Finland
From AFSWiki
Contents |
Country Information
- AFS Country Code: FIN
- See http://www.usa.afs.org/usa_en/view/8269 for more information on Finland.
Placement
- Age requirement: 15.8-18.8 years
- Language requirement: Proficiency in English. Language material can be found in the internet, eg. the University of Helsinki website (see below). At the regional post-arrival orientations held 1-2 weeks after students' arrival some elementary Finnish will be introduced to the students. AFS Finland subsidizes students' further language studies during their exchange year. Students are advised to participate in a Finnish or Swedish course offered by the local community college with the exception that if no language courses are available in the community a high-quality language material for self-learning will be provided to the students. Some schools also offer Finnish classes for the exchange students. Internet link for studying Finnish/Swedish (1-2% of stus are placed in Swedish speaking host families): http://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.services/english/linkit.html.
- Health restrictions: Candidates must be in good general health and must meet the medical criteria.
- Graduates: Yes. If already graduated students must be prepared to go back to school and study hard. The ratio of the students should be at least 50% girls per sending country.
- Smoking: Smokers are not appreciated and as most families are non-smoking they prefer to host a non-smoking student.
- Dietary Restrictions: Vegetarians (self-inflicted dietary restrictions) are difficult to place, unless they are for medical reasons, most families prefer to host a student with no dietary restrictions. See http://www.visitfinland.com for more on the Finnish diet.
- Religion/Spirituality: Over 90% of the Finns are Lutherans and there is an abundance of Lutheran churches around and therefore access to them is available; access to other denominational churches, for instance to a Catholic church cannot be guaranteed.
- Dress:
- Vaccinations: Finland requires tetanus shot.
- Other:
Travel Information
- Visa:
- Departure Preparation:
- Arrival & Orientation:
- Departure:
Host Families
- Transportation:
- Extracurricular:
- Hosted-in:
Support Information
Information needed.
Academics
- Transcript/Diploma: Transcripts are available; a diploma will not be given to students.
- School:
- Language:
Scholarships & Sponsored Programs
See Scholarships or Sponsored Programs for Sending for more information. a
General Country Information
- Description:
- Religion:
- Climate:
- Politics:
- Language:
Return to the Country Information page.
For information, questions or concerns, contact the Program Information Specialist or countryinfo@afs.org.
