How a girl from a Moscow family decided to give up everything and go to New York to study business. This is the story of a LinguaTrip student who couldn’t resist the admissions committee – Dasha Stepanova
Dasha, please tell us about your journey in learning English.
My mother is an English teacher at school. And, oddly enough, I hated this subject all my life and didn’t really study it. But at the age of 15 we went to London to visit friends, where I couldn’t say a word. And I felt ashamed that I couldn’t even ask for a fork. Then I thought about studying English, besides, I always wanted to study in another country.
It is generally accepted that studying abroad is only available to the very rich or the very smart, or even both. But I decided to try anyway. That’s why I started actively learning English in high school. It was difficult to work with my mother. I insisted that they hire a tutor for me. And so every third night I sat until the morning, did not sleep, learned the language in order to pass the Unified State Exam.
How did you pass the Unified State Exam?
Worse than I wanted. I had to enter the university on a paid basis. But in my direction there was a student exchange program. To get into it, you also had to pass a selection process. Therefore, I studied with a tutor for another year in order to go to Austria.
“The desire to try my hand, to get out of the nine-story building and see the world, to study somewhere else, greatly influenced my attitude towards English. »
Who did you study for in Moscow?
At the age of 17, I understood little, so the choice fell on linguistics and international relations. It seemed that this way I would be closer to my dream, to study in English. But I am more focused on business, communication and career. Linguistics is not my thing at all. So I quickly realized that I didn’t like studying.
And came up with your own plan for change ?
Yes. I started looking for options to transfer somewhere to Europe, but since I studied at a paid school, my parents did not have money to study in another country. But there was an exchange program in Austria, which I mentioned above. I was able to go there to study management. I really liked it, just heaven and earth.
But I still continued to think about the States. It seemed to me that life in America was something out of a childhood dream you saw on TV. I started going to all student events and career fairs. At one of them I met a representative from the University of Colorado. She told me about the Entrepreneurship program, the creation and development of start-ups. I got excited and realized where I needed to go.
Hasn’t the fact that studying abroad stopped you?
No. It was then that I saw a video on Marina Mogilko’s channel and realized that everything was real. I realized that since I was able to go to Austria, then I could also go to the USA. I didn’t have much experience, business contacts or portfolio. My option was to enroll in a master’s program. But everywhere it was necessary to pass a complex mathematical and linguistic exam.
“Even though I studied linguistics, I failed both linguistic questions on the exam.”
This brought me down to earth a little. I had to take a break and prepare properly. It was necessary not only to study, but also to look for work in order to build a strong profile and stand out among others. I got a job in the marketing department of an American company, then I was lured to a German agency. This is how I was able to gain experience in business at the international level. But still something was not right. I started traveling, started my own YouTube channel, which I managed to monetize, and started teaching Russian. After that, my friends invited me to an educational start-up to help children. I really like this job.
Yes, the preparation for the USA is really extensive. What about exams? How did you prepare for them?
I had so much going on. I am a very active person. But at some point, I asked myself the question: “Why haven’t I filed documents in the USA yet?” And the reason was the GMAT exam, which I didn’t want to prepare for at all: I didn’t have the energy or time for it. But I already knew about LinguaTrip, so I decided to apply for full support . I value my time, and LinguaTrip experts helped me check all the documents, select universities and programs, and assess my chances. So I would be constantly distracted from my work and YouTube channel. I have never regretted asking for help. Moreover, I was already familiar with LinguaTrip: I took courses during the pandemic, I watched Marina – she is very inspiring.
In addition to the USA, I was also preparing documents for England and Italy, and was considering Germany, Austria and Spain, although I didn’t really want to go there. But then the political situation changed.
“I lost monetization on YouTube. And I was still scared of that dreaded GMAT exam. »
Then I decided to wait another year. Later I contacted the LinguaTrip team again. I was told that the US continues to issue student visas and the GMAT exam is not required in many places. And the new one and I began to intensively prepare for America.
What was difficult or strange about preparing for admission?
That everything needs to be done quickly. It was especially difficult to obtain documents from my university with grades. My department did not really understand what I wanted from them, and why they should do this. It was necessary to officially send my documents with grades, but the employees were afraid to do this for some reason. But in the end I was able to persuade them.
Cool! Where did you end up going?
I applied to seven American universities and got into six of them. I chose New York St. John’s University and MBA Entrepreneurship program. As a girl from Moscow, I always wanted to live in New York. I’m a big city girl. I was given a full scholarship; to be more precise, I won a competition for a Graduate Assistantship and this job will fully cover the cost of my studies.
Graduate Assistantship (or GA) is a financial assistance program for graduate students at universities. Under this program, the university provides a stipend or salary to graduates to perform certain duties in a university environment. Graduate Assistantships are usually awarded for the duration of a Master’s or PhD program and can cover a variety of areas.
Wow! Congratulations! How did this happen? What did you do to get the grant? Now this question worries a lot of people. Tell me please.
Other universities offered me a partial scholarship. For example, if studying costs $50,000 a year, and they offered me to cover $20,000, I refused. I still didn’t have the money to pay the rest. Over the past two years of work, I have saved up something, but it would not be enough anyway. So I applied for Graduate Assistantships wherever I could.
“It helped me that I’m pushy and persistent. I wrote letters to everyone everywhere, made myself known, communicated with everyone with whom it was possible. »
I wrote to everyone: deans and assistants about what I could do. “Here is my article, which I did not indicate in my resume, I know how to edit videos, I have my own YouTube channel, I communicate well with people…” – I made it clear that I was active. It seems to me that universities are looking for such people. As a result, one university offered me a Graduate Assistantship, but somehow things didn’t work out for us. Other universities offered this program only after six months of study. In St. John’s University, everything worked out for me: both a job and a scholarship.
How did you feel when you entered?
Surprisingly, I didn’t care. They don’t tell you right away whether you will receive funding or not. At first I just found out that I was accepted, and then I saw the price of tuition at $55,000. So I was just waiting for the decision on the scholarship.
And in the end, you got exactly the option you were looking for…
Yes! In St. John’s University was already coming to an end. And I thought that they would immediately tell me whether I would receive a scholarship or not. I decided to write to them again myself. I talked with the dean and his assistant. They responded very reservedly, but I wrote to them every week. As a result, before receiving the official lists, the dean confirmed to me that I was accepted into the Graduate Assistantship. I couldn’t believe it! I showed the letter to my friend and the LinguaTrip team so that they could confirm that I was not dreaming.
When does your studies start? When are you leaving for New York?
Classes begin at the end of August. I don’t want to guess anything completely yet, I’m afraid I’ll jinx it. First you need to get a visa. ( At the time of this interview, Dasha had already received a student visa to America ). I have yet to figure out where I will live, because I already missed the deadline to apply for a hostel. But I still wrote to the university to ask what options were available. Of course, I really want to live on campus.
What advice would you give to those who want to study in the USA?
Aim for the Ivy League. It’s very difficult to get into there, but set the bar high for yourself. The chance that you will end up there is very low. But your level of preparation will open doors to other cool and equally prestigious universities.
Preparing for admission is a very difficult process. I had a lot of tears and worries, and fatigue accumulated. The parents did not want to let their only daughter go so far to America. Therefore, there was little support. It is very important here not to lose faith in yourself, talk to yourself honestly and understand what you really want. And then just go straight towards the goal.