Follow the curriculum of your programme and your designated group (entry/exit).

• Your degree consists of studies at Aalto, studies at partner university, and master’s thesis as well as possible language studies.
• The courses you must (compulsory courses) and may (optional courses) complete are defined in the curriculum of your programme.
• Only those courses that you have in the approved personal study plan (HOPS) are included in your degree. The credits in your personal study plan must add up to 120 ECTS or as close to it as possible.
• You can also enroll and take courses that are not part of your curriculum. These extra credits cannot be included in your degree, but you can get an official transcript of all courses. Think carefully about where you want to focus your energy, because 30 ECTS per semester is equivalent to full-time study. Thus, only take extra courses if you have the energy and time to complete them.
• If you want to take extra courses, you need to add them to your study plan to enrol on them. However, the study plan cannot be approved if there are extra courses in it, so do not apply for approval for your study plan before you have removed the extra courses from it. You can remove extra courses safely from the study plan when you have enrolled on the courses and your enrolment has been confirmed. 
• You can update your study plan (HOPS) until you graduate (exit students) or until we send your transcript to your exit university (entry students).

• All degree students create their personal study plan (HOPS) in Aalto University student information system Sisu. Log in to Sisu by using your Aalto username and password. Detailed instructions for creating the study plan can be found in Sisu instructions. 
• Familiarize yourself with the curriculum of your programme and your year (entry/exit). Go to the tab "Structure of Studies" in Sisu and create a study plan following the curriculum. Check carefully the info texts in the selection assistant and follow the instructions. 
• If you have a compelling reason for an individual exception, add the course to your study plan in the free edit mode and justify the exception. You will also need to apply for module content approval in free edit mode.
• You can create multiple versions of your personal study plan, but only one can be primary.

Adding partner university courses to the study plan

• If the courses of the partner university have already been transferred to Aalto, you can find them in Sisu at My profile and tab "completed credits" (codes JOI-ENG). To see which course is which, click on the course and see the additional information. In the study plan, you must place the correct courses under the correct sections on your study plan.
• If the courses of the partner university have not yet been transferred to Aalto, you can add a study draft marking how many credits you should complete at the partner university. However, this is not mandatory.

Choosing a master's thesis code

The code for the master's thesis depends on the department of your master's thesis supervisor. By default, you should select one the following codes (this can be changed later if for some reason the supervisor is from another department):

• Built Environment: BE.thes
• Mechanical Engineering: MEN.thes
• Civil Engineering: CE.thes

You need to apply for approval for courses if your personal study plan says "approval required". In other words, in most cases you don't need to apply for approval for the entire study plan (HOPS). Click the entry/exit year at Aalto and scroll up the selection bar → Apply for module content approval.

Once your study plan has been checked, you receive a message in Sisu. You will not be notified by email. Check the message in Sisu and make the requested changes.

Selections against rules?

If you still cannot see the button "Apply for content approval", it is usually because the structure or the choices in your plan deviate from the default.

• Click the entry/exit year at Aalto (where it says "approval required").
• In the blue bar at the top you will see a small icon with three dots. Click the icon and enter the free editing mode.
• Now the button "Apply for content approval" should appear, and you can click on it. As "grounds for request" you should write what deviates from the default and if and when it has been approved by the programme director.
• If your plan is approved, errors will disappear. If it is rejected, you will be instructed to make some changes and reapply for approval.

You can change your personal study plan whenever necessary. If you want to make changes to an already approved study module (for example replace a course with another), you need to first give up the approval you have obtained. Please edit the study module and its contents only after giving up the approval. After editing, reapply for approval for the study module.

1. Click on the study module or grouping module that has been approved (its status is selections approved or selections conditionally approved).
2. Click "Show" to go to the approved application.
3. Select "Give up the approval" in the lower part of the form.
4. Sisu will ask you to confirm. Select "Yes, give up the approval."
5. Make the changes and reapply for approval.

You can find more detailed instructions in Sisu instructions. 

The personal study plan (HOPS) is an agreement which binds both the student and the university. It grants the student a right to study according to the approved, official personal study plan. It also obliges the student to follow it. Any deviations must be checked first with the student services of your programme.

In the joint degree programmes, the study plan is used for administrative purposes such as: 

• monitor the progress of your studies (it is not only the number of credits you have accumulated that counts, but whether these credits are part of your study plan)
• prepare your official transcript for the partner university (see Credit Transfer below).
• check your eligibility for awards, such as the Dean's List
• create your diploma, i.e. to determine which studies will be included in your degree and which will not.

Although creating the personal study plan (HOPS) is mandatory and is used in many administrative processes, it is first and foremost a tool for the student. Drafting your personal study plan will help you to plan your studies and monitor their progress. Once you've considered your goals, chosen courses accordingly, and created a realistic and goal-oriented schedule for completing your studies, you'll have a map to implement your plans. 

We will transfer all the credits that count towards your degree at the partner university, strictly following the transcript provided by the partner university administration. Aalto University cannot decide on behalf of the partner university which credits are included or excluded, if a policy like this is even available at the partner university.

However, at least 50% of the scope of the degree must be completed at Aalto, meaning at least 60 ECTS. If you take extra courses and receive more than 60 ECTS from the partner university, be aware that you cannot use them to take less credits at Aalto. You will still need to complete 60 ECTS in order to graduate here, and the scope of your degree will simply be more than 120 ECTS.

The scope of the Master's degree is normatively 120 ECTS. The structure and curriculum of your programme determine what you must study in order to get a degree. In your personal study plan, you define how you plan to fullfill these requirements. In your personal study plan, you may add more than 120 ECTS, but you must remove any non-mandatory courses exceeding 120 ECTS before you graduate. Please, note that due to degree requirements at Aalto (e.g. language course), the scope will most likely be 123 ECTS.

Yes. At Aalto University, it is possible to complete additional courses (more than the normative and mandatory 60 ECTS + possible language course) that will not be included in the degree. These courses will appear on your Aalto transcript of records when you graduate, but not on the actual degree certificate. Note that additional courses should only be taken if you have the energy and time to complete them.

If you complete extra credits (i.e. more than 60 ECTS) from Aalto, they will be left out of the degree, but you can request a separate transcript of them. Credits of courses that are not included in your curriculum are extra credits by default.

If you complete more optional courses than required, you must select which of these credits you want to include in your degree and which are extra. Extra credits will not be transfered to partner universities. Please, keep your study coordinator or planning officer informed!

We will transfer all the credits that count towards your degree at the partner university, strictly following the transcript provided by the partner university administration. Aalto University cannot decide on behalf of the partner university which credits are included or excluded, if a policy like this is even available at the partner university.

However, at least 50% of the scope of the degree must be completed at Aalto, meaning at least 60 ECTS.

If you take extra courses and receive more than 60 ECTS from the partner university, be aware that you cannot use them to take less credits at Aalto – you will still need to complete 60 ECTS in order to graduate here, and the scope of your degree will simply be more than 120 ECTS.

Transferring the credits of the partner university is an administrative process that is done between the administrative staff of the universities. In other words, the student does not have to do anything to transfer the credits. However, the administration may not get an automatic notification when you have completed everything and are ready to graduate. Please contact the administrative staff of your second year university when you are about to graduate.

Aalto University strictly follows the received transcript and cannot influence which credits are included or excluded. The partner university's course grades are converted to Aalto's grading scale 1-5 according to the scaling table agreed in the partner agreements (excl. failed courses at the partner university, which Aalto cannot transfer).

We will translate each individual course grade of your entry university into Aalto grades according to the scaling table agreed in co-operation agreements. Note that failed courses cannot be transferred because Aalto cannot give credits for failed courses.

Credits for Master's thesis cannot be transfered. The Master's thesis is always evaluated independently at Aalto according to Aalto evaluation criteria. In some cases, this might imply that you receive differing grades from the universities where you graduate.