Welcome to HAMK, New Students

Congratulations to all new students and welcome to HAMK!

Achieving a place to study always requires a lot of work and waiting for the results is exciting. When the study place is secured, it’s good to take a breather and start preparing for your studies. But above all, you can congratulate yourself, you did a great job! There are many things to remember when preparing for a new exciting phase of life.

We put together tips and useful links for new students.

1. Confirm study place and get HAMK student ID

• Confirm your study place at Studyinfo.fi. Also: remember to enroll for the academic year! (After confirming your study place, you should be forwarded to enrollment for academic year.)
• Activate your HAMK student ID to get access to all HAMK’s student systems. See instructions on HAMK’s website.

2. Start getting to know HAMK and university studies

• After you have activated your HAMK student ID, get to know Starter Kit of Digital Skills -course. You can familiarize yourself with the content and instructions of the Starter Kit of Digital Skills -course in advance on HAMK’s website (scroll down the page until you find the heading “Remember these before you start your studies”).
  • Starter Kit of Digital Skills -course can be found in the learning environment Learn, and tutors trained by HAMKO are there to answer your questions. The tutors will guide you in starting your studies even on campus!
    
• At HAMK, it is a policy to use your own computer for studies, or more familiarly, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device policy). As a student starting your studies, you must have your own laptop. Check out HAMK’s IT instructions here, you can also find additional information on what kind of computer you need for your studies on the page.
  
• If starting your studies also means moving to your study location, on HAMK’s website you will find good housing-related tips for all campus locations.
  
• At HAMK, all new students will be required to bring their own personal laptops starting from autumn 2020. Read more about BYOD or Bring Your Own Device at HAMK.
  
• If starting studies also means moving to a place of study, you need to apply for accommodation. You will find good accommodation-related tips for all campus locations on HAMK’s website.
  • If you are moving to Finland, see information about tuition fees and residence permit provided by HAMK.

3. Welcome to join your Student Union 

HAMKO promotes all HAMK students’ interests. As a member, you will get an official student card with access to thousands of student benefits around Finland. You can join HAMKO online. Check out our blog for a few tips to fill out the joining form!

• In addition to the physical student card, you will have access to a Slice digital student card. You will have an access to your Slice’s digital student card when your presence as a degree student at HAMK begins.
• The first plastic AMK student cards arrive within a few weeks of the start of the academic year or term. You will be notified of the arrival of the card in your student.hamk.fi e-mail.
• You can add the HAMK key card and the library card to the plastic membership card, so you do not need to obtain all of these separately when you have a AMK student card.

4. If you are living permanently in Finland, check your eligibility for a financial aid for students

• If you are Finnish citizen, you can apply for financial aid for students for your studies when you have received your study place.
  • You can easily apply in Kela’s OmaKela service.
• If you live and study in Finland, check if you can get general housing allowance. It must be claimed separately.

5. Take care of the student’s health care fee

All students completing a university of applied sciences degree or a Master’s degree are entitled to the services of the Finnish Student Health Service, FSHS.

• When you register to be present for the semester, pay the healthcare fee to Kela by the due date at the latest. You must handle the payment yourself, no invoice will be sent. The healthcare fee is mandatory and enforceable, so don’t neglect it.
  
• The amount of the fee is 36.80 euros per semester, i.e. 73.60 euros per year, and it can be paid in two parts.
  
• The due date for the fall semester is November 15, if you have registered to attend by September 30 at the latest. If you register for the autumn semester on 1.10. or after, the due date is 31.12.
  
• The due date for the spring semester is March 15, if you have registered to attend by January 31 at the latest. If you register for the spring semester on February 1. or after, the due date is 31.7.

6. Participate in student life

• The events are a great place to get to know other students. HAMKO and the student associations operating in HAMKO organize various events throughout the year. It’s worth boldly participating in events other than your own campus!
• Follow the upcoming events in our event calendar. Don’t forget to grab a free Student Culture Pass for yourself in the autumn!
  • Don’t forget Kide.app, there you can find tickets to many fun events!
• Student overalls solve many dressing problems, so they are a convenient and fun accessory for student life. We order overalls in stock before the start of the academic year, so you can get them as soon as the academic year starts, and you don’t have to wait!

If you have questions about membership of the student union, services or, for example, student cards, contact us! The best way to reach us is by email at hamko@hamko.fi. You can find all contact information here.

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Good luck with your studies!