Study

Semester dates

The academic year is officially divided into two semesters (terms): First Semester: 1 September – 20 January, followed by winter vacations for about 10 days. Second Semester: beginning of February – 30 June, followed by summer vacations in July and August.
So if you wish to go home for Christmas or vacations, you have to plan well in advance.

Language requirements

USUAA currently provides instruction in the Russian language only.

Your level of Russian will be checked at an entry examination. You’ll be asked to answer a multiple-choice test and write an essay in Russian on a specified theme.

USUAA does not run courses of Russian as a foreign language. You can learn Russian at any of the Russian universities that offer such a course. Or you can learn Russian in your country and then demonstrate your level at the entry examination.

Course & grade structure

Assessment in all courses is graded. The grading system is a scale of 5 to 2, where 5 is “excellent”, “4” is “good”, “3” is satisfactory, and 2 is failing. Some tests (“zachet”) are graded just as pass/fail.

The primary degree awarded is Bachelor or Specialist. After that, there are two-year Master Degree programs, and PhD-similar programs, which in Russia lead to the degree of “Candidate of Science” after the defense of a dissertation.

Be aware that you’re required to attend lectures, and, especially, seminars.