How to study at the Higher School of Economics in Prague. Personal experience. Review about studying at VSE in the Czech Republic, how to prepare for exams. How are session exams at the Higher School of Economics
Review about studying at VSE in Prague
Review about studying at VSE in Prague
How to study in the Czech Republic at the Higher School of Economics. Feedback about studying at VSE in the first semester and passing exams
Studying at VSE in Prague. I entered the VSE in Prague at the Faculty of International Relations, specialty international Trade. We did not have initiation into VSE students, they were canceled due to the coronavirus, and the study began on September 20.
My first impressions of VSE were very pleasant. I liked most of the teachers, liked the fact that I understand that they speak Czech, it was interesting to listen to them. I was pleasantly surprised by the new VSE building, it is very beautiful there, which cannot be said about the old building, where most of the lectures in the first year take place. But after the first week, I stopped being so happy about starting my studies at the Higher School of Economics in Prague.
Studying at VSE in Prague
Review about studying at the Higher School of Economics in Prague
Even before starting my studies, I received my schedule in the information system and when I saw it, I thought that in principle I would have enough free time. But as it turned out, I was very wrong. In fact, I study only 3 days a week, but absolutely at every lecture we were told that we would have to teach most of the material ourselves. Therefore, the system of studying at VSE is as follows: conditionally, 10 pages are told to us at a lecture, and we have to read and learn another 60 pages of educational material ourselves. This is what I do in my free days from school. At lectures, I understand almost everything in Czech, and sometimes I even answer during practice. But not in all classes. I was very unlucky, because my teacher in microeconomics is Slovak by nationality, and she speaks Slovak at her lectures. This is a common practice in VSE.
I understand about 60 percent of her speech. And the worst thing is when she asks me something, I can’t even always understand the question. Accordingly, I can’t always answer the question correctly. I think the microeconomics exam will be the hardest for me to pass. In second place in terms of the complexity of learning in the first year of VSE is “Law”, the exam is oral. You need to learn 47 tickets with a bunch of complex terms and concepts, and say it all correctly on the exam. And the third most difficult is mathematics, the teacher seems to be good, but he speaks very quickly, directly “chatters”, does not say the end of words, and it is difficult to understand him. Therefore, my mathematics is completely home-schooled. There are a lot of materials, textbooks and sources for each subject, it is very important to keep track of what is being asked and what deadlines, because it is impossible to retake exams in VSE.
Preparation for exams for admission to a Czech university – advice
How to study at VSE in Prague
At the VSE, you make up your own schedule, and only for first semester you are given a ready-made one (you need to put languages and physical education yourself for it). This is done so that you get to know the students from your stream, so that you definitely take a sufficient number of credits, and so that it is easier for you yourself. My schedule is just amazing, I’m lucky, because some couples start at 7:45…. Lectures are marked in green – attendance is optional. Blue – seminars, attendance is already noted here, mainly for admission to the exam, you can skip a maximum of 3 seminars in each subject per semester.
Now my schedule looks like this (blue box – seminars, green box – lectures).
By the way, as for physical education, you can choose from a large list of what you like. Among the options there are, for example: basketball, fitness, swimming, gym, Thai boxing, fencing, diving, canoeing
I would like to gradually get involved in my studies, but there is no time for this, because I have been studying for 5 weeks and we will soon begin the first tests – intermediate knowledge tests. It is really very difficult to study, and so far I have no idea at all how I will take the exams. But in general, I understood what I was going for, so I’m not complaining.
Student’s expenses for studying at VSE
Passing the VSE exams in the first year
It is worth saying in advance that the exams of the first semester at VSE are really stressful. Firstly, exams in Prague must be taken in absolutely all subjects. There is only 1 attempt for this. The exception is that you received not 4, but 4 +, in this case, you are allowed to retake the exam 1 time. Let me remind you that in the Czech Republic 1 is the highest score, 5 is the lowest. Also, in most subjects at the HSE, you still need to get admission to the exams. You need to pass an intermediate test of studying at VSE (tests) for a certain number of points or get a certain number of points for working in the classroom, or something else.
Taking exams for the first semester of VSE
Studying at VSE in Prague. In the first semester in the Czech Republic, I studied the following subjects:
- microeconomics,
- geography of world politics,
- Law,
- mathematics,
- management,
- English
- French.
Next, I will tell you about each subject separately from an easier to a more complex subject according to my subjective feelings.
How to study VSE in the Czech Republic – management
Personal experience about studying at VSE in the Czech Republic. Management is the easiest and almost not difficult subject. During the first semester, it was necessary to write only 2 tests: current and final. They are not very complicated, besides we wrote them online. Therefore, you can safely peek or write off on the exam. I say right away, it’s absolutely useless to buy a textbook, it costs 600 CZK, and all the information can be found on the Internet for free. I have 90 out of 100 points for this subject, the score is 1.
English Language Exam in VSE
Semester assignments at VSE for points: listening, writing an official and unofficial letter, presentation of a group project, a monologue about some event in the field of economics and the final test. I am doing well with my knowledge of English, so this subject didn’t seem very difficult either. But it is necessary to prepare for the exam in Prague, because there are a lot of new complex vocabulary. For this subject I have 81.5 points (credit).
VSE French exam for the first semester
I took the French level B1-B2 (although I have a clear B2 level) to repeat grammar, etc. But for some reason we had textbooks B2-C1, and there was really a lot of new things. For a semester in the Czech Republic: current and final tests, points for work in the classroom, debates (you prepare some topic, tell it and then hold a discussion on this topic with the whole class). The tests are quite complex, but only based on the material that they passed or what they asked at home while studying in the Czech Republic. I have 89.5 points for the subject “French in the Czech Republic” – a credit.
Academic degrees and rules of applying to teachers
The Geography of World Politics exam at VSE in Prague
Studying at VSE in Prague. There were two tests during the semester of study at the Higher School of Economics in Prague. The main difficulty was that you had to memorize a lot of numbers and statistics. Which countries are the main suppliers of electricity and oil. What is the GDP of a certain country, and a bunch of other characteristics. A lot of information that I learned in Prague and almost completely forgot right after the exam. For this subject in VSE I have 79 points, score -2.
How I was preparing for admission to VSE in Prague – review
Studying at VSE in Prague – microeconomics
For a semester of VSE in Prague: 2 mini-tests, 2 tests, 3 homework and an oral exam in Prague with 19 VSE tickets. It’s difficult, I had to learn a lot! As additional materials, I advise you to use the ekospace website – here they explain all the topics from the microeconomics course in the Czech Republic. I have 69 points for the subject, the score is 3.
VSE Mathematics Exam
During the semester of study at VSE: test, 8 homework, written and oral exam. Here I was very lucky that all my life I studied at a physics and mathematics school, and I formed some kind of mathematical thinking. Of course, only a small part of the lessons had time to pass, and 80 percent had to be studied by myself. A lot of time and effort is spent on mathematics. I even hired a tutor for several difficult areas of mathematics (a senior from VSE), he explained them to me, and I saved a few days of preparation for exams in the Czech Republic. Many of my friends went to retake exams in Prague, but I passed very cool – 90 points, score – 1.
The attitude in the Czech Republic to Russian students
Passing the VSE Law exams – review
There were no intermediate tests. Only an oral exam at the end of the first semester with 43 tickets to VSE in the subject “Law”. For me, it was the most difficult exam of the first semester in the Czech Republic, and I want to forget it like a nightmare! Tickets (with the exception of some) are very extensive and plus a lot of complex incomprehensible words. Learning “Law” in itself is not easy for me.
There is a file where all the topics are summarized – there are about 100 pages, they all need to be memorized and be ready to give examples if required (that is, you need not only to “memorize”, but also really understand what it is about). In general, be prepared that the “right” will be the “sponsor” of your sleepless nights.
Studying at VSE in Prague. It is worth noting that when taking an oral exam in the Czech Republic, the examiner plays an important role. Different examiners require a student in different ways. But it is not always possible to choose examiners, mostly they are distributed automatically in VSE. But if you have a chance to choose an examiner yourself, then be sure to communicate with undergraduates and ask them for advice. Studying at the Higher School of Economics in the Czech Republic is quite difficult – you need to study hard!
Review of studying in Prague at the university of Economics
Exams. Passing the session at the Higher School of Economics in Prague
Winter session exams in the second year
Studying in Prague at the Higher School of Economics
According to the classics, after the end of the semester, the winter session began. This semester I had 6 subjects:
- statistics
- retail business
- Finance podniku
- Francouztina pro economy
- Francouzská konverzace
- Date minimum
Of these, I closed one subject (Datové minimum) already during the semester. There is no exam as such, only work throughout the semester and a final presentation. In all other subjects I wrote exams.
In the Francouzská konverzace subject, the exam consisted of a written and an oral part. Exam dates are published at the end of the semester. Several dates are offered for each subject, and we choose ourselves when it is convenient for us to take the exam. Examinations were held internally in different forms: on leaflets, on computers at the university, on personal laptops.
Everything is as usual. Come into the audience, sit down at the table. Before the start of the exam, your ISIC is checked. They check that it has your name on it and that you look like in the photo so that it is you who handed over, and not another person for you.
After issuing the task, you write your answer on a piece of paper. Personally, I passed the last exam on January 17, I passed everything successfully and the first time. The second semester started on February 13th.
How I passed the entrance exams to the University of Economics in Prague
Studying at VSE in Prague. Here are my grades for the subjects:
- Statistics – 2
- Retail business – 3
- Finance podniku – 2
- Francouzština pro ekonomy – no grade, just pass
- Francouzská konverzace – 1
- Datové minimum – no score, just a pass
Grading system in Czech universities
Studying at Masaryk University in English
Universities in the Czech Republic with education in English
Hi, could you please share the way and the material that you used to study Law, I am dying now because I don’t understand anything at all in the class and there are all new words for me. I am struggling with it, I just want to give up
Hi! VSE has its own website which is called “vseborec”, you can get access there if you are a student of this university. On this website you go to the page “FreeMatroš”, there you choose ident number of the subject. For example 2MO302. There you can find different materials downloaded there by students: synopsises from lectures, questions from exams and test and a lot of other stuff. Try it, it helps a lot!
Hi Anna, I am a student like you. So I am so afraid of the oral exam. I usually forgot and I am so nervous to the point that I jave stormachech. Do you have any tips for me?
Thank you!
I can really understand you, I had absolutely the same problem and still have it time to time. First of all you should indicate the reason why you’re so worried:
1. You are not ready for exam for 100%, you’re not sure in your knowledge. You studied hard and for quite a long time, but still feel not prepared enough.
2. You’re not Czech/Slovak and you worry about the language, that you will sound stupid or smth like that.
3. You’re just afraid of “public” performance. 1 professor is still a little public, so it can also be a reason.
So indicate the problem first and try to focus on the decision for it. And also the most important – even if you fail an exam, it’s not such a big deal. No one will kick you out if the university because of 1 failed exam. You should realise that it’s not worth that much nerves, the less you worry – the better you perform on the exam:)
My problem is, first, I am not Czech or Slovak, so I am afraid that I don’t understand the question 100%. It leads to the nerves of not being able to answer the question. And yes, I feel that I didn’t prepare enough for the exam. I think I have a problem with public speaking, too. In my country, we don’t have an oral exam like this, so I am so afraid.
Well, fist of all, most of professor are truly fine with international students and if you don’t understand the question – they will 100% paraphrase it, they paraphrase it even for Czech students when those don’t know the answer. If paraphrasing doesn’t help, he will say this word in English (if he knows). So if u somehow understand lectures and can somehow speak, there will be no problems with understanding exam questions. About the feeling that u’re not prepared enough and public speaking- it’s common problem and it will pass only if you train it. And obviously the more oral exams u pass, the easier will be the next one. I really passed through it myself, so I’m 100% sure about what I’m saying.