Higher education in Russia is a totem, a fetish, a fad and a fixed idea. Since childhood, we have been taught that “going to college” is a jackpot: all roads are open, employers are lined up, salaries are at stake. This phenomenon has historical and social roots, but today, along with the popularity of universities, higher education has begun to depreciate, and there are also reasons for this. On such grounds, stories about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who dropped out of high school, who “lack of education” did not prevent them from becoming the main ones in their field on this planet, take root perfectly. Meanwhile, I undertake to assert: higher education is necessary, useful, forms a specialist of a higher level, but with Jobs and Gates, not everything is as simple as they say in memes and on some “chips”. Let's discuss today how to take 5 (6) courses, not corridors, and squeeze the professional and personal maximum out of them. Gaudeamus igitur juvenes dum sumus, friends!

From the unforgettable Bashorg based on quotes

This is the second part of the series "Live and Learn"

Part 1. School and Career Guidance
Part 2. University
Part 3. Additional education
Part 4. Education inside the work
Part 5. Self-education

Share your experience in the comments - maybe, thanks to the efforts of the RUVDS team and Habr readers, someone on the first of September will turn out to be a little more conscious, correct and fruitful. 

So higher education is necessary or not?

While this article was being created, the topic came out statistics from VTsIOM, and it seems to me corresponding to the real state of affairs. 

VTsIOM statisticsSource

Over the past 15 years, education has served Russians primarily as a tool for successful employment (48% in 2004 and 44% in 2019), career advancement (28% in 2004 and 26% in 2019), as well as own self-improvement as a professional (26% in 2004 and 22% in 2019). 

Over the past nine years, Russians more often began to consider higher education a necessity - the proportion of those who believe that a diploma of higher education should be obtained because it is accepted has increased (from 6% in 2010 to 18% in 2019). Most often this is said by young people aged 18 to 24 years (25%). Among them, the practice of obtaining higher education in order to improve social status is also the most widespread (18% against a share of 13% among all respondents).

In general, the majority of Russians are confident that higher education accompanies a successful career and makes it easier to achieve life goals, although over the past 11 years there have been noticeably fewer supporters of this point of view (76% in 2008 and 58% in 2019). 

Along with this, there is a growing skepticism about higher education as a prerequisite for a successful career (45% in 2008 and 68% in 2019) and doomed to a low-paid and non-prestigious job in the absence of a higher education diploma (50% in 2008). and 65% in 2019). Most often, doubts are recorded among respondents aged 18 to 25 years (74% of them speak of the overestimation of the importance of higher education, and 76% do not agree with the doomedness to low-paid work without a diploma), from 25 to 34 years old (77% and 74% respectively) and from 35 to 44 years (73% and 74% respectively). 

In addition, both during perestroika and today, Russians do not believe that education has a significant impact on a person’s material well-being, and their conviction in this has increased significantly (47% in 1991 and 70% in 2019). 

In the last three years, Russians are increasingly inclined to believe that higher education is becoming less accessible to all citizens (53% in 2016 and 63% in 2019). Against this background, the majority of respondents do not believe that any means are good for the sake of a diploma of higher education in our time, although 11 years ago they thought so less often (51% in 2008 and 65% in 2019). Another 55% would think about the need for higher education if it had to be paid for. In 2008, there were 45% of such people.

Moreover, veiled appeals “from an early age, say no to five corridors” sometimes slip through in very large companies. Let's find out where the truth lies.

Arguments for"

1. Not all companies and organizations are ready to open their doors even to a talented employee without a higher education diploma. Without this document, you are booked a path to large companies, state-owned companies and companies with state. participation, banks, organizations and law enforcement agencies (where there is also a lot of interesting and promising for developers and engineers). 
2. When moving abroad and in the process of looking for a job in a new country, you will most likely be required to have a translated diploma and/or degree certificate. In many companies abroad, the presence of a document on education is strictly treated, and especially among foreign citizens.
3. The situation in the technological field is changing rapidly, and the programming experience that you get instead of education will quickly depreciate, you will find yourself outside the market requirements. Basic technical (and any education) gives you a chance for a quick restart in any conditions.
4. Without studying at a university, you will not receive a knowledge base, the very foundation that underlies the career of a true professional. You can master JavaScript and make mountains of the frontend, but deepening in Java, Python, C / C ++ will most likely remain inaccessible to you, simply because most current projects also require knowledge of mathematics, which is hardly easy to master on your own. In addition, you will not be able to choose and change a profile without knowledge of technical disciplines in an academic volume. Yes, I will make a reservation right away, there are exceptions, but without a higher education, you most likely will never be able to feel the difference between the concept of a coder and a system architect or developer. 
5. Even if you are a stubborn, hardworking and talented flint with a lead butt, self-study in all fundamental disciplines will take much more time than studying at a university where teachers already know how and what kind of knowledge to convey to you. 
6. Refusing to study at a university, a person loses a lot of important social connections and skills, jumping from school (the state of "child") to work ("adult"). This “breakthrough” will make itself felt in professional life, when a career rollback occurs and guys with crusts and the ability to communicate on the same wavelength with the employer come forward. A similar phenomenon can be observed when a 15-year-old student who graduated from school earlier enters the institute - in the region of the 2nd-3rd year, he abruptly breaks down and turns from a gifted person into a three-year-old, largely due to the fact that somewhere the required amount of information was not received. Same story with communications.
7. A university is a great way to improve yourself in studies (theory) and work (practice) at the same time and manage to form the right platform for your future career (you work, understand what you need to take from your studies, bring theory to work, optimize something and gradually find your own niche). 
8. Recently, universities and companies have been closely cooperating with each other in terms of hiring employees, internships, real practice, summer schools, etc. This means that studying at a university really brings you closer to working in top companies and institutions, simplifies and shortens the path to the first job. A good chance, a weighty argument.
9. University is a way to get away from the army 🙂 

Arguments against"

To be honest, I don’t have any, so I will present the arguments of the opponents of higher education and try to analyze them.
 

1. Success in life is not related to the level of education. Adepts of self-made pros are shocking with the examples of Zuckerberg, Gates, Jobs and declare that it is possible to start a career and become a millionaire. These are very beautiful stories, but still exceptions, in which all the stars agreed: both talent, and genius, and the gift of a merchant, and the right foundation given by parents. In addition, these guys found their partners and associates precisely within the walls of universities and dropped out of school when they had that same big idea. In contrast, I can cite Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Ilya Segalovich, Arkady Volozh - these are people with a brilliant education, and they did not spare their time on it. Again, the country factor must be taken into account: in Russia and the countries of the ex-USSR, the value of education is almost cult.
2. The university is all theory on theory, there is no smell of practice there. Yes, the university is a lot of theory, without which there can be no practice. You can build a hut right on the ground, but you won’t be able to build a cottage or a skyscraper in this way - it will float and collapse at the second floor stage. Without mathematics, physics, the basics of algorithmization, understanding the principles of PC operation, and so on. you will not be able to develop really cool software, become a good engineer - everything you do will be like DIY. To do justice to the opinion of opponents, theory in a university is really redundant, and two things will help to cope with this: 1) critical thinking; 2) practical experience, which will outline the needs in the theoretical framework.
3. Knowledge is outdated, only in practice is the truth. Part of the knowledge is really outdated and, unfortunately, teachers are in no hurry to update the information in their Talmuds. However, this concerns the practical part, but does not affect the fundamental disciplines (well, the methods of treating appendicitis have changed, but the human anatomy has not changed in the foreseeable time), so the problem needs to be solved: go to the reading room, to the Internet, to Habr and fill in the gaps with relevant knowledge . 
4. It's long and expensive. Five years of university is very successful from the point of view of a life period of time: teenagers have time to form and become adults, active people. And this time should be spent as much as possible on development, on learning foreign languages, on trying yourself in practice (while you are a student, no one will condemn you for frequent job changes, internships, breaks in work experience, etc. - but after university these things will not work and will cause a maximum of questions). Make 100% use of this rather small amount of time. 

   But with a paid one, this is a problem, yes, there are few budget places, the competition is big. The question of the payback of education remains open - in the language of business, the payback will be long and delayed.

5. There are many professions available without higher and secondary specialized education. Yes, there is, I can even name a list: an SMM manager, a non-core copywriter, a salesperson, a call-center employee, a promoter, maybe even a director. But I think this is not the list that readers are interested in. If in doubt, open My Circle or hh.ru and look at the requirements for the desired position - in most cases, higher or incomplete higher will be the first or second line. And employers have a reason for that: if you have received a higher education, it means that you can think, analyze, be trained, organized, ready to achieve goals and understand what a routine, task, deadlines, responsibilities, etc. are. Self-taught freelancers who decide to take the path of wage labor in a permanent job inspire less confidence in the employer, although this is sometimes not justified. 

In general, if you have the opportunity, you must definitely go through the university: you will receive a base, skills, connections, and cool job offers. And the student years are also love, friendship, fun, unrestrained experiments and, in general, a bright, interesting time. In one word, it's a kaleidoscope.

Where to get higher education?

So, the student passed the exam, and now he is an applicant with a decent score, which many universities in different cities can afford. But, as you know, Moscow State University and Moscow State Technical University inherit the property of Moscow and are non-rubber, which means that it is necessary to analyze whether it is so important to conquer the Sparrow Hills.

• Your city / region is the best option: you save on housing, food, trips home, etc., you have friends and relatives nearby, there is no “emigrant” depression that covers exactly by the first winter session after the wave of ecstasy subsides freedom and delight. The competition in the labor market is lower, although the number of companies is smaller (again, it depends on the region - for example, there are a lot of IT companies and engineering centers in Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan). But in your city there may not be the desired department / faculty / university / specialization.
• Another city (not the capital) is the case when you find the nearest or suitable place to study and move. This brings additional costs and difficulties, but expands the circle of friends, interests, and helps to accelerate maturation. Upon graduation, you can choose an employer in the city of study, in your hometown, etc. - no restrictions. 
• Another city (the capital) is an option that many aspire to, which means that you will have fierce competition both at the university and in your job search. The costs will be even higher, but they will pay off faster: in the capital there are a lot of opportunities for internships, training, work - paid and free, with and without employment. In fact, you can study 3-4 times more intensively, work with practices, and actively expand your circle of business contacts. As experience shows, most likely, you will also stay in the capital to work - so plan your relationships with your relatives. There is a downside: if you return to your hometown, employers may be wary and ask questions about why you did not settle in Moscow / St. Petersburg. Whatever the true reason, only one works: family motives associated with parents.
• Studying abroad is a complex and controversial story. If you go right after school, then you need to choose either the “college-university” system, or be ready to enter the university right away (much more difficult). It is much easier - after the 2nd year of "our" university to enter a business school or university (provided that you have a sufficient level of the language of the country of study). And, finally, another option: to graduate from a Russian university and get an education abroad (an MBA is incomparably better there, but more on that in the next series). If you study abroad, you need to understand where you will work and by whom: not all companies are ready to confine themselves to a foreign diploma, for some this is a plus, for others a minus; some diplomas may be simply irrelevant. For example, my friend left a Russian university in the 2nd year and graduated from London Business School (one of the first graduates), but returned to live in Russia out of plans and at first received unintelligible answers “it would be better if you graduated from your university”, then denials of employment in one state corporation , and then spat and unlearned at the school. But that was almost 10 years ago, now, of course, it would be easier.

So, you have entered a university and now it is important to make sure that these 5-6-7 years turn out to be not just a party and dragging into pairs, but a time for pumping a character up to 80 lvl. 

Years at the university - live on 5+

First course: greenhorns, hazing, light, demo and the first circle of hell?

▍Situation

The biggest mistake is to think that the first year is a continuation of the school, and everything will be simple and ordinary. Indeed, for once, the education system treated students as humanely and correctly as possible: in the first year there are many general disciplines, and only 2-3 cause real problems in studying (and in any specialty, it’s not just about higher mathematics). But the first course is difficult, because:

• new communication environment and a new level of communication
• yesterday's schoolboy is already an adult and independent person for everyone
• household problems arise (especially when studying away from home)
• the format of education is changing: lectures, practice (seminars), exams, tests - at school it was to a lesser extent
• some school knowledge seems completely unnecessary and useless, in fact, the scientific worldview is turned upside down (about the same feelings when you learn about the existence of irrational numbers)
• the realization that your assessment and fate may depend not only on the level of training, but also on the mood, and sometimes the state of the teacher's psyche. 

▍How to survive?

The main thing is to tune in to the start of training and remember the golden and truthful saying: “The first three years you work for a record book, then the record book works for you.” The rules are as simple as possible.

• Do not succumb to the temptation to skip couples and do something else due to the remoteness of the exams - firstly, the knowledge is completely new, secondly, you should not spoil relations with teachers, thirdly, for attending lectures and seminars, they can be exempted from the exam with a good assessment (believe me, it’s better to “sit out” philosophy and KSE than to study them in a session when higher mathematics or profile physics-chemistry-biology will loom on the nose).
• Study. Do I really look like Captain Obvious now? It is in the first year that you will receive the knowledge that will form the basis of the rest of the years of study. In the meantime, everything is tolerant and loyal, you can learn to study: to understand how much lectures and seminars are enough for you, where it is more convenient to take additional materials, how it is easier to prepare for the exam (I give a tip: in advance), and in the end, in what places of the body and infrastructure, it’s better to hide cheat sheets (it’s very cool to write on white stripes of striped synthetic shirts). Thus, you will meet the very difficult 2nd and 3rd courses fully armed and greatly facilitate your task.
• Familiarize yourself with materials and sources. At a university, you come across several types of information sources: lectures, manuals (good teachers have better textbooks), textbooks, books of an educational profile (for example, I will not call the same Schildt or O'Reilly editions textbooks), periodicals (not for IT students). so relevant, but for the natural science and humanitarian profile - must read), the Internet and, in particular, specialized sites (Habr, Toster, Stack Overflow). It is important to decide what suits your specialty and how you process literature. In senior years, there will be no time for this - you will need to study according to the knurled, special disciplines will increase. By the way, a couple of books read on the topic is +100 in preparing for exams and in the quality of the answer, but the “rocked courseworker” can turn into trouble. 
• Chat, get to know classmates and student life, fall in love 🙂

In the first year, you should not dissipate and look for a job, forget to study, go into a hobby. This is the time not to even start, but to gain strength and mass before the 2nd course - a real start. It's not very difficult, it's much freer and more enjoyable than school, it's just interesting. 

Second course: start greyhound

▍Situation

In the second year, the parity between core subjects and general disciplines begins to change, study becomes more difficult and ... clearer, as the student is faced with practical tasks, begins to realize his specialty. New forms of reporting appear, which in the first year seem like an experiment: colloquium, serious term papers, joint projects. Learning is entering a new phase, but it is not yet on the knurled path - you have to master a huge layer of new information. But on the other hand, you are already getting used to the teachers, the rules of the dean's office, classmates and the rules of the game.

▍How to survive?

• Continue to study without skipping, accurately record information. I really liked this scheme: write down a lecture, marking obscure points in the margins with a question mark, and then, within a week, have time to deal with these points and, if something remains unclear, go ask the teacher. This method significantly increases the depth of knowledge, and a serious approach makes a good impression (+1 on the exam). 
• If there is such an opportunity, increase the load and go to study for a second higher education or get an education related to the English language (any other that you need). This is not crazy: firstly, the brain is already accustomed to learning and expanding the learning horizon will not overload it, and secondly, there are not so many classes at the correspondence course (2 installation sessions a year, which, moreover, do not coincide with daytime ones). You will graduate from the university with two diplomas and get a good bonus at the start of your career. 

  

• Start analyzing your future needs and figure out the primary choice: do you want to go to work in the commercial field or in science. The further vector of your efforts will depend on this: attach yourself to the department / laboratory and, among other things, deserve a budgetary graduate school (well, we write honestly, right?) Or start earning money and try your specialty in real combat. By the way, scientific student work is an excellent help in studying both in terms of the quality of information and in terms of universal respect. However, the concept may change. My choice at one time fell on science - there was a department, and dozens of scientific conferences, and publications from the 2nd to 5th year, and assistance to the teacher in writing his dissertation, and budgetary graduate school. But the choice was made in favor of money, and graduate school ended with three years of commercial experience and parallel teaching. When it's time to decide, the dynamism of the business and the money decided. I don't regret it, but I don't advocate either. Science is very cool, work in business is also. The combination is generally fire, but this is for talented lucky ones 🙂

By the way, it is after the second year that some companies take students to summer schools and internships, provided they have sufficient knowledge of the technology stack (Intel is famous for this, a very good summer course with tasks for any interest). Be sure to try this one.

Third course: course for work

▍Situation

The third year is a turning point in student life: profile disciplines win, the time comes to determine specialization, the contents of the record book gain authority, the equator occurs in winter (that’s another test!). An important task at this stage is to get a higher average score in order to pass to the desired specialization, and not be limited to where they are sent. Task number two is to try your hand at a real job, whether it's a 0,25 wage in a company, a job in a lab, or a free internship. So it will be easier for you to correlate practical goals and theoretical flow in order to form a primary professional essence.

▍How to survive?

• Find a job according to your profile (this is important) for half a day. This is done simply: make a resume and a cover letter, where you indicate all your significant skills and achievements and send them to HR addresses of suitable companies; calmly go to interviews and agree on a special mode of work and a small payment (don’t be impudent here - you need to earn a salary with experience, and not take it with impudence). At work, be sure to ask questions, listen to colleagues and calmly complete tasks - remember, professionalism begins with routine tasks that need to be sorted out to the very foundation.
• Continue to learn, using already familiar skills and life hacks. Be sure to find connections between work and study - this makes it much easier to understand and remember.
• Continue on your scientific path: choose a topic that is close to you and try to devote all term papers to it - so by the end of your studies you will have an almost finished thesis. This is a very cool strategy and it is even surprising why it is so rarely used.

Fourth course: we mature professionally

▍Situation

The fourth course, as a rule, is much easier than the third one, because it somehow develops it, deepens it. You already have an understanding of the specialty, at least one internship and a couple of training practices are behind you, you know what the teachers think about, and they know what you are all worth. It is at this time that you can pay more attention to work, sometimes allow yourself to refuse stupid lectures and seminars (without extremes).

▍How to survive?

• Don't get arrogant and don't get into trouble.
• Pay attention to work.
• Advance and deepen in studies and in scientific work. This is the time to firmly state whether you are going to graduate school and in what specialty. Look at the passport of the chosen specialty, check if it is available at your university (in someone else's case, it will take a difficult turn).

The finish line is in front of you. Then - either the 5th year or the master's program, which in fact do not differ much from each other (except for the duration of training). 

Fifth year / master's degree: growth - work - growth'

▍Situation

The fifth course is very interesting. On the one hand, they try to cram everything that is possible into the first semester, and there are really difficult disciplines with difficult reporting. On the other hand, the second semester creates the wrong illusion of graduating from a university: lectures are only introductory before the state, there are no exams and obligations. But this year, the most important thing is the state exams (states) and the defense of the diploma. And in some ways they are much simpler than past years, but responsibility and a single attempt (well, in an adequate case) make them panicky difficult.

▍How to survive?

• In the fifth year, the main thing is not to delay the preparation. Alas, the diploma / master's degree for the May holidays comes out disgustingly clumsy and shameful, even if it is born from scientific and term papers of previous years. The same story with the gosami - alas, this volume cannot be mastered overnight. 
• At the beginning of the year, you will be assigned a Diploma and Pre-Diploma Supervisor. Meet with him, talk, ask about the requirements, make a plan. Alas, it happens that the most ideal teacher turns out to be a disgusting and irresponsible thesis supervisor who will read your brick at the last moment and either criticize everything, or (and this is worse) score a deep analysis. If in December-January you feel that there are problems with the diploma supervisor, insistently demand a replacement and do not be afraid to let him down: he will not be fired or de-bonded, and you will have guaranteed problems.
• As soon as you receive assignments for the state, get a notebook and a separate document in your PC and start preparing. A month before the state, you should have all the questions worked out. You should not take last year's printouts - as a rule, they are 7-10 years old, and many of them contain outdated information. I don’t want to reassure anyone, but the state has a trick - on the day of the exam itself and the day before, some miracles happen. The correct layout is the key to success, you understand 🙂
• Write a diploma in advance, prepare materials, work through the practical part. Be sure to show the diploma at work or at the place of practice to a caring specialist, so you can avoid very offensive mistakes. 
• Answer confidently and clearly on the goss, missing the obvious points - you will be stopped and asked about these points. Doesn't always work, but overall a good strategy. On the diploma, remember one thing: in the audience you know your topic best of all, which means that it is important to convey knowledge to the commission, show the elaboration of the topic and interest (do not cram and do not read from a piece of paper). 

After defending your diploma, you sharply increase in value as a specialist - and this is true, because in the Russian market in 99% of cases a specialist without education is just a trainee. But above all, your value grows if you are already working - because now you can devote a full day to work. It's time to take the first step towards career growth. 

University: question - answer

What to do if you fail an exam?

Don't panic, don't beg, don't try to bribe. You will have 2 more chances + commission (it varies from university to university). Understand your mistakes, work out the material, ask the teacher and classmates for help. It is possible to hire the teacher taking the exam as a short-term tutor. If the reason is subjective, complain and demand to convene a commission.

How to pass the exam easier?

Prepare in advance, go through all the tickets. When preparing, use 2-3 alternative sources of information, learn how to present information in the form of diagrams - this way you better remember the “skeleton”, and the rest will grow by itself. 

How to explain to the teacher that I am working?

Many teachers do not like working students because there are many problems with them. Try to apologize in advance (not after the fact!) and explain that sometimes you will not be able to attend seminars and lectures because you have to work. But you firmly promise not to claim exemption from the exam and to test the brilliant theses from the lectures in real work conditions.

How to explain to the employer that I am studying?

Employers do not like students, but now they are more and more willing to meet them. Discuss the salary, working hours and working hours, schedule, speed of solving problems. Determine the range of tasks that you are ready to perform with guaranteed quality. An honest and smart head with a partial schedule for an adequate salary will not be superfluous, but if you can’t agree, change jobs, don’t waste time. Understanding and respect are more important than any corporate culture. Alas, not everyone understands this.

Libraries are dead?

No. In addition, the reading room and library of your university is an easy way to save a lot of money on additional materials, periodicals and textbooks.

If you need to skip, what to choose: a lecture or a seminar (practice)?

There is no universal advice. More information is given at lectures, practice is valuable only for technical (calculation) disciplines, at the rest your classmates and you will read reports from a printout. And it happens that at seminars there are discussions and class group work, and a lecture is reading a manual from now to now. Look at the situation, but without a reason it’s really better not to skip it, so that later it’s easier to pass.

Whether to climb into the student government?

If you have time - yes, it will give you a small head start in learning and will tie you more strongly to the university. It is especially valuable to engage in intellectual electives: the Scientific Student Society, the club “What? Where? When?" and so on. At some point, this can become a decisive factor when applying to a master's program or when transferring to the budget. The main thing is not to let student life take away time from study and work.

They forced me... but I wanted to become (a veterinarian, a doctor, a programmer, a biologist, a historian, a political scientist, a geologist...).

We live in a unique time: you can transfer, retrain, get additional higher education and combine it with the main one. Sometimes you can just try to work outside your specialty, demonstrating your ability for self-discipline and learning. The main thing is not to plunge into empty daydreaming, but act - at 35 you will no longer want to actively change something, and work will be burdensome. 

A university is a stage, it is the basis of the entire career that any modern person should have. And treating it as something unnecessary is just a maximalist position that will backfire much later. Therefore, memes are memes, but life is different and it requires maximum advantages in a competitive environment. Do not miss the time, it will reciprocate you.

Greedy postscript

And if you have already grown up and you lack something for development, for example, a good powerful VPSgo to RUVDS website - We have a lot of interesting things.

Source: habr.com