Media Communications: Success with a Discount

Choosing a career path is one of the most important decisions in the life of every high school graduate. In an era where information is becoming the main resource and the media industry is rapidly developing, a quality education in media communications is becoming particularly valuable. But what makes this programme so successful? What opportunities does it open up for applicants, and what does the educational process look like through the eyes of students?

© Olga Zotova for the HSE Media Institute

We talked with successful students of the «Media Communications» educational programme, who readily shared their experiences. They told us about the process of choosing a specialisation, the intricacies of the educational process, the secrets of maintaining a high discount and summed up their three years of study!

Eva Trubina
Third-year student of the «Media Communications» with 70% tuition discount

«I think I’ve known about HSE University for a very long time. I was always drawn to the atmosphere of this university. In the 9th grade, I decided to take the Basic State Exam in Literature and really enjoyed the preparation process and the subject itself. I also wrote articles for the school newspaper, then became the editor-in-chief, and that’s how I decided I would take Literature for the Unified State Exam.

How to choose a field of study?

I wanted to get into HSE for a media-related field — something creative, but also broad and versatile. At some point, I changed my mind about applying for journalism simply because I realized I didn’t really want to be a journalist. Media communications appealed to me and was a good fit. I just always had an inner feeling that I wanted to do media communications, and in the end, I only applied to this programme!

Useful tips

Based on my USE results and creative exams, I managed to get a 70% discount, which I have been maintaining for three years. A 70% discount is for the top 15% of students in the ranking. Essentially, to keep it, you just need to study well consistently and put some effort into your studies. If you have a personal motivation to maintain the discount or you just want to get excellent grades, you need to have mostly nines and tens, and maybe a few eights. Nevertheless, everyone I know for whom it was really important and who studied really hard managed to keep their discount! Basically, you just have to be responsible about your studies, complete all assignments to a high standard, participate in seminars, and have a good understanding of how the grading formula works for each individual subject.

Since I don’t have a permanent job, I have enough time to maintain good academic performance. I think it’s possible to combine both studies and a full-time job because it’s quite easy to get into the right rhythm. In media communications the inconsistent academic workload increases towards the end of the module, but the more you study, the faster you get at doing everything. I think the main thing is to manage your workload properly and know how you personally work best. If good academic performance is very important to you, it might not be possible to work full-time. Because, at the very least, with a full-time office job, you simply won’t be able to attend all the seminars and lectures. At HSE, after all, subjects often take into account either participation or attendance, or both.

Freedom and creativity!

I really like the educational process at HSE! Most of our assignments, whether essays or creative projects, are designed in such a way that you essentially have to constantly come up with something new. It’s important to put quality effort into every project, but if you enjoy it and you’re good at it, you’ll easily get into the flow. We also have a lot of group work, and if you get a good team that you enjoy working with, then everything turns out very well. In general, the media communications programme has a very interesting format where we don’t just have our noses in books all the time, but actually do all sorts of projects, and I really like that. I know it is not like this at some other HSE programmes.

In many media communications disciplines, the final assignments are projects, and often the project brief is literally “do whatever you want, as long as it’s within a certain theme.”And this is, essentially, a great deal of complete freedom in what you can come up with and implement. It’s great for developing creativity. I think that if you want your studies to be like that, built specifically on project-based work and interesting creative stuff, then media communications is a good fit.

Four exam periods. But it’s not scary!

In general, HSE is a great community with lots of cool events. Plus, I generally quite like the HSE system of education with minors and four exam periods a year. You don’t get the feeling that everything is very old and incomprehensible, everything is quite modern. Many teachers are also accommodating and understanding.

And I also sing….

Regarding extracurricular activities at HSE, I participated in organising events for Chetvert (The Quarter) — a student association that organises initiations and other events. I took part in the initiations this year and last year: in one, I was a commander, the person who leads the students through the quest, and in the other, I organised the entrance area and the final part of the event with bonfires and fireworks. In addition, last year I was a copywriter for an HSE comedy improv organisation, managing their social media. And recently, we shot book trailers in the form of vertical videos for one of the new books from the Alpina publishing house imprint. At the same time, I also study English for myself, sing, and do Pilates. There’s really enough time for everything!

Everyone can find their place

To be honest, I really enjoy my studies. Of course, there are downsides, but you’re still getting an education, encountering different teachers and different subjects. It’s impossible for you to like absolutely everything and be 100% satisfied with it all. Personally, I don’t regret coming here. The people I’ve met here, the interesting subjects, and the great teachers outweigh all the disadvantages. I truly believe that everyone can find something for themselves at the Institute for Media. I don’t know where else I could study and enjoy it just as much!»

Arina Skobeleva
Third-year student of the «Media Communications», state-funded spot

«I first came into contact with HSE back in high school when I was applying to the lyceum. Although I decided to continue my studies elsewhere at that time, I realised then that I would definitely return to HSE in the future. And that’s what happened: when it was time to decide on a programme, I didn’t even consider any options other than our university. At first, I planned to apply to a different programme here, but fate led me to «Media Communications», and it turned out to be the right turn in my life!

How do I manage to study well?

In my case, the answer is simple: I put my studies first. I believe it’s impossible to work, study, and succeed at everything unless you sacrifice sleep, your nerves, and your emotional well-being. One way or another, one of these areas will sag. One of my teachers, Alexander Mikhailovich Kupriyanov, once said something very true: «We’ll have plenty of time to work later, but to study…» This thought resonated with me, so as long as I have the opportunity, time, energy, and my parents’ support, I’m keeping my focus on getting a higher education.

To be among the top-ranked students, you first need to realize that diligently mastering the programme is the duty of every student at the Higher School of Economics. This means you need to attend classes and actively participate in them, and complete assignments from teachers to a high standard. If you do all of the above, you’re doing great and will most likely get an «excellent». Secondly, you need to determine your priorities. If a student is eager to work and get practical experience, that is undoubtedly commendable! But they must take full responsibility for the potential risks, such as unsatisfactory grades, for example. If it’s important for you to gain a strong theoretical foundation and become an erudite and well-rounded person, then put education first and fit all other activities around your class schedule and academic workload.

Set your priorities

In extracurricular activities, I also advise you to following your list of priorities. Every time I get an opportunity to work in a student organisation or on a certain project, I always assess the time and effort required. If I realize that such a commitment will negatively affect my learning process, I decline. But if the work can be integrated into my academic schedule, I gladly take it on! For example, for the second year in a row, I’ve been working as a teaching assistant for programming and data analysis, and this year the «Website Development» discipline was added. This activity fits perfectly into my schedule, I manage to devote enough time to it, perform my tasks efficiently and get great satisfaction from it! At the same time, I maintain a high level of engagement in my university studies.

I found what I want to do

In my life, I don’t build up expectations. I trust the natural flow of events and life. I applied without fully understanding if this was for me, if I really wanted to work as a producer, a camera operator, etc. So I was interested in learning everything. This desire was 100% fulfilled: now I know how to shoot, edit, record sound, correctly visualise data, and create a website and a chatbot from scratch. Of course, in addition to hands-on skills, I am also studying theoretical aspects that will definitely distinguish me as a specialist in the future. Now, when a task comes up, I always know which tools and people to solve it with, and can generate cool, unique solutions. Most importantly, during my studies, I found what I would like to do in the future».

Alina Nikulnikova, first-year student of the «Media Communications»

Translated by Varvara Timoshenko, first-year student of the «Media Communications»