GoStudy graduates talk about admission and studies at the CTU
All GoStudy graduates, who chose to study at the Czech Technical University in Prague, are happy with their choice. According to them, studying at the CTU is difficult, but interesting at the same time.
Young people, who became students of different faculties at he CTU, share their first impressions about their studies with the GoStudy blog readers.
It is important to know technical vocabulary in Czech
There is no competition for technical specialties in the Czech Republic. If you do well in the entrance exams, you are in. But the exams at the Czech Technical University are tough and require a lot of preparation.
The most difficult admission process is at the Faculty of Architecture. Exams are held in several stages throughout January.
“First of all, I had to prepare a portfolio, which was reviewed by the Examination Board during my interview. The next important point was to prepare for the test in perspective and shadow projections. There I would like to give advice to anyone who wants to enrol to the Faculty of Architecture or the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the CTU: pay great attention to the projective geometry. Most Czechs are familiar with this subject since secondary school, but this subject is not taught in schools in the CIS countries. Moreover, you should study maths and pay attention to the wording of the task. It was necessary to know at least 15 architects, their style and well-known projects for the interview. The Examination Board should see that the applicant shows interest in the chosen field”
Entrance exams for the course in Architecture and Urbanism at the CTU are held in two rounds. The first round consists of 4 parts: a creative exam (drawing from life, abstract composition, task for perspective image), a test for spatial thinking, a test for general knowledge in the field of architecture and design, a test for prerequisites for learning OSP SCIO. The second round is an interview.
Examinations for all other faculties at the CTU take place in June, you need to take the maths test only.
Each faculty holds its own exam in maths (find the test samples here). Foreign students of all the CTU faculties sit the exam in the Czech language at B2 level as well. Each faculty has its own requirements for a language certificate.
“I started preparing for admission to the CTU in advance, because I knew that the entrance exams include a rather difficult exam in the Czech language, as well as a complex exam in maths. As for teh Czech language I felt confident that the knowledge I got at GoStudy classes was enough, although I admit that the exam was really hard, no matter how well you were prepared for it. As for maths, I took additional courses in technical maths at GoStudy, and additional free courses to prepare for admission directly at the CTU. Obviously I studied a lot using myself, in order to learn the topics requested by the CTU, which were not familiar to me (complex numbers, analytical geometry)”.
“Maths test was simple. In my entrance test I got the almost the maximum score. My preparation was studying maths terminology in Czech”.
Our program “Admission to the Czech Technical University” includes a general Czech language course (560 hours), a basic technical vocabulary course (310 hours) and a specialised course of training for an exam (150 hours).
The specialised course consists of 3 subjects: technical maths, technical terminology and physics.
Students are helped to prepare for the exams by an experienced teacher of the prestigious technical gymnasium in Prague, Ing. Hana Hofmanová, who is also a consultant for the Centre of Educational Outcomes Assessment (CERMAT) with the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic.
Most young people attend training courses in different subjects they plan to pursue. But you can also prepare for them yourself. For example, Diana Davletova, a student of the Faculty of Computer Science, prepared for the exams by herself by analysing tests from previous years that are freely available on the Internet.
“The entrance exams are quite easy. All the topics included in the entrance exam are studied in secondary school”.
You don’t need to take an exam in physics to study at the CTU, but there will be a lot of physics in the first years of studies. It is better to revise the basics of physics and learn terminology in Czech during your training year.
The difficulty is in understanding the questions themselves
“The exams were not easy, but if you prepare well, then you have nothing to fear. I can say that if you work hard, it will not be a big problem for you to be admitted to the CTU.”
“The entrance exams were difficult, especially the test in descriptive geometry. It was also difficult to understand the questions themselves”.
“I’m both scared and interested”
It’s not easy to get in, but it is even more difficult to study at the CTU. Students, who go to the CTU after GoStudy training, say that knowledge of the basic technical terminology helps them a lot in their studies.
“Education is interesting. It is difficult, but not impossible. I have managed to adapt to studying her by the first examination period. I like a good combination of theory and practice at the CTU.”
“Studying at the Faculty of Architecture is really interesting and difficult. A person coming to study at this faculty should be interested in the field and have a strong desire to become a good architect, so that there is an incentive to overcome all the difficulties that arise during studies. To describe the first semester in a few words, I would say: lack of sleep, time and days-off”.
“I prepared myself for challenges from the very beginning. The first month is definitely a bit of a panic, not everything is clear, you struggle to get everything done on time. It’s not easy to get into the CTU, but it is even harder to study here. Here you need to focus on results, non-stop. But as for the learning process itself, I could not even imagine that learning can be that interesting. I am definitely happy with my choice, and I can recommend the CTU to hardworking students”.
“I study at the Faculty of Computer Sciences and everything is complicated here. It is not easy to study completely new topics and concepts in the Czech language after only studying Czech for 7 months. A programmer is nowhere without English, so you have to switch from one foreign language to another often. It may be easier later, but the first semester was very difficult. You need to learn a lot. No one will babysit students. It doesn’t matter if you are Czech or a foreigner, the requirements are the same for everyone. You didn’t understand the word in the task and therefore wrote the wrong answer? It’s your problem. But despite the difficulties, I am delighted with my studies. I like the style of teaching, I like the subjects, I like that there are people around you, who really want to study, and did not come to the university just because they must have a higher education. The testing system is designed so that everyone studies hard, because the consequences of failing can be serious. Studying here is very interesting and only a little bit scary.”
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