Yesterday, we were in a private meeting with EYUF's new director, and I'm honestly impressed by the upcoming changes in the system.
Firstly, I'm really glad that they're now blacklisting schools that are not competitive enough but still in the top 100 rankings, like Arizona State University, Penn State, and Harvard School of Education. She's now more interested in sending students to institutions that actually have quality education. The fact that the government is now acknowledging the nuances in admissions is actually incredible.
Second of all, now there's going to be less emphasis on the so-called "patriotism" of applicants and more on their personalities. Previously, the candidates could be asked to recite the hymn of Uzbekistan or tell a poem by heart. bs like that is no longer going to be asked in the interview process. Even for questions regarding one's specialty, now candidates will be given the option to express their opinions in Russian or English on top of Uzbek. Most people grew up learning different curricula, and they may not necessarily know the Uzbek version of specific terms so this is actually a great improvement.
Thirdly, the number of years that have to be worked in Uzbekistan following graduation is now going to be different. For example, it's unfair that US applicants and Chinese applicants have to work 5 years following graduation despite the differences in the amount of resources allocated to them. Those students who took less money from the fund now get to work for fewer years upon graduation.
Speaking of the number of years one has to work, there's also a discussion going on about reducing the number of years if winners choose to work in different regions. I think this is a great incentive mechanism that ensures that human capital is going to get more dispersed across Uzbekistan rather than being concentrated in Tashkent.
Small but meaningful improvement that's going to be regarding the portal, where you can edit the application prior to submission. Also, they're establishing collaboration with IDP and the British Council to automatically get applicants' scores verified. I think now they're going to care less about the SAT as well, given the recent leaks.
They do not give scholarships for medical and law bachelors, as the international curriculum is pre-law and pre-med, which is different. She says that they have a bunch of med grads who don't know how to work, basically because of the differences in educational systems.
When it comes to essays, they do not expect 16-17-year-olds to have a detailed plan of their future. Rather, one thing that they want to see is that the applicant should have a sense of direction in their lives.
They're now going to focus on liberal arts colleges like Amherst, which don't have rankings but offer quality education too, but I'm not sure how soon that's going to happen. I'm really content with what the new director is about to do to the EYUF. Now that they're working closely with Freshman Academy, I think the process is going to be more nuanced and less hype-based.
