ICEF Students Share Experience From China’s SWUFE
About the study programme
Everyone from ICEF who went to Chendgu as an exchange or double-degree student has shown good progress and passed exams in all the courses taken there. While the double-degree students were able to do 5-6 courses specified in HSE–SWUFE agreement, the exchange ones studied 5.
Roman Skuntsev went to SWUFE for an exchange semester: “One of the courses I took in Chengdu was Intermediate Microeconomics. It is in many respects similar to the Microeconomics course at ICEF, using a nearly identical assessment system, but I failed to score as high as I wanted, even though I got a positive grade.”
Roman says it took him time to get used to the class delivery mode at SWUFE: with no division into lectures and seminars, the classes for each course are delivered by one teacher. The students are expected to stick to 100% attendance rate. “I missed one class in Financial Economics course and got a warning I would not be allowed to sit the exam if I should miss two more,” says Roman.
At SWUFE, the “fit to sit” decisions are taken by teachers themselves. The teachers are also free to establish grading scales. ICEF operates a different approach. Here, the “fit to sit” decisions are taken in favour of the student regardless of their attendance rate, and the 100-point scale is much more stringent: 25 points in ICEF correspond to 60 in SWUFE.
Alisa Peshkova, who, like Roman, went to SWUFE on exchange, pointed to another aspect – the complementarity of courses taught at ICEF and at SWUFE. Alisa gave as example SWUFE’s highly advanced course Financial Economics. Its final task involves writing a Python trading strategy that would allow for buying and selling of stocks while also generating a portfolio growth. “This course has very much in common with Finance 1 we learn in our second year at ICEF. Now, while learning Professor Maslov’s course Business and Management in Global Context: China and Asia, I start to feel the benefit of the course I did in Chengdu.”
What also helped our students to ease back into their normal course of study was the possibility of following their core curriculum while in Chengdu – through Smart-LMS, a platform with uploaded lectures, ppts, home assignments, exam tasks from previous years, etc.
Everyone confirmed they stayed connected with their home college and could contact ICEF Studies Offices or teachers at any time and on whatever issue. Alisa Peshkova: “The exchange programme with SWUFE operates via a transparent mechanism and is accessible to all.” Alisa added that her exchange proved a highly useful experience and thanked the ICEF management for the opportunity.
Grade conversion scale
Apart from their new environment and class delivery mode, our students were to adjust to SWUFE’s examination system.
While SWUFE’s 10-point scale is completely comparable to ours, the task of converting grades awarded based on the 100-point scale may seem a challenge. But, there is a viable conversion mechanism in place, agreed upon with the Chinese side.
Alisa Peshkova, who is back from SWUFE after semester-long exchange, comments: “I would say that SWUFE and ICEF offer approximately the same level of complexity, with some of the courses requiring a little less effort at SWUFE. One thing the students need to get mentally prepared for is the grade conversion scale existing in this exchange programme.”
And another thing: SWUFE doesn’t operate a uniform assessment system. Here, the assessment is for the most part at the discretion of course teachers.
Tips from pioneers of the ICEF HSE-RIEM SWUFE DDP
Providing inputs at the meeting were also those who were the first to join the double-degree programme (DDP) with SWUFE. Matvey Alekseev and Daniil Nekrasov, who continue their studies at SWUFE, have provided valuable feedback on the learning process and environment in Chengdu, the accommodation options, and the people in their class.
Daniil Nekrasov: “SWUFE is a multinational university. French, Canadians, Moroccans – these are just few of the nationalities I met there.” There were also Austrians, Germans and Kazakhs in Daniil’s class, but the nationality he developed the warmest rapport with were the French.
As for the Chinese students, they tend to socialize with international students mostly off-campus and seemed a bit shy to do so on campus. This is how Alisa Peshkova described her impression of the Chinese students: “Outside of campus we communicated fine and actively. But then somehow this “friendly disposition” disappeared.” Matvey Alekseev, on the contrary, made friends and stays in touch with several Chinese students in this DDP – largely thanks to his profound immersion in the Chinese language and awareness of local customs.
Matvey started learning Chinese in Chengdu. In this DDP, Chinese is an obligatory course and taught throughout each of the two years of study at SWUFE, even though the language used in class is English. Matvey says he didn’t find Chinese to be too challenging to learn and even made good progress, having scored 78 points in this course. He’s set to redouble his efforts: “I will resume my learning of Chinese when I’m back in Chengdu at the end of February, and I think I will be taking extra classes to make faster progress.” Matvey’s strong motivation to excel in his double-degree programme sounds encouraging, making him an example for others to follow. What is more, Matvey and his classmate Daniil combine their double-degree courses with studying for the UoL degree. They are due to take the UoL exams in May and will be sitting them online from Chengdu. Both are expected to complete their three-track learning journey in 2027 and be awarded 3 diplomas (HSE, SWUFE, UoL).
The students said they very much enjoyed their accommodation in single dorm rooms with private bathrooms. Alisa Peshkova: “It’s good that we lived in the dormitory. It has all conveniences and is just 40 minutes away by subway from the campus.” Matvey chose to rent and lives in an apartment right next to SWUFE campus (his rent is about the same as dorm room cost). “It’s like living near the Kurskaya metro station in Moscow – a ten-minute ride to ICEF Campus in Pokrovka,” he said.
The students recommend all those who are planning to go to SWUFE as double-degree or exchange students to choose dormitory as a preferred accommodation. Living in a dorm, at least for the first few weeks, will make your adaptation process easier.
One curious detail: the appliances in the dorm kitchens are limited to sink and countertop. Alisa Peshkova got herself a multicooker and a mini fridge from an online store. The dormitory does not allow to keep any electric appliance on when users are out, but, as it turned out later, buying ready-made foods in China is cheaper than cooking your own meals. Alisa had to sell her new purchases: “The French guys in the dormitory were getting their Chinese ahead fast. They helped me figure out where to go online for dumplings, soups and salads.”
As for the European foods and commodities, these can be found in Chengdu as well. Rely on intuition or translator app to help you out in a Chinese café or restaurant, they offer Chinese only menus.
Unlike Alisa, Arina and Roman, who did manage to explore remoter parts of China while on exchange, Daniil and Matvey have 18 months ahead and travelled mostly around Chengdu. With its world-famous panda base and centuries-old irrigation systems and temples, the area of Chendgu is a fascinating tourist destination.
Study and living experience summary
In summary, the studying and living in Chengdu proved a fruitful experience for everyone. All our students who have been to SWUFE or are due to continue their studies there maintain a positive, uplifting attitude. No major difficulties have been encountered along the way. Nor did anyone feel they were lagging behind the syllabus of ICEF.
When asked about whether next cohorts would cope as well as them, the one to give the most convincing answer was Alisa Peshkova: “The ICEF guys are certainly equal to the task, no questions asked.”