The end of school is marked for many graduates by the beginning of a new life stage - admission to a higher educational institution. The future of the child largely depends on the choice of an educational institution, and therefore it must be done consciously. And the first thing you should pay attention to is not the reviews or reputation of the university, but the compliance of the chosen direction of training with the profile of the institution.
The direction of preparation at the university - what is it?
Surprisingly, when deciding where to get higher education, it is important to focus on professional programs. The profile of the institution determines the presence of certain disciplines in accordance with the curriculum. Before applying for admission to the selected university, you must first familiarize yourself with its educational program.
So, what does the direction of preparation mean? To implement the fundamental curricula, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia approved the standards, therefore, for each level of higher education today there is its own GEF. Respectively,it is unacceptable to conduct studies at a bachelor's or specialist's degree according to the standards of a master's or postgraduate study. Thus, our country guarantees the functionality of the created system of professional personnel of various profiles and specializations, which the national economy and the business sector need.
Relationship between GEF and speci alties
Each Federal State Educational Standard provides for dozens of integrated areas of training, which, in turn, include several speci alties. For example, 11.00.00 "Electronics, communication systems and radio engineering" is the basic enlarged direction with speci alties:
- 11.03.01 Radio engineering.
- 11.03.02 Nanoelectronics.
- 11.03.03 "Design of electronic means".
- 11.03.04 "Communication and infocommunication systems".
Profiles of directions and specializations at universities
Next, we should name the division into profiles according to the direction of education, provided for by federal standards. At the same time, each educational institution has the right to create unique education profiles in the appropriate order and approve them at the Ministry.
For example, profiles of the speci alty 01.03.04 "Applied Mathematics" can be offered at the university as follows:
- Provision of mathematical and algorithmic systems and information technologies.
- Mathematical technique in information technology.
- Applied Informatics in Chemistry.
- Modeling and mathematical methodsin economics.
- Providing artificial intelligence systems and programming.
What is the difference between a profile and specializations?
As already mentioned, the choice of the direction of training and speci alty must be approached responsibly. Despite the common blocks of fundamental disciplines included in the educational program of profiles of a particular specialization, each of them has unique subjects that take into account the specifics of the graduate's profession in the future. That is why, getting acquainted with the list of areas of study, applicants should know that all of them can include dozens of profiles. For clarity, as an example, we should consider the speci alty "Construction", which suggests options for professions in areas of construction that have nothing in common:
- "Construction of hydraulic structures".
- "Construction of industrial buildings".
- "Construction of hydroelectric power plants and pumping stations."
- Urban construction and economy.
- Real Estate Expertise and Management.
- "Laying roads and building airfields."
- "Ventilation and engineering systems".
- "Construction and computer modeling".
How to choose the right future profession?
Thus, it is necessary to get acquainted with the educational program long before submitting documents to the university. After all, having received an idea of the professional block of disciplines of the curriculum, it is easy to guess what profession the graduate of the institution will become the owner of.
At this stage, it is important not to make a mistake with the direction of training and profile, respectively. Often illegible applicants are often confused by the fact that the speci alties have almost identical names, despite the cardinal differences in the blocks of professional disciplines. As a result, students acquire knowledge that does not correspond to their initial aspirations and plans, which means that upon leaving the university they receive unequal opportunities for successful career growth.
Where can I find information about profiles and speci alties in an educational institution?
The list of areas of study and speci alties can be found on the official website of almost any university, but it is unlikely that you will be able to quickly find profiles and educational programs corresponding to them. The thing is that the statutory documents of institutions are required to publish data on quotas for budgetary and contract places in a particular speci alty. The university may not detail the professional programs related to each direction. At the same time, most educational institutions with a transparent reputation do not hide the profiles of education and indicate them in the "Admission Committee" section.
This information may be contained in another section of the site. Often information about profiles is present in the description of the university itself, its structure. But if the list of areas of training and speci alties of higher professional education is open and accessible to every visitor to the site, then information aboutprofiles are often deliberately hidden from applicants. The reason for this may be the unpopularity and lack of demand for a certain educational program in comparison with a speci alty that sounds more prestigious and attractive to applicants. Such an unscrupulous step is undoubtedly beneficial to the university.
The main differences between the speci alty and the profile direction
By the way, in the context of the above, it is worth noting that most applicants do not see fundamental differences in the concepts of "direction" and the actual "speci alty". In fact, these two terms do not have much in common. The main difference lies in the difference in training periods. In accordance with the Bologna process, bachelors and masters receive knowledge in the areas for four and two years, respectively. Here, rather, we are talking about a form of education that meets European standards and provides students with the widest range of opportunities for building a personal learning plan. Thus, by the time they graduate from the bachelor's degree, students become holders of higher education diplomas, which allows them to officially find a job.
But for those graduates who would like to continue their studies to improve their qualifications or change their professional direction, there is a master's program. Upon completion, a graduate can become the owner of two professions and two diplomas of higher education.
How not to make a mistake when applying for a specific speci alty?
Whenchoosing a specialization and profile, only attentiveness and caution will save the applicant from making a mistake. Unscrupulous educational institutions, in order to increase income, sometimes include profiles in the list of professional programs that do not correspond to their general specialization.
The most common and profitable from the point of view of the commercial system for the provision of educational services are the profiles "Design", "Economics", "Management", "Jurisprudence", and therefore when entering a university for which these speci alties are not core, you should not lose vigilance and be on your guard - it is likely that this educational organization sets itself the goal of improving the financial situation.
As a rule, universities that train technologists or biologists, builders and engineers do not enroll students in fundamentally different areas of study.
The main signs that the direction does not correspond to the profile of the university
Of course, there are exceptions to all the rules, but in order not to fall for deception, it is advisable to conduct a serious analysis of the institution before submitting documents. Particular attention should be paid to the following points:
- There are no budget places on the selected profile;
- the number of contract places significantly prevails over other specializations;
- a completely unique profile name that is not found in other universities (this can, of course, be a signa unique study program at a specialized university, but can also have another goal - to replace the usual content with an unusual name in order to stand out from the background).
For the most part, higher education institutions have a balance of contract and free places for a particular speci alty. Demanded universities have more state-funded places for students than paid ones. The predominance of contract places for programs over free ones is a reason for additional collection of information on the quality of educational services provided in this organization.
How important is the right choice of professional direction and speci alty?
After reviewing the list of speci alties and areas of higher education, remember that the university is not only a place of study for students. Each university can be called a place of accumulation of knowledge, the development of a scientific school and the formation of new ideas about scientific and technological progress, culture and art. However, it is impossible to concentrate forces in all directions at the same time.
The activities of institutes, academies and universities, proven over decades, are based on their core profile. When deciding to enter a non-core educational institution, a potential student is at serious risk of receiving an insufficiently high level of education. The right choice of a professional program and speci alty is a chance to make your dream come true and become what you have wanted since your school days.
