‘ICEF Helped Me Realize Two of My Dreams’

Every year, the best achieving ICEF students are given the opportunity to go to the LSE Summer School in London. ICEF sponsored three students in 2015, and two students received a grant from LSE and ICEF. We asked LSE Summer School 2015 participants to tell us what helped them become best academic achievers and to share their impressions of the summer school and the city. It turned out that they have different life strategies, but they share a love of LSE library and the desire to learn and work hard.

Ilya Ofitserov, 3^rd-year undergraduate student (LSE and ICEF grant), one of the best students of the ICEF Academia programme

ICEF: advanced English and good knowledge in finance

Since I was a child I’ve spent a lot of time learning English. I went abroad for summer schools every year from the age of 10, passed school exams without attending classes, and won a regional English contest in the 11th grade. In addition to that, I’ve always been fond of math (I studied in a specialized physics and math school), and studying at school wasn’t too difficult, so I managed to combine it with sports. When I received a prize at the MIPT contest, I knew I would be accepted at almost all of the best Russian universities. I considered going to England (I was accepted to Sixth Form College in Oxford), choosing a technical specialization at MIPT or MSU, or continuing studying in English with a double degree at ICEF. ICEF seemed the most logical choice, as it offered the chance to get a globally acknowledged degree (which would lead to some opportunities after graduation), to use my advantage in English, and to get strong knowledge of finance. I’m now fascinated with quantitative methods in finance. I’m studying an additional course in Quantitative Analysis at the Centre of Mathematical Finance and have started to learn programming languages and financial math. My next goal is to get a job that helps me to develop further in this direction.

Studying for yourself or for a ranking

I believe the most important factor in achieving first place in the ranking is wanting to be there, as simple as that. Of course, it helps to be interested in the subjects you’re studying. And there is a simple formula for getting there – prioritize your university study, balance your effort according to what grades for subjects consist of (homework, presentations, examinations, class work), prepare for exams in advance, and don’t fall behind in any subjects. If you lack the desire, don’t set this goal as your first priority and don’t keep the ranking on your mind all the time, it’s probably possible to achieve the result, but only if you’re hugely talented and sincerely interested in most subjects.

I’ve always been influenced by the lecturer’s personality and the way they teach. I usually was first in the subjects taught by my favourite lecturers or those I wanted to study independently in detail (extracurricular courses, self-learning).

‘Our people everywhere’

I was so impressed by the LSE Summer School that I want to keep going back there, although it wouldn’t be logical. I’ve already been to the school twice, and have taken three full courses.

After the first year of my undergraduate study, I took Analysis and Management of Financial Risk and Leadership in Organisations. I had an understanding of the financial asset market after solving practical tasks and cases as part of this course, so I wanted to study finance from the point of view of companies, to learn what financial decisions they have to make and how they do it. That’s why I chose Advanced Corporate Finance this time. I was happy to discover that the knowledge we get at ICEF is adequate for taking courses at LSE, and that the teaching style at the summer school is very close to HSE’s, so you don’t feel much difference in learning. It was also a nice surprise that the workshops on financial risk analysis were conducted by Svetlana Bryzgalova, a graduate of ICEF master’s programme, who is also from Nizhny Novgorod, like myself.

London tip

It might sound trivial, but the famous LSE library is the first thing that comes to my mind. Most of all, I enjoyed preparing for exams on the top floors in the ‘silent zones’. I liked that this library was open late (I was always preparing on the last day before the exam), as well as the silence and the small number of people. I was also very lucky with accommodation last time, and I often stayed in my room to study. I lived on an upper floor at the High Holborn residence, with a beautiful view of Senate House - the heart of the London University.

Ekaterina Trapeznikova, 2^nd-year master’s student (ICEF scholarship)

ICEF: check your English and get good knowledge in finance

ICEF helped me realize two of my dreams. The first is that I’ve always wanted to get fundamental and in-depth training in finance, in order to later get an interesting job in this sphere. And second, I’ve always been curious, how difficult is it to be taught by native English speakers. ICEF is an ideal place to get an answer to this question and to make the dream about quality fundamental education come true. So I don’t regret my choice. I believe that I’ve fully realized my potential in studies, and now I want to develop professionally. I’m now an intern at the Sberbank Treasury and I’m responsible for interest risk management. I’m fond of what I do, so my plan for the near future is to stay at this job and grow as a professional.

‘Don’t flake on it and don’t think about rankings’

I believe that to succeed in study you don’t have to be willing yourself to be first in the rankings. Everything will come naturally if you don’t flake on it and study honestly and hard. You simply have to learn, to make an effort in all subjects, and to consider every homework and class assignment in detail.

We weren’t bored in studies, but sometimes wanted more math

My impressions are most positive, both of London itself and of the school, beginning with the organization and to the content of the education. We were always busy and never bored. When we were not studying, we walked, visited museums, made photos and talked to each other. We felt very comfortable, since we had the same style of study as at ICEF. Maybe sometimes I wanted a little more in-depth study of a subject, for example, more math. I felt very confident and was one of the best in my workshop group.

London tip

I probably won’t reveal anything new, but the best place for study is the LSE library. It is really great to study there; it is huge and there are always free spaces. I also often looked through my papers before classes on a bench at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It is a small park right next to the LSE buildings. It is very quiet, and there are just a few people there in the mornings: some of them run, others walk their dogs, and it’s all very peaceful.

Liudmila Mezentseva, specially for HSE ICEF website