Best Student Life is Found at Aalto

“There is just something different about Aalto”

This is a line that I commonly hear at Aalto University. Whether it is my friends that I bring from outside Aalto, family or first year students, it has become clear through my experiences here as well that Aalto just does things on another level when it comes to student life.

Hi everyone, I’m Amr, I study Digital Systems & Design and Economics in my second year, and if you have read my previous blogs, you would know how much I love and advocate for Aalto’s student life. In this blog, I will go deeper about why I chose Aalto, and how Aalto’s student life and activities shaped my experiences in university and molded me into the person I am today.

During highschool, when I was applying to universities, I wanted to explore the different opportunities universities offered for their students, and freedom to creativity was an important aspect for me. At the time I was knowledgeable about Aalto University due to its prestige and high rankings in the fields I am most interested in, and decided to visit my friend who studied there at the time. During my visit I explored the campus, which truly highlighted the community feel to the university, but, what truly grabbed my attention was seeing how active and engaging all Aalto students are, particularly by exploring the many clubs and associations made by students (which reach over 200 by the way!)

I wondered what makes students especially active here? Through my experience I saw that Aalto does so much for its students, particularly pushing them to explore their creativity and get out of their comfort zone. This is what set it for me that Aalto is the place for me, as I knew that at Aalto, I can truly thrive and find myself in any means whether it's through research or student life!

Once I started my studies at Aalto, my timetable was immediately fully booked due to all the activities and events hosted by the university as well as my subject clubs (AS and KY). I occasionally hear how usually everything fades after orientation week but at Aalto, the activity, events, and activities just continued after and from then I never really stopped participating in student activities. In my first year only, I joined KY-SUB (international subcommittee of KY), which is dedicated to heighting exchange student life at Aalto Business school through parties, events, and trips. I also joined the international committee of the AS guild to organize international oriented events for students as well as sign up to tutor first year students. Volunteering in these student clubs alone have helped me make lifelong friends, learn new experiences, travel to new destinations and make memories I’ll never forget! Mixed with the amazing academic experiences at the university, Aalto's student life and activeness of students is what made me know that I have made the right choice of where to study.

I want to also mention the collaboration and internationality aspect of Aalto, which impacts the student experience a lot. Aalto is in the top 50 of most international universities in the world, and it really resonates here in everyday student activities including diverse discussions, cultural melting pots, and worldwide connections! I have never learned as much about cultures, languages and traditions as I have during my time at Aalto, and this was definitely an aspect, which was important for me considering I studied in an international school before university. The collaboration between study fields is outstanding at Aalto, and a lot of it is to thank for the student life here. There are various inter-guild events where students from different fields get to mingle, party and have fun.

Overall, I can talk all day about the various aspects that got me determined to choose Aalto, but with everything I talked about, the Aalto life fosters an inclusive community where everyone can be themselves and learn from each other. It is truly the encouraging and active student life community at Aalto that makes Aalto such a great place to study for me and I’ve never been happier.

- Amr 

Useful links on Aalto.fi

• Apply to Aalto – application instructions
• What could you study at Aalto University? Play the game to find out!