First Month at ICEF: How Our New Students Feel About It
How have the first few weeks of study been for ICEF’s new students? Have they settled well into the student life and how is it different from high school? Here’s what our new students think about their homework, English-taught lectures, coworking space availability, and the sports and student communities they’ve joined.
Veronika Surina, Y1 undergraduate, ICEF
Veronika completed the online course Znaika and formerly studied at Gomelsky Olympic Reserve School No.4, Moscow
My first few weeks at ICEF have been an overwhelming experience with a whole range of emotions from joy to anxiety. I felt very glad when I coped with a Calculus problem just ten minutes before the deadline and when I found some sweets in a student hub. But discovering, shortly before handing in my homework, that my classmates had a different solution had put me at a complete loss.
In fact, ICEF turned out exactly as I imagined, with excellent teachers, high academic load, and a lot of new friends. I am especially amazed at how excellently the studies are organized here. It’s top-notch level education.
English is not a problem at all. After a two-week crash course you even start to think in English. And if you have a problem understanding a mathematical or economic term, you can always ask your classmates or tutors, or seminar teachers, or lecturers for help. Or look it up in the textbook yourself. I met my tutors on the Freshman Day but seek assistance from them only rarely (and solely on organizational matters), but I know I can approach them with any matter.
Our campus in Pokrovka is simply amazing. Its very interior inspires me to learn. And I really like the HSE App. It’s now easy to find a vacant classroom (using as parameters seating arrangement or availability of blackboard or overhead) using this app. And generally coworkings are where I spend nearly all my free time. Most of them are busy after 4 p.m, unfortunately, but I can always go to the library.
I think the major difference between college and school lies in that at college you are your own manager. Here, noone’s going to require you to do homework, attend lectures and seminars, or read textbooks. There are exams to take, and it’s you and only you who’ll be responsible for the result. Also, college offers a much more vibrant student life than school. Every day something new is happening, be it a student society session or an extra lecture. Here, everyone can find an activity they are passionate about. I’ve joined the Japanese Club. Had to skip its first session, unfortunately, for study reasons, but that won’t happen again. Also, I am now a member of the HSE basketball team.
Andrey Vakhromov, Y1 undergraduate, ICEF
Andrey studied at Samara Academy for Gifted Children (Nayanova School), Samara
I decided to enroll in ICEF rather early, when I entered grade 10 and learned more about ICEF’s bachelor’s degree programme at the open day.
And before you ask, yes, it’s a very interesting place to study at. And challenging, too. It took some time to figure out why they were giving us so much new material and a whole week to do homework. But, as we learned later, these loads of new material get explained at seminars and homework can be very time-consuming. Overly time-consuming. A week’s time, which earlier seemed more than enough to cope with homework, now flies by so quickly. I think I’ve adjusted well to Moscow and its frenzied pace of life. I am fully immersed in my new student life and looking forward to uncovering all ICEF’s mysteries.
I have not encountered any difficulties with English-taught classes. Either I have somehow avoided them or they’ve taken a different route) In fact, teachers try to speak in simple terms for students to be able to understand everything. Should any concept sound unclear, you are free to raise your hand and ask for the translation.
Is there anything I imagined to be different? Honestly, at first I felt uneasy following this high pace of learning. A new lecture today, a new seminar tomorrow, and then homework on a totally new topic. But luckily I was able to sorted everything out by attending extra seminars and office hours.
The campus is all new and has a mega super duper grand environment. Housed in the building on Pokrovsky Boulevard, ICEF is a great place to be and study in. I would call our campus the most beautiful and aesthetically looking of all the campuses of HSE. Isn’t it wonderful to dive on a cozy sofa in the library, put your tablet in front, open homework and have it competed well before the deadline while enjoying the beautiful view?
As for our tutors, they are students’ most useful aides. If you don’t know what tutors are, they are the senior year undergraduates tasked with settling freshers into student life. I liked my tutors from the start. They seem to be genuinely willing to encourage the new students to approach the Study Office with whatever query they may have, helping us with class times and whatever troubles us. Liza, Liza, Ilya, and Misha, my sincere respect!
Maria Baghno, Y1 undergraduate, ICEF
Maria studied at HSE Lyceum, Moscow
My first few weeks at ICEF left a highly positive impression. The people around me are interesting personalities, they are purposeful and know what they want from life. A community as inspiring as this does motivate me to work hard and achieve more.
With highly informative lectures, interactive seminars and experienced teachers, ICEF suits me down to the ground. Although I must confess the academic load is high here and there’s a lot to learn on your own while doing homework, with good time management you will have time for personal life.
Studying in English doesn’t cause me any major difficulty. Some terms can, of course, be difficult to grasp and even sound misleading, but once they have become familiar to your ear, following the lectures gets much easier.
The campus is a subject of its own. It’s a stylish place with everything needed for effective learning process – the library, which is zoned for study areas, the multiple coworking spaces, the coffee corners, and the spacious classrooms.
We first met our tutors in late August. I immediately liked their friendly attitude and willingness to help. They arranged for us a series of interactive meetings so that we could get to know one another better and get more information. I am very glad we are still in touch.
Samira Gamzayeva, Y1 undergraduate, ICEF
Samira studied at School 1535 in Moscow
I didn’t even have time to think about what was going on in those first two weeks. I am still new to some of the systems here in ICEF and still establishing contact with my classmates, trying to figure out how to organize my time efficiently.
Here, we have tutors to help us settle into our new environment. They first met with us in the end of August. They are very nice people and it’s cool that they encourage connections among students. We all had a great time talking in the anti-café after the Freshman Day. Our tutors are fast responders, easy to approach and never fail to talk to us whenever we meet in the corridors.
I thought my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to study in English. I was wrong. Now I think it is much easier to memorize concepts using English, since the terminology and spelling of the economic terms originate from English words. Besides, all our teachers have a clear and distinct pronunciation. As for mathematical and financial concepts, they aren’t many, so I’m coping fine, which isn’t true about Calculus, which uses lots of abstract terms.
One thing I would like to note specially is office hours. While allowing us to check with teachers whether we got everything right, the office hours are a great opportunity to prepare for exams by doing tests from previous years and revising the terminology.
ICEF has a lot more students than my school. This explains why its student organizations are larger in scale and engage in causes that produce a greater impact. My ambition is to join ICEF Crew – the largest and most vibrant of all ICEF’s student organizations. ICEF Crew is currently recruiting members. I first met its team at student initiation. What I like about ICEF Crew is that they are versatile, communicative and committed and that they can teach me some new skills. I have long wanted to learn photography. Besides, ICEF Crew is just the right place to make friends.
The campus is supermodern, like no other. It’s large enough to get lost, but there’s a navigator app and signs at every turn to help us find the classroom. I particularly like the central atrium – a great place for an afterschool meetup, which is also popular with companies that get invited to host lectures, workshops, parties, food corners, etc. ICEF boasts a wonderful library. It’s nice to be there and do homework, but finding a vacant seat there can still be a problem despite its large size.
My takeaway from these first weeks at college is that my progress here is completely up to me. It’s a mistake to expect to be reprimanded for not doing homework or playing truant. At this point in time it’s hard imagining myself contacting ICEF Career Services for job opportunities, which are, in fact, available to students here – employers are frequent visitors to ICEF, offering intern positions and, later, permanent jobs. My adult life still seems a long way off. But in fact it is already unfolding.