Letter Of Appeal To The University of Helsinki

Letter of Appeal

To Whom It May Concern:

I took part in the entrance examination this year for Political History (Group 3), receiving a mere 2 points below the required amount. Naturally, I had no choice but to appeal for rectification, having devoted a substantial amount of time on my behalf preparing for the entrance examination in question.

Having spent a week comparing the written entrance examination, the study materials and the leaflet containing the grounds of evaluation, I was, in lack of a better term, shocked at the arduous task I had in front of me.

Furthermore, it quickly became evident that I was in an unequal situation having opted to tackle the examination in english, as opposed to finnish.

Understandably, taking the examination in finnish was not an option, in regard to having spent the majority of my educational life studying in english, in Finland and abroad. Nevertheless, upon further examination, it came to my attention that literally any form of assistance in the rectification process for the examination I took was simply not there.

The faculty website, in finnish, was very informative and a good resource, for the Finnish students. The english version of the pages shone in its complete lack of information of any sort. To complicate matters in regard to this appeal, when I came to the faculty building to look at my examination and the grounds of evaluation, I was told that the said grounds of evaluation were available online for me to print. Had it not been for the helpful personnel present, who after a slight misunderstanding on everyone’s behalf, were kind enough to give me a printed copy of the grounds of evaluation, I would have been very lost on the matter. Nowhere on the website could I find the file I would have needed to print. I did find the grounds of evaluation for the finnish entrance examination, which really would not have been of any help, it being a completely different examination.

Am I to assume, from this unequal treatment of english-speaking applicants, that we are not welcome to appeal? As I mentioned earlier, seemingly painstaking steps have been taken to make this process as difficult as possible for us. It truly troubles me to think that had I not being residing in Finland, appealing for rectification would have been impossible.

Which brings us to the actual rectification appeal itself. The leaflet containing the grounds of evaluation was not a very helpful guide in terms of demonstrating exactly how I had been graded in the entrance examination. As the entrance examination I had written, answering the six essay questions asked, only had a single number written on it to indicate my received number of points for that particular question, it was an arduous, nay, an overwhelming task to decipher precisely where I received my points and where I lost the rest.

My only option, were I to use the grounds of evaluation in assessing my own examination, was to compare each and every sentence in the two. Regardless of doing this, several times, I was still left hopelessly lost on the grading and assessment procedure. I do admit that I understandably may have lost points on a certain lack of detail, mainly referring to identifying key people and the exact use of terms as outlined in the study material. In my defence, this merely demonstrates the difference betwee studying independently as opposed to learning under the supervision of a well-educated teacher in class or in lectures. I believe I answered all the essay questions to the best of my understanding and I believe I may have been graded inappropriately. I beg you to take another look at my answers, and grant me another possibility in assessment, as doing so myself was an overwhelmingly difficult task.

As a closing thought, I urge you not only to grant my entrance examination a second, closer look, but also to realize the unequal treatment of foreign students in applying and appealing. As the University of Helsinki claims to be, and I’m quoting the university website here, “A Leading European University”, I am quite frankly appalled at how difficult it has been made for foreign students to be accepted into the university. Whereas the internet is one of the primary tools people use in today’s world, it is sheer negligence and unfair treatment how the english version of the university pages are grossly outdated and lacking any real information. This problem does not appear on the finnish pages.

I beg and urge you to take into consideration everything I have outlined here, in regard to my personal application and entrance examination, as well as in regard to every single current and prospective non-finnish speaking student.

Thank you,

Jani Helle

03 August 2007

[Edit 30.08.2007: To find out what happened, click here.]