Russian Educational System and U.S. Colleges

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>Weisenheimer:
1) Translation - that can be hard. Try asking your english teacher to certify the transltion. Generally, translations should be from official translators with the "notarial'noe zaverenie". It is very expensive, though. So try figuring it out with your teachers. Or maybe school director. As for copies - well,of course you (or your teachers) should make copies of the letter and sign each of them. Then, you do not need "notarius".</p>

<p>2) Your SAT sounds fantastic to me. If you score like that on the real test, it will be fascinating. But my view on that might be biased, so do not ealy on that an</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I frankly do not know what played the major role in my acceptance. I sent the same stuff to 20 schools and was accepted onl at 5. So I think it's more or less lottery + my need of the full finaid. As for your math reasearch - send it if you think it is relevant to who ou are and what you want to do. Be careful with "mehmat" ..hm.. Na kakom ti kyrse? You will have to tell the adcom what you did after school.

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manyzhka, I will be "na 3 kurse" in a couple of weeks, but I<code>m going to send my applications only next year - I will be 19 then. Is it important for adcom how old I am and what I did after school? Though I</code>m studying on mehmat, I changed my mind and want to have a major in economics - but in Russia the quality of such education is rather poor - and that<code>s one of the reasons for my aspiration to be accepted in US college. How old were you when you applied and were you going to Russian university at that time?
and what EC</code>s did you include in your application? I`m really anxious about this part of admission..</p>

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<p>I am from the US and just curious if education is more rigorous in Russia, is it a lot more difficult? For example, during whcih grades do you guys take Calculus?
Is the math also much harder than high school math in the US? Just wondering</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I am from the US and just curious if education is more rigorous in Russia, is it a lot more difficult?ols

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Yes. We don't have anything like Honors or AP classes and the standard of learning is different in every class depending on the teacher, but it's usually higher than most american and some european schools. I had to take 16 subjects my senior year, whereas in america it's usually 5-6. </p>

<p>
[quote]
For example, during whcih grades do you guys take Calculus?
Is the math also much harder than high school math in the US?

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We don't have a subject called Calculus per se, but we do have very advanced trigiometry and algebra in high school. A friend of mine who studied at an international school based on the american system was learning things in 12th grade (we have 11) that I learned in 9th (would be 10th there).</p>

<p>Private schools are generally better, but extremely scarce compared to America. I'm kind of different from most russians, since I studied at a private russian school in Thailand. However, I can point out that there was no grade inflation and getting a 5 (A) was really difficult, especially when there's only 3 people in your class (in Russia it's 30-40).</p>

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<p>just wanted to comment... my calc teacher is from russia (he went to belarus state university i think), and i also had a couple students from bulgaria, which to my understanding has a similar education system as russia. </p>

<p>i only know about high schools, and my impression is that many of the students already select a concentration around middle school.. for example, going into a math or science academy. then, they study really hard, and after school extracurriculars are like math team or whatever, not playing sports or going to movies, etc. like what american students do. </p>

<p>i dont know how the college system is but moscow state is supposed to be pretty good.</p>

<p>please enlighten me on how accurate my view of the russian educational system is. thanks</p>

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<p>hello people from Russia! Glad to see you all, glad to hear from manyzhka again!!!</p>

<p>My situation is rather complex and I need advice from all of you.</p>

<p>I have graduated from my school this year with Silver Medal, got in Moscow State University and now is eager to apply to the best school of America such as harvard, yale, princeton and mit (need full finaid)</p>

<p>1) I have rather poor grades in 9th grade (a lot of 4s in the quarters, though all final grades are 5s). Maybe not to include 9th year in the High school transcript)</p>

<p>2) What about EGE? I have taken it and got 83 points. Do I need to send the certificate? And as you know EGE is very difficult compared to SATs, so will they interpret my result correctly or it's too low for them?</p>

<p>3) Maybe send recs in english without russian copy? i mean to translate by yourself and then to give it to sign?</p>

<p>Thank you beforehand!</p>

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<p>And i agree that it's very hard to get 5 in Russian school, and to get the medal is also really difficult.</p>

<p>by the way, will I be in advantage because of my admission to MGU? it's rather hard do you know?..</p>

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<p>
[quote]
then, they study really hard, and after school extracurriculars are like math team or whatever, not playing sports or going to movies, etc. like what american students do

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You are right here. Russian students don't participate in many extracurriculars (as americans do) especially those who don't live in the big cities. they don't have a lot of opportunities to be involoved in something extracurricular because it's not common in Russia, it's rather exception. Moreover, they usually don't have much time.</p>

<p>For example in Moscow State university, we study from 9:00 to 16:00 six days in a week (including Saturday), and take a lot of really advanced subjects. So in the college you have even less time to do something EC than in the school. You return from univ, eat, have some rest (cuz your head is bursting) and then do your homework.</p>

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<p>
[quote]

1) I have rather poor grades in 9th grade (a lot of 4s in the quarters, though all final grades are 5s). Maybe not to include 9th year in the High school transcript)

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Simple - just don't show your quarter grades. Your transcript should include just final grades + exams. And having 4's isn't bad. I have 4's as finals in some subjects (that may be because I studied at an accelerated pace though).

[quote]

2) What about EGE? I have taken it and got 83 points. Do I need to send the certificate? And as you know EGE is very difficult compared to SATs, so will they interpret my result correctly or it's too low for them?

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I think you'll have to take the SAT's/ACT anyway, although EGE can give you a boost as an extra.

[quote]
3) Maybe send recs in english without russian copy? i mean to translate by yourself and then to give it to sign?

[/quote]

You could probably do that. I don't think they'll go calling your teachers to verify the recommendations or anything, heh.</p>

<p>
[quote]

i only know about high schools, and my impression is that many of the students already select a concentration around middle school..

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Yeah, that's a bad thing about some european schools. They like to make kids specialize in a specific area early, which leads to a lot of math/science wiz's, but not enough in humanities.</p>

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i dont know how the college system is but moscow state is supposed to be pretty good.

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That's the best university in Russia and the only one that's not overrun by snooty rich kids. There's also MGIMO, which isn't bad and focused on international relations, but money and prestige is everything there.

[quote]

For example in Moscow State university, we study from 9:00 to 16:00 six days in a week (including Saturday), and take a lot of really advanced subjects. So in the college you have even less time to do something EC than in the school. You return from univ, eat, have some rest (cuz your head is bursting) and then do your homework.

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Yeah, even high schools in Russia have a bigger courseload than most colleges in the U.S...</p>

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<p>But in spit of my poor quarter grades in 9th year, my cumulative GPA is 4,98. Don't you think transcript would look strange without quarter grades?? maybe not to worry about it with such GPA?</p>