International College of Economics and Finance

“You have no choice but to love mathematics”: Alumni talk to prospective students about their choice and motivation

“You have no choice but to love mathematics”: Alumni talk to prospective students about their choice and motivation

© HSE

At the Open Day of Master’s Programme in Financial Economics, the prospective students learned about the learning process and admission. The session with alumni gave details about the employment prospects, academic opportunities and other perspectives the future diploma can open up for its holders.

Presenting at the event was Maxim Nikitin, Master’s programme Academic Supervisor. His presentation of the history of ICEF – the college that has been Russian students’ access to international education that builds on standards of the world’s top universities – was followed by outlining the contents and advantages of the Master’s programme, the latter having its focus shifting increasingly towards data science and programming skills in economics and finance. The prospective students were presented cases of graduates’ career tracks with major companies and schools around the world.

A collaborative effort of ICEF and the London School of Economics (LSE), the Master’s programme “Financial Economics” builds on the international academic standards, serving as one of the best providers of the fundamental academic skills at master’s level. Every year, the programme reaffirms its value through career achievements of its graduates and global ratings, being among the top 100 of the QS Business Masters Rankings.

ICEF master’s students have the opportunity to study for two degrees, one from HSE and the other from LUISS University in Rome. They are also invited to join the exchange programme that involves dozens of universities in different countries.

Admission requirements and how students can combine their study with being employees of HSE, were presented by Olga Nizhevich, Programme Coordinator. Olga gave details about the incentives and the scholarships, one provided by VTB Bank, available to students. The prospective students learned about fast-track admission and were able to ask questions in the end of the event.

The final part of the Open Day was led by programme graduates. Telling their experience as students and early-career specialists were Anatoly Potashov, member of the class of 2014, Ex-Vice President for Investments, RT-Business Development, lecturer in RE & VC; Vasily Machigin, member of the class of 2020, Corporate Banking Senior Analyst/ Citi; and Shukhrat Khalilbekov, member of the class of 2021, Senior Data Scientist/ OKKO. Their talk was followed by Q&A.

Anatoly Potashov, Ex-Vice President for Investment, РТ-Business Development, lecturer in РЕ&VC

Anatoly Potashov, Ex-Vice President for Investment, РТ-Business Development, lecturer in РЕ&VC

Ten years ago I was a graduate applicant just like you are now. I had good English language skills but I didn’t really like math, so let me give you a friendly word of warning: you have no choice but to love mathematics. You are going to have a great deal of it. Before enrolling in ICEF, I completed a degree at finance university’s international faculty and had some work experience as a financial analyst at a German pharmaceutical company. But, I wanted to be in more complex finance work – transactions and investments. Many of the people I met in the investment banks happened to be graduates of ICEF, so I thought I was a good idea to enroll as a way to get into the heart of the financial industry.

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Vasily Machigin, Corporate Banking Senior Analyst/ Citi

Vasily Machigin, Corporate Banking Senior Analyst/ Citi

I enrolled in ICEF on my second attempt. As someone with a Social Studies degree I had no background in economics. It took me two years to prepare – and those years coincided with my military service – luckily enough, I still had the time to learn economics and improve my mathematics. Then, my wining place in “I’m a Professional” contest earned me a privilege in admission to ICEF master’s programme. I’m living proof that having a strong motivation is key to admission success.

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Shukhrat Khalilbekov, Senior Data Scientist/ OKKO

Shukhrat Khalilbekov, Senior Data Scientist/ OKKO

I earned my economics degree from HSE campus in St. Petersburg in 2019. I chose to do data science as a minor but I couldn’t attend full course because I went to Sweden on an exchange. So, even though I really wanted to get into data science, I didn’t feel I had enough of a background. Nor did I feel prepared to enter the labor market with my bachelor's degree. My knowledge base needed to be structured and doing a master’s was certainly the right choice.

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Click here to view programme presentation

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