Looking to excel in subject Olympiads in Russia? This comprehensive guide provides invaluable tips and strategies to help you prepare effectively.
Dozens of people can apply for one budget-funded place at a good university, and sometimes a good Unified State Exam result is not enough to get admitted. Therefore, motivated schoolchildren go to competitions and, if they win prizes, enter without exams.
How to Prepare for Subject Olympiads in Russia
The most famous school Olympiad in Russia is the Vseros, or All-Russian Olympiad for Schoolchildren, which is held by the Ministry of Education. The list of competitive disciplines includes 24 subjects, including, for example, law or technology with the profiles “robotics” and “information security”.
The All-Russian Olympiad consists of four stages:
- School: it is organized by the administration of each school.
- Municipal: held among schools in one city.
- Regional: children from all over the region come to this stage.
- All-Russian: for the best participants of previous stages from all regions.
Students who perform better than others at one stage advance to the next, where the tasks become more difficult.
Subject Olympiads are also held by universities: for example, St. Petersburg State University , RANEPA , Higher School of Economics . They attract talented applicants and give the winners the right to enroll in the university without exams or on preferential terms. Prize-winners of all Olympiads from the list of the Ministry of Education receive concessions upon admission . In the 2022/2023 academic year, there were 81 competitions on the list.
Charitable foundations and companies also hold competitions and award training grants.
Why participate in the Olympics
- Learn a subject outside the school curriculum. When preparing for the Olympics, you will delve deeper into the subject. This means that you will come to your first year a little more prepared than other applicants, and you will be able to more easily understand complex topics. Therefore, it is better to go to competitions in disciplines that are truly interesting to you and related to your future profession.
- Learn to solve non-standard problems. Olympic tasks differ from the usual school exercises. They are more complex and often require creativity, analysis and logic. This applies not only to mathematics and other exact sciences, but also to the humanities – languages, social studies.
- Practice self-presentation. At the Olympiads in some subjects there is an oral stage – a presentation before the commission. In addition, students learn to communicate in preparation and defend their point of view during appeals.
- Enter out of competition. This is the main reason for most participants. Good results at different levels allow you to automatically receive the highest score on the Unified State Exam and enter without exams.
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What class can I participate from?
At the school level, you can participate in olympiads in Russian language and mathematics from the fourth grade, and in other subjects – from the fifth. Students are accepted to the municipal stages from the seventh grade. The last stages are usually carried out only for high school students.
The sooner a child starts participating in Olympiads, the greater his chances of showing good results in the final stages. Schoolchildren who go to competitions from the ninth grade are more likely to take a prize in the decisive graduation year. Such a student will be more confident: he is already accustomed to the Olympiad loads and environment, has an idea of the level of tasks and competition, and knows his strengths and weaknesses.
How to prepare
Ideally, you need to set aside a year to prepare for the Olympics. At the same time, school subject teachers often have enough other things to do and do not have time to prepare their students for Olympiads.
Some students choose to prepare on their own . Pros: you can save money, and at the same time practice searching and analyzing information – this will definitely come in handy at university. The downside is that not all teenagers are so diligent and motivated to study without the support of a teacher. Some topics are simply difficult to understand alone, for example, if you need knowledge at the university level.
Most often, people prepare for the Olympiads with a tutor or through courses. The teacher will assess the student’s level, notice gaps and suggest which topic to pay more attention to. The child will see intermediate results during preparation: this usually motivates well and prevents them from abandoning classes.
Hiring an Olympics preparation specialist is a good decision in any case. Even if you like to work alone, a professional can help you create a strategy and recommend quality textbooks and materials. You will save valuable time before the Olympics and will be able to prepare better.
What will help you win the Olympics?
- Study assignments from previous years. The competition tasks are not typical, like on the Unified State Exam. They need to be analyzed in order to assess the level of the competition, get used to thinking “like an Olympiad athlete” and practice logic.
- Plan your preparation. It is easier to study a subject according to a clear schedule, rather than chaotically. There is a lot to sort out, but there is never enough time, and by grasping at one topic or another, you can get bogged down and not complete the program by the required date.
- Don’t be afraid to appeal. After the Olympiad, any participant has the right to see how the commission assessed his work and why he reduced the score. During appeals, controversial issues can be discussed.
- Chat with other Olympiad athletes. As a couple or in a company, you can try different approaches to preparation: for example, read first and then retell the material to each other. Additionally, by discussing the subject with other members, you can learn more. Suddenly, the assignments will contain exactly what a friend accidentally told you, and not what you diligently studied alone.
