5-6 universities in parallel with unique mappings for each. Overall the process is on chiller side, IR cell (chandrika maam) handles the process smoothly. You’ll be shortlisted on the basis of cpi with each univ keeping department variation. You’ll need a descent cpi to get selected looking at the trend. At my time 3 student went to aalto. Note now the cpi cutoff for autumn and spring semester are sky high, so make sure to clarify about this at the initial stage of consideration. Though there is always and option to opt for univ which comes lower in list, need to ask IR office to connect to the univ, good opportunity if your cpi is lower.

Why this particular university/program?

I got to know there are chances of funded internships here, and Finland being the happiest country in the world, it felt like a wise choice. It took about 2 months for getting offer letter, usually guaranteed just need to get shortlisted from IITB, which takes about 2 weeks

Was there a stipend or scholarship involved?

Yes

What expenses were covered?

Flights and visa charges by IITB

Did you live on-campus or off-campus?:

On-campus

How were courses different from IITB?

Overall chiller side, shaped for better learning, no rote culture, much better course load than IITB. Overall the grading was good too, low efforts - good grades.

What was the language of instruction – was it an issue? How was the academic pressure compared to home?

English, no such issue

List of course mapping from host university to IITB:

MEC-E1003 MachineDesign Project = ME423 Machine Design

CS-E4850 Computer Vision D = GNR 602 Advanced Methods in Satellite Image Processing

ELEC-E5440 Statistical Signal Processing D = EE 229 Signal Processing

CS-A1140 Data Structures and Algorithms = CS 213 Data Structures and Algorithms

MS-E2122 Nonlinear Optimization D = IE 609 Mathematical Optimisation Techniques

Academics & Learning Style:

Professors were very cool and overall the lectures and evaluation was very interactive, no midsems, 10 days vacations inside semester in place of midsems. Overall the system is student friendly, gives required exposure and training for courses. Access to top quality tools in lab. Labs don’t look depressing like here lol, they are architecture very well with luxurious spaces.

Workload & Travel Balance:

Cumulatively 6 hrs/ week of lecture and 2 hr per week of self study is enough for 30 ects. I was outside finland for total 45 days in my exchange during my exchange of 120 days

Campus Life & Cultural Experience:

Too good, usually shy but once you talk, great people. Also there were 50% of the aalto students from outside finland, so great exposure

Personal & Career Growth:

Got to learn a lot about myself, which is difficult to when you are in your comfort zone. Got to learn how good education system can be, IITB is best in India but still could prioritise students more. Learned how people prioritise their happiness over acads and carrier, and companies, universities there support student and working wellbeing too. Learned essential skills like cooking, extensive tour planning. Travelled to 20 countries. In short it was one of the best semester of my life.