Another part of Moscow life... Students are, perhaps, the most reckless people in the whole Russia :)
Besides, Moscow universities are not only famous for the great quality of education you can get there, but also for its great architectiral outside and really mysterious inside. The mystery isn't only hidden in architecture. The oldest ones have their own mystery. For example, the famous Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) is... Stop! Why are we saying that in advance? Just read the section and you'll know something that other visitors of Moscow may not know...
Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU)
We'd like to start from this very university, because we're currently studying there :) But that's not the only reason for starting with it. MSU is one of the most famous universities in the world, and one of the top universities in Russia (if not the best). Just in case, we give you its official website in English. However, it's only the official part of the university and students' life that is described there.
We should say that there are lots of stereotypes about MSU students (partly because students are kind of a specific social class in Russia :)
The first one is about the MSU students' being smart, even too smart. They are believed to be extremely hard-working, caring about nothing but their studies. We wouldn't like to disappoint you, but that's not quite true :) We mean, MSU students are smart, but they're not that specific. In fact, all students are alike in most cases. They do study well, as a rule, but, like all students in Russia (and maybe in the world), they love having fun, often during their studies, behaving recklessly, sometimes being lazy. But! They become too hard-working during their exam session. Exam sessions are almost sacred to every student. It's the first word that comes to mind when you say "university students".
The second stereotype is that MSU students are pretentious, because they study in one of the most prestigious universities in Russia. We don't think this is true for every MSU student. Basically, they are all quite sociable and easy-going. Nevertheless, we believe that a part of pretentiousness is always there for any prestigious university.
The third stereotype (actually, there are so many of them that we can't even remember all of them, so let this one be the last one, but not the least :( ) may be the only one to be true. MSU students, as well as its staff, always do everything in a proper way that corresponds to the status of the MSU. MSU is a serious institution, so if anyone in Russia wants to give their children proper higher education of the highest quality, they regard MSU as one of the top priorities.
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO)
As usual, we give you the official website just in case.
We can only add that this is also a very prestigious university in Russia and it's very renowned abroad. It doesn't lack certain stereotypes as well :)
The main one is the so-called total impossibility to enter MGIMO without any "friends" there. We can't tell you if that's true or not, because we don't study there, but we can definetely say that there are cases (not even rare ones) when "humble mortals" enter there and don't pay tuition fees afterwards.
This implies the second stereotype about MGIMO. If you happened to enter it free of charge, you're more than a bright spark. Well... it's partly true. But we stress the word "partly", because, indeed, MGIMO students have brains (how else can it be?), they're all clever, but we doubt that all of them are genius. After all, we're all "humble mortals" :)
Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU, but we simply call it Baumanka in Russia :) )
That's where they are, true prodigies (in the view of those who study humanities, certainly :) Though they're not the only people who appreciate the abilities of this university). These students are highly appreciated abroad, we daresay its graduates are the best scientists in the world.
It's hard for us to name any stereotypes about it but the one about extreme smartness (again). Perhaps we should add that its graduates are almost all become successful in future, they're always able to find jobs they like. No wonder, with their abilities and knowledge!