The thought of studying abroad loomed in the backyard of the mind for a long time, but it came to the fore at the beginning of the 4th year. It was then that I decided that I didn't want to be an ordinary programmer, but I wanted to bemistress of the seascientists in the field of machine learning. And there is an opinion that it is better for scientists to be in the West. There is also an opinion that the easiest way to get to the West is to get an education there. Putting two and two together, I started looking for an English-speaking master's degree.

In the article I will describe my personal experience in great detail, remembering how similar texts (for example, this one ) were useful to me myself.

TL; DR: with a red diploma in mathematics, received a full scholarship to study in a German magistracy (in English). Nervousness, bureaucracy, personal growth, sweet taste of victory.

Initial data

Here are three facts that significantly influenced my further path.

Fact one - I didn't want to sit on my parents' neck any longer, but I didn't want to be torn between study and work either, having before my eyes the experience of classmates who were quickly disappearing from the study process. I love to study and I went to study. So I needed a scholarship that fully covered the cost of living.

The second fact - I attended to master's degree only at the beginning of the fourth year. By this time, the deadline for applying for the most numerous scholarships - American and Australian - had already passed. Europe remained.

Fact three - I'm a nerd (and proud of it). The list of my strengths included a student's record-book of Matmekh SPbU with one “good” and the rest “excellent”, two publications of research at student conferences, three summer programming internships (Lanit-Terkom, Lanit-Terkom, JetBrains) and a large reserve of perseverance. The weak side was the lack of experience in volunteering and other extracurricular activities.

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