How to get into graduate school on a budget?

The answer is obvious – successfully pass the entrance exams. But what to do if a few points are not enough to reach the cherished goal? You can study for a fee, try your luck at another university, or postpone your attempt to enter graduate school for a year or two. Or you can insure yourself in advance and stock up on additional points for admission. How to do this – we tell in our today’s article.

What is graduate school and why go there?

Postgraduate studies are a form of postgraduate education aimed at training scientific and teaching staff for universities and research institutes.

During the training, you will learn how to independently conduct scientific work and prepare a Ph.D. thesis. Whether you defend your dissertation or not is entirely up to you. If a postgraduate student fails to defend his dissertation, he receives a certificate of completion of postgraduate studies and passing the candidate’s minimum exams (if he manages to pass the exams).

What does PhD study provide?

Firstly, it is participation in research projects, which are often funded by government organizations and various scientific and charitable foundations. Secondly, this is a line in the resume that will help you climb the career ladder and get an increase in salary. Thirdly, an important benefit for young men of full-time education is a deferment from military service.

Full-time and part-time postgraduate studies: what to choose?

How to apply to graduate school?

In accordance with the Federal Law “On Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education”, citizens of Russia with higher education are admitted to postgraduate studies. Admission is carried out on a competitive basis. You can enter graduate school immediately after graduation or after at least two years of practical work experience in the chosen specialty.

The new postgraduate admissions rules have undergone significant changes. Now universities and research institutes themselves set the list of entrance exams and conduct a competition for each area.

Examinations in the specialty and a foreign language are mandatory. The form of entrance examinations (written or oral) is determined by the organization independently. In addition, universities are allowed to enroll in postgraduate studies with entrance examinations as groups are formed.

How can I get extra points when applying to graduate school?

According to the new rules, individual achievements will be taken into account when entering graduate school. Their list and the number of points is determined by educational institutions independently. At the same time, the list of achievements, the number of points for each of them and the maximum number of possible points may be different for each faculty within the same university.

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For example, the Higher School of Economics publishes on its website a “List of Individual Achievements Considered for Admission” for each of the areas of study. For example, applicants in the direction of “Mathematics and Mechanics” can receive a total of 50 points. For publications in journals of the first and second quartiles of the Scopus and WoS databases, you can get from 41 to 50 points, for knowledge of a programming language – from 0 to 7 points, for participation in research projects – from 0 to 10 points,

RANEPA awards additional points upon admission to graduate school for individual achievements, which are the same for all 10 areas of study:

• excellent grade for the submitted abstract – 4 points;
• HAC scientific publications – 3 points;
• the presence of other scientific publications – 2 points (if there are no publications of the Higher Attestation Commission);
• Diploma of higher education with honors – 1 point;
• Victories in scientific competitions in the specialty profile, participation in research projects (grants) – 0.5 points for each documented individual achievement.

PFUR and MGIMO consider the portfolio of individual achievements, with all other indicators being equal. Moreover, points are awarded during a personal interview, one of the tasks of which is the determination of professional suitability. The presence of personal achievements clearly confirms the applicant’s interest in the chosen specialty.

Before applying to graduate school, find out the conditions for obtaining additional points of a particular educational institution, because each university independently determines the list of individual achievements and the number of points that you can receive for them.

Documents for admission to graduate school

• passport or identity card confirming citizenship.
• a copy of a diploma of higher specialized education or a master’s degree;
• autobiography;
• recommendation from the place of work (minutes of the meeting of the Academic Council or recommendation of the SAC, if the applicant has just graduated from the university);
• certificates of individual achievements taken into account for admission to this university.
• medical certificate;
• Abstract on the proposed research topic.

It is worth noting the following point. According to the new rules for admission to graduate school, organizations can accept documents and conduct entrance tests until an applicant receives a diploma of higher education. The original diploma will need to be submitted before enrolling in graduate school. This means you don’t have to worry about delays in graduation.

As for taking into account individual achievements when entering graduate school, more and more universities require their presentation in the form of a portfolio, which includes the following items:

• Scientific publications: HAC publication, Scopus publication or Web of Science (list of publications with full imprint and their copies);
• Participation in scientific conferences and seminars (list of conferences and seminars with their full name, place and date and title of the applicant’s reports);
• Participation in scientific grants (list of grants with their full names, founders, topics and performers);
• Participation in competitions and olympiads;
• Participation in the work of scientific circles and creative teams;
• Internships indicating the topic, place and period of passage;
• Patents and copyright certificates, and their copies;
• Nominal scholarships indicating what the scholarship was received for and the period of the scholarship;
• Awards, prizes, diplomas with copies provided;
• Recommendation of the State Attestation Commission for admission to graduate school.

What to do if there are no individual achievements?

Don’t despair! The minimum that you can do is to publish an article in a peer-reviewed journal VAK. The topic of the article can be the topic of your thesis. Indicate the goals and objectives of your thesis, justify the relevance of the study and its novelty, describe the results.

Remember that in order for your VAK publication to be considered an individual achievement, the article must be published. Information about accepting an article for publication is not enough.

But even if you did not have time to prepare scientific publications, do not think that you will not be able to enter graduate school on a budget. Pay great attention to the preparation of the abstract and the rationale for your professional choice. The admission committee will definitely ask you why you chose this specialty. The answer to this question is no less important than the presence of any individual achievements.

We wish you good luck in the entrance exams and believe that you will be able to enter graduate school on a budget!

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Publication of articles in HAC journals

Updated Tue, 12/29/2020 – 11:17