• You can have several study plans, but only one can be a primary one.
• When you start planning your HOPS, choose the most recent curriculum of your programme as the template.
• You need to have your study plan approved by the time you apply for master thesis topic at the latest.
• When your degree is compiled, your degree certificate will be based on your study plan. Please check that your study plan is correct before applying for degree certificate.
• Do the timeline! In this way you can check how much studies you are planning to take, and you can spread the studies more evenly. At the moment timeline does not check the period(s) from the course description (can be accessed through course code). So remember to check the implementation of the courses.

1. First familiarise yourself with the degree structure, i.e. which study blocks the degree consists of (e.g. is your major long or compact, do you need a minor, would you like to include an optional minor in the Elective Studies). Your most important tool is the Curriculum page.
2. Next consider what your own interests and goals are, what you want to learn and what skills you want to develop during your studies (in addition to the professional and academic skills, e.g. language studies, communication skills etc.). This helps you make the right choices regarding your specialisation area, minor studies, elective studies etc.
3. Consider whether you want to go on exchange, do an internship or complete studies at other Aalto schools or in another Finnish university, and in which phase of your studies they fit best. Read the instructions concerning these options so that you know what they mean in practice, how they can be included in the degree, when the application periods are etc.
4. When you know which studies you are going to include in your degree, the next step is to formulate a schedule for completing these studies, i.e. to place the courses in study years and teaching periods. You can find the teaching periods under Academic calendar, and recommended study years under Curriculum.
5. Remember that your study time is limited. There are only a certain number of years that can be used for completing the degree, and it is advisable to aim at completing 60 ECTS per year. On the other hand, free time is necessary for keeping your energy level up, so it is also not wise to try to complete courses at too tight a pace.
6. Draft your personal study plan in SISU.
7. It is rather likely that as your studies proceed, your plans may change for one reason or another. The study plan can – and needs to be – always updated according to your own situation and goals.

The study plan is an agreement which binds both the student and the university. You have a right to study according to the approved, official personal study plan, but at the same time, you are obliged to follow it. Any deviation from the study plan must be checked first with the student services of your programme.

The approved HOPS is used in many administrative processes, for example:

• Credit transfer of studies completed at other universities: Only studies that are included in the approved HOPS can be transferred.
• Exchange studies: Exchange studies need to be included in the approved HOPS when applying for exchange.
• Aalto internal mobility and JOO studies: The studies need to be included in the approved HOPS when applying for the study right.
• Graduation: The degree certificate will be compiled based on the approved HOPS, so it is important that the HOPS is up-to-date when applying for graduation.

Even though creating the HOPS is mandatory and it is used in many administrative processes, the HOPS is first and foremost a tool for the students. It helps you understand your studies as a whole. Drafting your personal study plan helps you plan your studies and keep track of their progress. When you have considered your goals, chosen the courses accordingly and drafted a realistic and target-oriented schedule for completing these studies, you have a map for making your plans a reality.

You can always update the personal study plan later on, so do not worry, the first HOPS does not have to be the final plan.

If you want to discuss your plans with someone or if you need guidance, you can always contact the student services.

After your HOPS has been approved, you can always update it if your plans change.

1. Go to SISU, select "Structure of studies" and create a new study plan.
2. In ”SELECT EDUCATION” choose one of the following:
   1. If you have done your BSc at Aalto, search “Bachelor’s and Master’s in xx” Then activate the plan by clicking the first row and select a master’s programme from the box appearing on the right. Sisu will primarily suggest the right programme.
   2. If you have been admitted in master’s admission, search by the name of your programme. Sisu will primarily suggest the right programme.
3. CURRICULUM PERIOD: Please select the most recent curriculum period when you start planning your studies.
4. In the study plan template, select your major, possible minor, thesis and the structure of elective studies.
5. Add courses under each part until you have all the required credits (120 cr) for your degree.
   1. NB! Students with Aalto scholarship: Remember to schedule your studies. Scheduling your studies is recommended to all students.
6. Apply for approval for the parts of your HOPS that require it (see Applying for approval below).

Detailed instructions in Sisu Help.

If your major/minor does not follow the curriculum (i.e. your course selections do not correspond to the default HOPS template), you need to create these sections of your HOPS in free edit mode.

• Open free edit mode: button with three dots in the selection box on the right hand side.
• Now you can remove compulsory courses and/or add courses not listed in the curriculum (HOPS template course list).
• Apply for approval for this part when you are in Free edit mode!
• Detailed instructions in Sisu HELP.

Your study plan is not approved of as a whole on Sisu, but you need to apply for approval for the different study modules (major, minor, elective studies) separately.

• If your course selections in your major or minor follow the curriculum (correspond to the default HOPS template), they are automatically approved. “Selections done” means that everything is in order in your major/minor and you don’t need to apply for approval for them.
• You need to apply for approval only for the parts Sisu says “approval required”.
• If you have used the Free edit mode, approval is always required. Remember to apply for approval when you are in Free edit mode!

If your approved part of HOPS needs to be changed, you first need to give up the previous approval before you can send it for approval again. Modify the study module and apply for approval again. If you need to change the part that you have requested to be approved, cancel the request and, do the required changes and request approval again.

Detailed instructions are in Sisu HELP (Editing an already (conditionally) approved HOPS).

Example: I took some courses from the old curriculum, but I transferred into the new curriculum. How do I add the old courses to the new hops?

• Delete the “wrong” course from your HOPS (if needed) and add the course you took in free edit mode. You can read the instructions here. Remember to request for approval while you are in the free edit mode.

• Add the courses into your study plan in free edit mode.
• Request for approval while you are in free edit mode.

Adding courses from other universities to your study plan is done through study drafts.

1. Select the study module in which you want to add the course
2. Press Add a study draft, fill in the required information and press Add.
3. Send the draft to be approved. When you have completed the courses, fill in the credit transfer application on Sisu to register the credits.

You can read more on credit transfer here.

Check the following list before contacting student services:

• Does my study plan match the given study structure? Do I have courses outside the curriculum? See Free edit mode
• Am I missing compulsory courses? Check your curriculum.
• Does my degree have too many or not enough credits? Remove the extra courses from your study plan or add the missing courses.

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