Orientation Sessions for International Students: ‘Being at HSE University Today is a Dream Come True’
HSE University’s Support and Career Centre for International Students and Alumni has held orientation sessions for incoming international students. During the meetings, the centre’s experts explained the visa and migration support available, talked about extracurricular student life, and gave tours of the campus and the city.
HSE University Vice Rector Victoria Panova congratulated the international students on successfully passing the entrance exams and enrolling in their first year: ‘From your first year, you can take part in the work of research institutes and laboratories, apply your ideas and knowledge in promising and ambitious research and development activities.’
The vice rector also said that this year, there was a 10% increase in the number of applicants to HSE University, and that competition for some programmes reached 150 people per place.
Valeriia Iuzyshina, Manager of the Support and Career Centre for International Students and Alumni, spoke about the three ‘pillars’ that each foreign student needs to stay on top of: their visa, migration registration, and fingerprint card. The main source of help for students is the HSE App X, which is available for smartphones. ‘HSE is big, with a lot of different directions and a lot of information. The app helps to systematise all of this, including migration questions,’ explained Valeriia Iuzyshina.
Each orientation session ended with a tour of the HSE University building on Pokrovsky Bulvar. All international first-year students will be able to take an introductory tour of Moscow through Kitay-Gorod to Zaryadye Park and the Kremlin.
The HSE News Service spoke to participants of the event about their impressions, their expectations of their studies, and why they chose to study at HSE University.
Rukundo Jean Irene (Kigali, Rwanda)
— I have enrolled in the Master’s in Statistical Analysis in Economics. I have already studied in Russia for four years—I did a bachelor’s at Belgorod Technological University and decided to continue my studies in Moscow. Russia is one of the countries in eastern Europe with a high level of education, and I want to receive quality knowledge. I really like it here, although it can be difficult because of the language barrier of course. But it is interesting here, especially in Moscow. I already came to this city during the holidays, and now being at HSE University today is a dream come true! In the future, I would like to use my knowledge in my own country, which is in need of qualified specialists. So I will return to my homeland and work there.
Salva Amalina (Jakarta, Indonesia)
— I completed HSE University’s preparatory courses and have now enrolled in a bachelor’s to study international relations. Russia is a good country for education. There are a lot of opportunities here for international students. We can also learn a new language—Russian, which is quite difficult. I choose HSE University specifically because it is the best university in Moscow and in Russia, and in my country there are a lot of successful people who graduated from HSE. This is my first visit to Moscow. It is a beautiful and clean city with nice people. I particularly like the metro—it is very convenient.
Vadim Antropov (Bukhara, Uzbekistan)
— I decided to apply to HSE University because it is one of the leading universities in Russia. I am going to study Economics at the Faculty of Economic Sciences. I expect the study component to be strong and that the knowledge will be useful to me in the future. For foreigners, the orientation sessions are very important; I still don’t know Moscow and have just moved into my dormitory. And I hope that this meeting will help me get to know everything better.
Lidia Bagdasarova (Ashgabat, Turkmenistan)
— I learned about HSE University on social media. My mum has often told me that it is a cool university. I did not expect to be admitted to HSE University. I doubted myself, despite being a prize winner of the HSE International Olympiad. I think that the studies will be difficult and interesting. I am enrolled in the Bachelor’s in Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication. I believe that these orientation sessions are hugely important. I am a little nervous and everything here is new to me—the sessions help you get to know HSE University better.
Anastasia Lazareva (Almaty, Kazakhstan)
— I previously studied at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. I was supposed to enter my third year, but I decided to change something in my life—I applied to the Economics programme at HSE University. Half of my classmates study here, and they all like HSE University. When I was at MIPT, I started to take part in various economics case championships. I liked it so much that I decided to pursue economics.
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