I know this sounds like a random question, and obviously the two cities and countries are very different, but I'm an American student studying in Denmark and I'd like to visit one city or the other, and don't have enough money for both. Just wondering general recommendations or impressions on both, or if there is someplace else in Norway and Finland that you would recommend visiting. Thanks.

Go to the one where you would have less of a chance to get back to in the future, and hence adds more value to your money.

I've been to and enjoyed both very much. Oslo has far more to do than Helsinki, but of course, it all depends on what you are looking for.
In all honesty my favorite parts of Norway were the western fjords and smaller towns like Alesund and Trondheim. And I probably enjoying heading north out of Helsinki more than I did the city itself. I thought Tampere was an interesting town as well.

Hi Brian,

I suggest Helsinki.

Finland is very different from the rest of Scandinavia.

Since you say you can only afford one I'm assuming money is a bit tight.

For that reason alone I'd pick Helsinki. I found Oslo to be more expensive than Helsinki to visit. This was in 2002 and Finland was on the euro.

I stayed in an Oslo hotel near the train station that had the bath room down the hall. In Helsinki for the same amount of money I got my own bathroom in a nicer hotel located in a better part of town than the train station.

From Helsinki you can take a fast ferry to Tallinin and see it too.