The Universities Project: support for gifted Czech students
The Kellner Family Foundation helps Czech gifted students pay costs associated with their studies, especially at foreign universities. This year, 61 students were awarded grants. The grant applications for the next academic year must be submitted by 31st May, 2018.
Tereza Podhajská is one of the students to whom a grant was awarded this year. We talked about her studies at Yale University in USA.
Where did the thought about studying in USA, at Yale University, come from?
Ever since my first year at the grammar school, I knew I did not want to study at a university in the Czech Republic. True, we also have great universities which we should definitely not be ashamed of, the Czech system of education, however, does not suit me. I need a more active approach, i.e., through small discussion groups. This is exactly the approach that can be found at the American universities. Besides, my interests do not easily fit a single specialization, but are more diversified, which is also supported at American universities. We have to choose a field, but extending our area of interest outside this principal field is supported (often actually even required). The fact that I am able to acquire a comprehensive education in several fields at the same time, while also focusing on a narrower field, was probably the decisive benefit from my point of view.
And why have I chosen Yale? Probably the most important fact was the “human side” of the study. Students, lecturers, as well as other employees were so nice, and their opinions so interesting that I was immediately able to see myself living in their company. I wanted to attend a university offering excellent study opportunities (which Yale, as a member of the Ivy League, definitely does), while at the same time allowing for a safe intellectual environment. Yale is an excellent university, with an amazing social atmosphere. It sounds a bit like Utopia, but it is hard to get lost here. There is always someone to talk to, someone to learn from, and someone to share your thoughts with.
What impressed you the most in the American system of education?
I really appreciate the emphasis that is laid on activities outside of the lecture rooms. Everyone here has an additional mission to the education itself. Students publish, form music bands, organize charity events, teach secondary school students, work on research at nearby universities, and create new software... The list seems to be almost endless. Everyone has a passion that they follow. And Yale supports us to do just that.
I am also, quite understandably, enthusiastic about the individual approach that we get in the standard classes. For example, I studied programming last year, and I had an immense number of possible contact hours with professors and their assistants, it was about 15 hours a week. And I am not talking about the big assemblies at the lecture halls, but rather about one on one conversations. Their patience and determination to teach us as much as they can really inspired me; and more – it really worked! I never considered myself to be talented in IT, and had never even thought I would ever try, but now I can manage programming in both C and Python.
What’s the study like?
The university allows students quite a lot of freedom in the selection of the subjects, although there are, of course, some formal requirements. We have to pass at least two courses in each of three fields: science, social sciences, and art and humanities. Besides, we also have to attend at least two courses in so-called foundational skills: logic and quantitative reasoning, writing, and foreign languages. Everyone can choose from subjects they consider the most suitable for them within those fields, but everyone must meet the criteria. Besides, each specialization has individual criteria that must be met in order to obtain a degree and a diploma.
Personally, I am doing my best to study as wide a spectrum of subjects as possible before I get to the stage where I have to specialize. So far, I have experience in programming, Swahili, arts, literature, economics, French, and immunology.
How expensive is it to study at an American university?
It is definitely not cheap. Private universities (Yale is one of those) charge astronomically high tuition fees: this year, it was $70,570 (both terms combined). State schools usually require less, mostly around $25,000. On the other hand, rich private universities often provide very generous financial support to students who cannot afford to pay such fees. Besides, there are also Czech foundations supporting gifted students. A shining example of those is The Kellner Family Foundation, providing its financial support for my Yale studies as well. I was also awarded a great financial package by the university itself, so in effect, studying at an American university is not that much more expensive than studying in Europe. For example, I didn’t have to take a study loan, which many people e.g. in the United Kingdom, have to do. So yes, the study is expensive, but it is not unsolvable!
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7.5.2018