Admission Criteria for RSU Medicine

If you're considering applying to study medicine at RSU and are wondering if you'd actually get in, this post is for you!

This post reflects my experience as an EU citizen, so it might differ for students from elsewhere. Of course, remember to check the official criteria from here.

How the admissions work

There is no entrance exam. The admissions are based on:

• High school grades
• Possible final examination grades
• Motivation letter
• Two recommendation letters

I'm from Finland, and I submitted my upper secondary graduation certificate (lukion päättötodistus), which stated my grades in each course, as well as my matriculation examination certificate (ylioppilastodistus), which stated my final examination grades.

Admissions criteria

In this document (p. 39) you can find the minimum grades required on the subjects based on country.

I will show an example on Finland, since that's where I had my grades.

I didn't do my final examination on biology, but I had acquired 5 courses in biology throughout my studies, and my average grade was 8. The minimum grade in Lukion Päättötodistus (graduation certificate)  for RSU to accept is 7. Therefore my grade average was sufficient.

In English, I did my final examination, and my grade was a Laudatur (7 on the grading scale). The required minimum is a Magna cum laude approbatur (5), so it was accepted.

In the documents Sub-Chapter Two: Programme-specific Subjects, Compulsory Subjects, Additional Subjects, and Substitution of Assessment in Study Programmes “Medicine” and “Dentistry”, they specify which subjects are required for admission:

For medicine, the important subjects are Engligh, Biology and Chemistry. Compulsory subjects are also Mathematics. Physics is considered an additional subject.

What if your subject has a different name?

RSU understands that different countries structure secondary education differently. So if your transcript doesn’t literally say “Biology” or “Chemistry”, but instead something like:

• Natural Sciences
• Biotechnology
• Biology-Geology
• Physics-Chemistry

they may still accept it.

In those cases, RSU can ask for a course description from your school. That description is then evaluated by the medical faculty to see whether the content is close enough to biology or chemistry to count.

What if you didn't study mathematics?

Mathematics is listed as a compulsory subject.

If your education system doesn’t include mathematics as a compulsory subject in the final years (this is the case in some countries), RSU may allow physics to substitute mathematics instead.

Again, this is evaluated individually.

How they evaluate different countries grades

The document also explains that grades from different countries are converted into percentages. This part is completely done on RSU’s side, and as an applicant you don’t really see how it’s calculated. From what I understand, they compare your grade to the highest possible grade in your country’s grading scale, and then use those percentage values in the admissions competition.

Failing grades

Failing grades are mentioned quite strictly in the criteria. From how I read it, failing grades are not allowed in the subjects that are considered relevant for admission. That said, this doesn’t seem to apply to subjects that are incomplete or not part of the core curriculum, as long as that can be confirmed by your school.

English proficiency

RSU requires proof of English proficiency at at least B2 level. For most EU/EEA applicants, this is usually proven through your upper secondary school English grades. As long as you have studied English for at least two semesters and your grade meets the required level, that’s enough.

In my case, I didn’t need to submit any separate English language certificate. My English final examination grade and my upper secondary school English grades were accepted as proof of proficiency.

If you have completed your secondary education in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, RSU mainly looks at:

• your English subject grade in your diploma or transcript, or
• an internationally recognised English proficiency test

One thing that’s a bit counterintuitive is that if you submit both your school English grade and an English proficiency test, RSU will only consider the test result. So submitting a test is not always an advantage.

For applicants who completed secondary education outside the EU/EEA, an internationally recognised English proficiency test is usually required. The test must have been taken within the last five years.

There’s also an exception mentioned in the criteria: if your entire secondary or higher education was completed fully in English, you may not need to separately certify your English proficiency at all.