Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (reviews)

I did my degree in Tourism and Event Management at Porvoo campus and I’m quite satisfied with the study journey that I experienced. Haaga- Helia has an interesting selection of courses, and the university is quite flexible with its studies. The facilities at the Porvoo campus are very good and modern and it is quite easy to go to Helsinki by bus. If you prefer to live in Helsinki instead of Porvoo I would recommend you choose the campus in Helsinki. In the end, it is quite time consuming and expensive to travel back and forth, but some students did that, so it is not impossible.

I really enjoyed the international environment at our campus in Porvoo. There are students from over 50 different countries. Haaga- Helia supported me with amazing exchange opportunities and study courses with inclusive business trips abroad. I got to do two exchanges, one in Bournemouth University and the other one in Thailand, Phuket at the Prince Of Songkla University. Because of the study trips that we had, I got to visit Sweden, Stockholm, Åland and France, Aix-En-Provence.

The skill level of the teachers varies quite a lot. Some of them were very professional with great pedagogical skills and some of them lacked knowledge and skills on how to teach the course they had planned for us. Some courses include collaborations with real-life companies which is great as you get to work with them already while being a student. There are amazing events in Helsinki such as Nordic Business Forum and Slush that you can participate in as a volunteer and gain valuable experience for example as a customer service representative.

The student life on Porvoo campus is not very active. The nice thing is that most students live in the same flat so it’s easy to arrange small parties with friends on short notice. There is also a student union which arranges some parties. The school definitely needs more clubs for students to join.

I have gotten various job opportunities from different countries, so Haaga-Helia has helped me to dive into the tourism and event management field. The experience of studying in Haaga-Helia depends also a lot on yourself and how active a student you are. The school gives many opportunities to students but sometimes there is a lack of communication which is why it’s good to be active and ask if you are looking for a certain course or exchange program you want to do. For example, I don’t think that most people know that it is possible to do two exchanges abroad.