Our experts: Vladymyr Rudeshko, head of the Canadian office, and Lyudmila Chaban, head of the Education Department of InfoStudy; Oksana Koshel, manager of the educational agency Business-Link; Sofia Sakach, coordinator of DAAD programs; Victoria Mykhailenko, manager of the educational consulting center of the EducationUSA network; Olga Dorosh, coordinator of Campus France in Ukraine.
BRITAIN
British universities do not accept Ukrainians right after school. To become eligible to apply, you can study for one year at a Ukrainian university and then submit documents to a British one. Or you can go to the UK immediately after school and study on a one-year Foundation program (tuition will cost £10,000–11,000, living expenses £8,000–10,000), which is specially designed for international students. It includes language training, preparation in core subjects, and also teaches so-called study skills (how to write essays, work with literature, format citations). The program is offered by both universities and private centers and colleges.
By the way, if an applicant studies at a university and successfully completes the program, they will be immediately admitted to the first year there. But Foundation is not suitable for those who are aiming for Oxford or Cambridge. To enter these universities, you need to complete a two-year A-level or International Baccalaureate program at one of the British boarding schools (accepting from age 16, a year costs £27,000–35,000).
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Paper submission starts in mid-September and lasts until January 15, but for those applying to Oxford, Cambridge, or medicine, the deadline is October 15. Documents must be submitted on the UCAS website (www.ucas.com), and the maximum number of universities you can choose is five (for master's programs, universities usually accept documents directly). Submitting one application to one university costs £12, if more applications, then for all – £23.
EXAMS
There are no entrance exams at British universities. Except that you will need to take IELTS (1550 UAH, britishcouncil.org.ua). To be accepted into a bachelor's program, you need a minimum of 6.0, for a master's – 6.5. But for those master's students who will study humanities, law, need 7.0–7.5. Some universities, to attract international students, are willing to give discounts – for example, £1,000.
UNITED STATES
It is possible to go to study in the USA right after finishing school, but admission should be planned 1–1.5 years in advance. Before the planned start of studies, the applicant must not only submit all documents to the university on time, but also plan in advance to take all necessary standardized tests. So, the applicant can enroll either in a four-year college or in a classical university. The main difference between a college and a university is in the number of training programs: in a college, their selection is smaller.
The cost of tuition varies depending on the type of institution and program and can be $5,000–35,000 per year. The price can also reach $50,000 per year if it is a top university. However, in the USA there are great opportunities to receive financial aid or various types of scholarships – from partial to full.
APPLICATION DEADLINES
They usually start accepting documents in September, end in January-February, and announce selection results in March-May (but there are universities that accept applications year-round). In the USA, as in other countries, you also need to pay for the review of documents – $25–100.
EXAMS
In American universities, entrance exams are standardized tests. But passing only TOEFL ($180, toefl.org) may not be enough in many cases. Thus, future bachelors may be asked to take the SAT (additionally, there may be SAT Subject, sat.collegeboard.org, each up to $100) or ACT ($69.5, and with the writing part – $85.5, actstudent.org). And future masters will take the GRE (additionally, there may be GRE Subject, ets.org/gre, costs $185 and $150) or GMAT (needed only for MBA admission, $250, mba.com). These exams test both English knowledge and how prepared the student is for higher education, their ability to think logically and analyze.
CANADA
Canadian universities are ready to accept Ukrainian applicants based on their school certificates. But only if they are already 18 years old, because in Canada students finish school at that age. However, if the applicant is not yet 18, they can go to one of the Canadian colleges right after school, which usually accept minors. Many of them have agreements with universities, and after studying at a college, which lasts 2–3 years, students can be immediately admitted to the second or third year.
Another advantage of this scheme is that one year of study at a college is cheaper than at a university – accordingly $13,000–17,000 and $17,000–28,000. However, the applicant can stay and study for a year or more at a Ukrainian university until they reach adulthood. In this case, they should be prepared that either the completed subjects will not be credited at all and they will have to start from the first year, or they will not be enrolled in the next year but in a lower year.
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Documents can be submitted online on the university's website from November to mid-February. Some educational institutions may extend the deadlines until mid-March if there are free places. However, you should not delay submitting documents. For early submission, universities may waive the application fee, which is $65–120. Colleges review applications within 3–4 weeks, universities – on average several months.
EXAMS
Entrance exams are not conducted at universities – except that you need to pass TOEFL with 85–90 points or IELTS with 6.5–7.0 (at colleges – 6.0–7.0). Future master's students may also be asked to take the GRE (tests English and math), and it is best to check on the university's website what score will satisfy the chosen institution. By the way, for excellent academic performance, some universities may offer discounts of $1000–3000.
GERMANY
German universities are among the top 50 in the world, in particular, Heidelberg University. It is not possible to enter a German university right after school. You need to study for one year full-time at our university in the same specialty you plan to study in Germany. However, there is another option – after school, go for a one-year study at one of the preparatory colleges that exist at all German universities (you can choose a college at www.studienkollegs.de).
Education in colleges is free (but you will need to pay a semester fee of €30–200 and for health insurance – €30–70 per month), during the studies foreign students improve their German and study core subjects depending on their specialty. Education at public universities for bachelor's programs is free in most federal states of Germany (only in Bavaria and Lower Saxony there is a fee of about €500 per semester), but all students must pay a semester fee of €200–250 and pay for health insurance – about €80 per month.
ADMISSION DEADLINES
Documents from students who want to start studying in October (winter semester) are usually accepted until July (but may end earlier), and from those who want to start in April (spring semester) – until December-January. In many cases, applicants will have to submit papers not directly to the university but through the Uni-assist service (more than 130 German universities accept documents through it, list at www.uni-assist.de): submitting documents to one university costs €68, and each subsequent application costs €15.
EXAMS
There are usually no entrance exams, but foreigners need to prove their German language proficiency (but there are also English-language programs). For example, by passing the TestDaf exam (needs at least TDN-4, testdaf.de, costs €130) or DSH (needs at least DSH-2, held only in Germany, can be free or up to €150).
FRANCE
French universities are divided into universities and Grandes Écoles of various fields of study. Studies in the latter are more practice-oriented, and such education is considered more prestigious. But it is harder to get into them, and tuition is paid. While at universities students pay only an administrative fee – €183-254 per year, at Grandes Écoles tuition can range from €596 to €4000-10,000 per year and even up to €30,000. Also, all students must pay for health insurance – another €211 per year.
Ukrainians can enter Grandes Écoles starting from the 3rd–4th year, and usually through entrance exams. As for universities, Ukrainians are ready to accept them right after school, but you will have to take the External Independent Testing (ZNO) and enroll in our university, because French universities require a certificate of enrollment there.
11th graders or 1st–3rd year students who want to enter the 1st–2nd year of a French university must fill out a 'white dossier' (can choose only one specialty and only in three universities), and those who want to study at a Grand École of Architecture – a 'yellow dossier'. The first dossier can be downloaded from www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr or www.ukraine.campusfrance.org, the second from www.archi.fr/ECOLES/index.html#formulaires.
ADMISSION DEADLINES
The dossier along with other papers must be submitted to Campus France (office in Kyiv) by January 31, and the verdict should be expected starting from May. Ukrainians wishing to enter the 3rd year and master's programs can apply directly to the university (document acceptance – from December to May).
EXAMS
You can prove your French language proficiency by passing the TCF-DAP (needed only for future 1st–2nd year students, 830 UAH), DELF B2 (280 UAH), DALF C1 or DALF C2 (320 UAH each). Detailed information can be found on the website of the French Institute (institutfrancais-ukraine.com).
SWITZERLAND
Whether a Ukrainian applicant will be accepted into a Swiss university right after finishing school depends on where they apply. For example, some Swiss universities (e.g., École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, ETH Zurich) are ready to accept our students based on their diploma and the results of their internal exams.
Only on the basis of a diploma can one be accepted into private schools of tourism, hospitality, hotel or restaurant business, which, by the way, are very popular among our applicants (though tuition there is more expensive than at universities – respectively $27,000–28,000 including accommodation, and $1,400–8,700). But in both described cases, the potential student must be 17.5–18 years old. As for other educational institutions, they, in addition to the diploma, require Ukrainians to have studied at least two years at their home university.
ADMISSION DEADLINES
Submitting documents to a Swiss university is usually done online, and the deadline for submitting all papers expires in December-April (deadlines can vary greatly, so it is better to check them on the website of the chosen university).
EXAMS
Swiss universities may have entrance exams. For example, if the university does not fully recognize our diploma, the Ukrainian will need to take the unified entrance exam for foreigners ECUS (www.ecus-edu.ch). Some universities offer admission based on their internal exam (e.g., University of St. Gallen). There are also nuances in language tests.
The fact is that in some universities, studies are conducted in French, in others – in German. There are also English-language programs (for example, in private schools). Therefore, which language exam to take – TOEFL or IELTS, DELF, or DALF, or TestDaf – depends on which language the student intends to study in. To be admitted to a university, it is necessary to know the language at the B2-C1 level.
Based on materials from the newspaper «Вести».