Less than a month remains, and prospective students will have to make a choice that will affect their future lives.
Today, we have prepared a post on 7 key points that prospective students and their parents should pay attention to when choosing a place of admission in Ukraine. We will not be addressing the question of which specialty or HEI (Higher Education Institution) to choose. This post will be useful to those who already know the specialty in which they want to get higher education and have a list of several places of study. Our recommendations will help analyze these places according to specific criteria and make a reliable choice. We have also tried to provide criteria that are readily available on the graduating department’s website or social media, so that this process does not require a lot of time and communication with HEI representatives.
1. Specialty and Educational Program
It is necessary to clearly understand the difference between the specialty and the educational program:
- Specialty — this is the general name associated with a field of knowledge.
- Educational Program — this is a concrete set of disciplines, skills, and competencies that you will study and acquire during the learning process.
You will submit your application for the educational program, and not the specialty. Within the same specialty, different HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) may have different educational programs that vary significantly in content and focus.
For example, at NTU “KhPI” in the specialty “122. Computer Science“, the educational program is “Artificial Intelligence” or the educational program is “Modeling, design, and computer graphics“. The specialty will be one and the same — 122. The diploma will state “Bachelor of Computer Science“. But upon completing the 4th year, graduates of different educational programs will have different knowledge and competencies. And they will work in completely different fields.
You can find the educational program project on the website of the graduating department. This document is approved by the Academic Council of the HEI and the HEI’s management. You can familiarize yourself with the educational programs of the СMAD department via the links:
Choose the educational program that best suits your interests and goals.
2. Accreditation of the Educational Program
Make sure the educational program you plan to enroll in is accredited for a sufficient term. This is important to avoid a situation where, after only a year, you are forced to study under a different program, or even at a different educational institution.
Why is this important? This issue has become particularly acute in recent years, as the process for accrediting higher education institutions has changed. The list of requirements for educational programs is quite extensive, and not all successfully pass this process and receive a license. There have been precedents where an HEI received only conditional accreditation for an educational program for 1 year (with the possibility of re-accreditation). And in some cases, the HEI did not receive accreditation for the educational program at all, which created difficulties for students who had already started studying under that program.
Information regarding the accreditation term can be found in the “Educational Program” document under the section “availability of accreditation.” Therefore, check exactly what the accreditation status is and for how many years the license was received for the specific educational program you plan to enroll in.
3. Presence of Practitioner-Lecturers in the Department’s Teaching Staff
A strong faculty (professorial and teaching staff) guarantees the high quality of education you will receive.
If you plan to enroll in an IT specialty, pay special attention to who teaches the IT disciplines for the chosen educational program. The greater the percentage of practitioner-lecturers among the total number of IT discipline instructors, the more practical skills you will acquire during your studies.
Instructors of IT disciplines who work not only at the HEI (Higher Education Institution) but also at IT companies are a guarantee that you will receive not only academic knowledge but also practical skills. This information is usually presented on the website of the graduating department in the relevant section. You can find information about the faculty of the CMAD department via the link.
Therefore, go to the department’s website for the educational program you have chosen and look up the information about the instructors. Pay special attention to whether they work at other companies (besides the HEI) and what positions they hold there.
4. Department Interaction with Employers
If you have already decided that you want to link your future with IT, it’s important that your future graduating department cooperates with IT companies. Such cooperation includes:
- Consultations with specialists on the development of academic courses.
- Participation of IT company employees in the educational process.
- Organization of internships.
- Dual education.
- Financial support.
The presence of such cooperation indicates that the department trains specialists who are in demand on the labor market and have good career prospects in modern IT companies. IT companies, for their part, invest resources in the development of the department, which ensures high quality of education.
Information on the cooperation between the department and IT companies is usually presented on the department’s website in the relevant section. The names of the sections may vary depending on the initiatives of the partners. For example, on the СMAD department website, this information is presented on the pages:
Information on cooperation can also be found on the department’s social media pages. It is worth paying attention to:
- Meetings with IT company representatives and instructors.
- Support measures for students and prospective students.
- Presence of IT company representatives on thesis and diploma defense committees.
- Meetings regarding the content of academic disciplines.
Therefore, analyze the information on the graduating department’s website and social media regarding its interaction with IT companies.
5. Department Graduates
How can you quickly get an idea of the career opportunities that your chosen specialty and educational program offer? The stories and career paths of graduates are the most honest advertisement and the best indicator of the department’s relevance and teaching effectiveness.
First, check where the graduates of the department you plan to enroll in work (which IT companies and what positions they hold). This information is easy to find on the department’s website. You can also look on the HEI’s social media. If the information you find appeals to you, look at video feedback from graduates, interviews with them, and recordings of their meetings with students. If you meet company names that are among the top ten in the world, and if you realize that the positions held by the graduates in leading IT companies are the positions of your dreams, then you should seriously consider this specialty and this educational program.
Today, СMAD department graduates successfully work and hold leading positions at Meta, Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Their stories can be found on their page.
Choose an educational program and a graduating department that will provide you with a reliable path to achieving your most ambitious goals.
6. Opportunity for Academic Mobility
If it is important for you to have the opportunity to study abroad, find out if the graduating department offers an academic mobility program. This can include:
- Exchange with international partners (e.g., Erasmus).
- Participation in international projects.
- Internships abroad.
- Double degree programs.
You need to understand that not all departments in Ukraine, and not all educational programs, provide students with this opportunity. However, if such an opportunity exists, it is definitely stated on the department’s and the HEI’s website in the relevant section.
For example, on the CMAD department website, information about student exchange programs (Erasmus) with universities in Germany (Freiburg University, Würzburg-Schweinfurt University) and Israel (TECHNION), as well as information about double degree programs (Germany, Magdeburg University) is presented in the section “International Cooperation”.
Therefore, if the opportunity to study abroad is important to you, check what academic mobility programs the HEI offers for the educational program you have chosen.
7. Priority of Choice
When you have a completed list of HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) and educational programs that interest you, you need to rank them by priority from 1 to 5 (1 — highest priority, and 5 — lowest). When submitting applications in the electronic account of the applicant, you will assign this priority. The enrollment process will be based on this priority. Remember that after submitting the applications, it will not be possible to change the priority!
To properly set your priorities, it’s worth analyzing a few aspects:
- EIE/NMT Results. Analyze your average EIE/NMT score, calculate the average required score for the chosen program, and find out what the average scores were for enrollment in the program last year. This will help you understand your chances of admission.
- Specialty Popularity. Note: Some specialties are very popular, and competition for them is high. It’s worth analyzing the competition for the chosen programs from previous years.
- Employment Opportunities. Research how successful the graduates of your chosen program are in finding employment. This can significantly influence your choice.
- Study Format. Consider that several study formats are currently available: online, offline, or mixed. Students must receive higher education regardless of their location. The material is provided in full volume, in a convenient format, and students enrolled in distance learning receive remote access to all necessary resources.
- Additional Criteria. You may also have criteria such as internship opportunities, international programs, equipment, or material and technical base.
Correctly setting priorities significantly affects your chances of enrollment and subsequent studies.
When reviewing information on the department’s website and social media, pay attention to how conveniently and accessibly it is provided for prospective students. Evaluate how quickly and easily you can communicate with department representatives and receive answers to your questions. Remember: everything mentioned here is not just an empty formality, but a very important indicator that the graduating department cares about prospective students (and future students) and treats their clients with respect, knowing how to provide information conveniently and accessibly. After all, as the saying goes, “if you do one thing well, you do others well too.”
We care about ensuring you have access to current information, can get answers to your questions, and can easily navigate the admissions process. That’s why the CMAD department:
- Posted all important information regarding the educational program and useful information for prospective students on a single admissions website page, so you don’t have to wander through different sites.
- Created a chatbot on Telegram @KMAD_bot, where all selected and necessary information for prospective students is gathered.
- Ensured visualization of the beginning of the educational process for each educational program, which clearly presents the information that will be studied over 4 years, as it’s difficult to read many pages of text: MAP ROAD DS and MAP ROAD AI.
- Ensured connection with the graduating department; you can get 24/7 consultations in all messengers: +380 (97) 113-45-19.
If you have suggestions on what we can do for your convenience, write to us — we are always open to suggestions!
We sincerely wish all prospective students successful NMT completion and enrollment in the educational institution of their dreams! I, personally, am waiting for you at our department!