Where to start?
First of all, you need to decide on a university and study program. It should be noted that higher education in the Czech Republic is divided into levels. As a rule, a school graduate first enrolls in a three-year bachelor's program. After obtaining a bachelor's degree, there is an opportunity to continue studies. The master's program lasts two years, and then comes doctoral studies.
In the Czech Republic, as in our country, there are public and private higher education institutions. In public ones, education is free, but the competition among applicants is relatively high. However, in some technical universities, instead of entrance exams, they hold a competition of certificates. The most prestigious among Czech higher education institutions are Charles University, the University of Economics, and Masaryk University in Brno. The competition for different specialties ranges from 1.3 to 20 people per place, with the most applicants wanting to study economics, medicine, and humanities. Document submission for public universities takes place in winter, usually until the end of February. The application form can be filled out directly on the university's website. Entrance exams take place in June-July.
In private universities, education is paid (from €1.5 thousand per year). Instead of entrance exams, they usually conduct a simple interview. Such universities offer specialties related to economics, entrepreneurship, tourism and hotel business.
The next step is nostrification (recognition) of the school certificate. This is unavoidable: even an applicant who successfully passed the entrance exams but did not bring a nostrification certificate will not be enrolled. To confirm a domestic secondary education document, a school graduate must pass 2-3 exams (as a rule, the Czech education administration meets prospective students halfway and assigns the same subjects that are taken when entering a university or institute). Nostrification exams take place in Czech secondary schools or gymnasiums, in oral or written form, in Czech.
Preparation for admission
You can prepare for exams both in the Czech Republic and abroad. The experience of our students enrolling in Czech universities shows that after a year of weekly Czech language classes at home, it is quite realistic to successfully pass exams at a public university. However, it is better (and more expensive, of course) to study the language and prepare for exams directly in the Czech Republic. Most universities organize preparatory courses specifically for foreigners, where in addition to studying specialized subjects, applicants receive the necessary language training. Such courses last from 6 to 12 months. When preparing independently, it is worth considering that the school curriculum in the Czech Republic does not coincide with ours. Therefore, it is recommended to prepare for exams using Czech textbooks.
Learn the language!
Many students who have passed the selection and entered a public university make an unexpected discovery. It turns out that enrolling in a Czech university is not as difficult as studying there. After all, you need not only to understand and write down lectures. From the first weeks of study, seminars and practical classes begin, preparation of essays and writing reports on conducted experiments. Naturally, all this is in Czech. At the same time, there are no concessions from teachers solely on the grounds that the person is a foreigner. Therefore, the better a student knows the language, the easier it will be for them to study.
Many universities provide their students with dormitories (?100-150 per month), meal coupons for student canteens (lunch costs about €1). In addition, students receive various bonuses in stores, restaurants, banks, cultural institutions, and those under 26 also get a discount on public transportation.
Think about the future
Any foreign student of a Czech university has the right to obtain a student visa (consular fee – about €20, application processing time – two months). However, if you plan to stay in the Czech Republic after your studies, it is worth keeping in mind that such a visa has a number of restrictions. Its holder cannot work or purchase real estate in their own name. And most importantly, when calculating the period of stay in the Czech Republic for obtaining permanent residence, the student period is counted with a coefficient of 0.5. That is, it is impossible to come, get a higher education, and immediately apply for permanent residence status.
However, there is another option. We are talking about a business visa. Its holder can freely study at any Czech university and can count on obtaining permanent residence just five years after arriving in the Czech Republic.
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