Employee of the Admission office of MEPhI, student of the Laser physics department Daria Mazur has given more temporary student cards to applicants of the Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies (LAPLAS) than others.

A year ago Daria anxiously sat in MEPhI Admissions and were applying to the University, and today she knows everything from the inside and tells applicants about the advantages of study at MEPhI.

Internal responsibility

– At the beginning of the Admission campaign, we had tours at the Laser centre, Department of plasma physics, so that we have an idea what to tell applicants. We were also warned that we would meet different types of people, among who there are parents that need to be interacted in a special way. One of the advices we were given is not to assess the chances of an applicants’ enrolment. I am very careful to express my personal opinion.

Work in the Admission office generates internal responsibility. There is much work with documents, you should be careful. We are never rude and always smile. I am a quick-tempered, emotional, but here I learn to control myself, to be polite. This is a big plus for me.

MEPhI teaches you to think

– When I have applicants with the highest scores, I tell them about the opportunity to work in Rosatom and in scientific centers. Sometimes I change the policy a little: I propose to imagine a situation where a graduate of a bachelor degree – not an A student, with no special friends and acquaintances – is trying to arrange his future life. And I talk that MEPhI develops brains and not just dives tasks to solve. All teachers are teaching you to think. If you leave the University at 22 and “have brains”, you will succeed in any field because you are able to think critically and make independent decisions.

Unfortunately, some applicants do not really know where they are applying. We talk a lot about the direction of the Institute, why they are good and why they should go there. Some applicants see the name “Software engineering” and go there because it just sounds cool. Many people go into applied mathematics and physics, laser techniques and technologies.

For this reason, many applicants overlook the specialty “Electronics and automatics of physical installations”, which has the program “Particle accelerators”, where people make accelerators for cancer treatment, develop devices for the Large Hadron Collider and conduct research activities with international centers in Germany, China, USA, and Italy.

Applicants are mostly interested in what they will do in the future, what kind of work awaits them. Not everyone wants to go into science, although I’ve met a young applicant who said he wanted to deal exclusively with science and not for money.

When I was an entrant

– I failed the exam in physics due to the fact that were unable to cope with the nerves. I had enough score to be enrolled as a tuition-free student in a famous technical University in Russia. But in the Admission office they told me that I will be enrolled if the red star falls from the sky. And it was terribly humiliating, rude and unpleasant. I immediately decided I didn't want to study there.

I was upset; my self-esteem fell to the last degree. In August I came to MEPhI. When I was filling documents, everything was so politely, carefully, I saw a sincere desire to help. I thought that if the Admission was so attentive to the applicants, then the attitude of teachers would be the same friendly. This was the deciding factor.

Want to be in science

– When I was in a higher school, I participated in the competition “Step into the future”. In the student's laboratory I studied the Talbot effect. I thought it was interesting. I really want to go into science, work with installations, and if I discover a new law, it will be a supreme joy.

Unlike in other universities, here you have time for a personal life besides study. For example, I work in the Student media center, participate in the Open Days of the University, and in the Students parade. It is drive, energy, new friends, and experience. And Deans are always ready to help students. For example, if during training you do not understand mathematical analysis, you can come to the Dean's office, and they will appoint a postgraduate or master degree student, who is free to study with you. MEPhI is the perfect combination of quality education and rich student life.