Improving Karelia University of Applied Sciences’ Admission Services for International Students

Abstract

This thesis examines the best methods of servicing international applicants and students during their admissions process. The admissions process is complex and long, lasting several months with various requirements and criteria. The international students come from different cultural backgrounds with working cultures different than that of Finland. The service methods for them will be different from Finnish students. An analysis was made of 400 emails collected from various months to investigate the influx of international applicants’ emails that arrive to the admission services everyday. A questionnaire was also made and sent to 307 people, of which 38 answered. The results shows great satisfaction with the current admissions process and the communications with the admission services at Karelia UAS. Minor improvements can be made, while the more major improvements to the admissions process were outside the scope of the thesis. The conclusions drawn are that different cultures have different forms of communicating and this should be accepted for the best service method. Students also expressed some confusion regarding the admissions process. This could be cleared by better communication and status updates.