Studying Abroad is Possible with Project Access
- Why Not
- Aug 8
- 5 min read
The last year's bootcamp has been an exceptional experience for me. With its many unique guest speakers, interesting team-building activities and delicious food, here is an overview of Project Access' 2024 Helsinki Bootcamp:
On the first day of last school year, I received a message from my dear student counsellor Annu Huovinen about a bootcamp which was going to take place on 23.-24.08.2024. It was about studying abroad at top universities around the world. There were going to be Finnish speakers from universities like Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Science Po Paris, and so on, who were going to help highschoolers like myself with the application processes, and give them inside information about top schools. As a highschooler seeking to study abroad, I was sold! Upon reading that only about 30 people would be chosen for the bootcamp, I immediately filled out the application questionnaire and sent it.
After a while my friend, who also applied to the bootcamp, reminded me about my application. I immediately checked my emails and found an email titled “Welcome to Project Access Bootcamp”. I was super excited since I didn’t think that I would be chosen. I immediately cancelled my plans for Friday and Saturday, and started to take notes on the topics I wanted to ask the speakers about.
On the first day of the bootcamp I arrived at a building next to Esplanadi and waited with some fellow students in front of the main door. After a short while the door opened, and we hopped on the elevator. The inside of the apartment had a professional and corporate look, which wasn’t surprising since one of the event’s organizers, the law firm Hannes Snellman, had lent us their headquarters for the bootcamp.
After eating a well-prepared breakfast and doing some interesting ice-breaking and team-building activities we were ready for the day’s schedule. I don’t want to get into too much detail though, both to refrain from spoiling the surprises and to save everyone from boredom.
The first day focused more on general topics, such as: what should I study, why studying abroad could be beneficial, how to finance studies abroad (scholarships and financial aids), and of course motivation. What made this event more memorable and impactful for me was the opportunity to freely ask questions from people studying at my dream universities. Furthermore, high-quality visitors, like Helsinki Mayor Juhana Vartiainen and Harvard Alumni and Chair of Interviewing at Harvard Kalle Heikkinen, gave me different perspectives about the realities of studying abroad. After a delicious dinner we closed the day with bowling.
The next day started off strong. After an equally well-prepared breakfast and some teambuilding, we got divided into three separate groups depending on where we wanted to study: EU, UK and US. Since I was planning on applying to the US, I joined that track, which turned out to be very beneficial for me. Rosanna Kataja, a recent Harvard graduate, gave us valuable information about the various parts of the US application process and the importance of extracurricular activities. The part that gave me the most motivation was the fact that Rosanna’s high school GPA wasn’t out of the ordinary, which came as a surprise to me who thought that Harvard only accepted people with perfect grades. This made me wonder if I too had the possibility of attending one of the best universities in the world.
We also had the opportunity to start crafting our personal essays, which are extremely important for the universities to know about the background and the traits of the student, by taking inspiration from essays submitted by successful students.
After some group activities and dinner, we ended the day and the bootcamp as a whole on a high note with a trip to Café Ursula for an afterparty. During the party we got to meet with the past years’ bootcampers which was very motivating and showed us that we weren’t alone on this journey. Sometime during the party, me and my friends thanked the great people involved with the organization of this event and started to make our way back home.
Luckily, I wasn’t the only student representing KSYK in the middle of a swarm of SYK students (there were actually a lot of people from SYK for some reason). Tinka Peltonen and Zhixing Chen were also chosen for the bootcamp. Tinka was also chosen to be KSYK’s School Ambassador, though she has since graduated in spring 2025. Here are Tinka’s thoughts about Project Access, from an interview conducted before her graduation:
What does Project Access mean to you?
Tinka: I think Project Access is a really nice, effective, and helpful organization. It's been a great asset to me, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone considering applying abroad.
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What's a School Ambassador?
Tinka: It's the job of School Ambassador to keep our school up to date on Project Access and their activities, and to act as an intermediary for the organizations and the school.
Why did you want to participate further as our Ambassador with Project Access?
Tinka: I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the possibilities regarding studies abroad. That's a matter near and dear to me. I've personally felt that there weren't so many resources to help with applying abroad. I believe it's awesome that there's an organization out there that can provide assistance for free, and therefore accessible to everyone. I thought it would be important for students to also be able to reach out to a peer who's going through the exact same process that they might be considering.
On the other hand, for Zhixing, this bootcamp has served as a reminder:
”It's possible to get an understanding of what it takes to become a top student with Project Access. Many are elite athletes, gold-medalists, people with impeccable grades. Some achievements seemed unbelievable. I realized that I've got to spend my time more wisely and work hard."
I can certainly agree on needing to become more hard-working in order to get accepted into top universities.
In the end, if you’re planning on studying abroad and don’t know how to, or you just want to have some motivation from people who were in your shoes, I definitely suggest you apply for this year’s bootcamp. The deadline is the day of publishing 08.08.2025 so be quick! And if you don’t get picked or you don’t make it in time to apply to this year’s bootcamp, remember that you can try your luck next year!
Link for the application to the 2025 Helsinki Bootcamp:
For those who are currently starting their application process, Project Access offers free 1-1 mentors that study at top universities around the world to underprivileged students.
Link for the mentorship program:
Written by Erkan E. Böke
Photos taken by Jieming You