About Me

I'm Meri from Gyumri, and I've lived most of my life in there. In 2021, I became finalist of the FLEX program and went to the USA, which is where my international education journey began. Now I'm a sophomore at Minerva University.

The Idea of Studying Abroad

Since I was 5 years old, I wanted to study abroad at some point because I have always been curious about the world outside of Armenia, as I haven't traveled much for various reasons when I was younger. I have always been interested in how people live and think in other countries. With these thoughts in mind, I decided to apply for FLEX, which I applied to for a year without success, but passed the following year. When I returned to Armenia, I took my exams and finished high school. Then I decided to take a gap year.

Why Minerva

I applied to many different universities besides Minerva, but in the end, Minerva turned out to be the best fit for me. However, even before receiving decisions from universities, Minerva was the university closest to my heart because it uses a non-traditional educational system. The travel opportunities and educational approach set Minerva apart from other universities, both abroad and in Armenia. Minerva's application process is a bit different, which is why I applied to Minerva later.

Scholarship

Minerva doesn't offer full scholarships, but financial aid is determined based on the family's financial situation. Generally, if there are no changes in the family's financial circumstances, the scholarship amount is maintained throughout all years. Nevertheless, we reapply for financial aid every year. Financial assistance at Minerva isn't just a direct grant. Part of it comes from the work-study program, where you get paid for working a certain number of hours during the year. In addition to all this, the funding also includes a student loan, which many students take and pay off over the years after graduation. With all these conditions, my scholarship amounts to 90%.

Grades

Apart from my GPA, I wasn't required to submit anything additional when applying to Minerva. However, I had an SAT score of 1460, scored 145 on Duolingo, and my GPA was 9.5 on a 10-point scale. Additionally, Minerva has internal assignments - creative, comprehension, logical, and others - which are important for evaluating an applicant's abilities.

Extracurricular Activities

Minerva doesn't require a specific student profile from applicants. I had some programming-related activities, but my application was mostly focused on FLEX, as I talked a lot about it. I also had an internship during FLEX and another internship during my gap year. Another activity I participated in was the CCC (Competitive College Club).

Achievements

My main achievements were 3:

1. FLEX

2. Diploma from the National English Language Olympiad

3. Diploma from the National Armenian Language Olympiad

Major

Right now, my declared major is a double major in Computer Science and Social Science. These are the colleges, but within the colleges there are more specialized majors, so one of my goals this semester is to decide on my majors. Minerva gives students a lot of flexibility in obtaining their desired major. In your first year, you don't have to think about your major at all. From the second year, you start thinking about which classes to take. But until the end of the 3rd year, no one forces you to choose a major. As a student with many interests, I'm very grateful to Minerva for giving us this opportunity.

Life at Minerva

Over the years, we spend each semester, except for the first year, taking classes in a new country. But now Minerva is moving in the direction of reducing the number of countries so that we can spend more time in each one. It's very interesting to change countries every semester, meeting different people and getting to know their cultures. I spent my first year in San Francisco, then the first semester of the following year in Taiwan, and now I'm in Korea.

Future Goals

I don't have concrete plans for where I'll settle after university because I still have a few countries to explore and time to figure out where I see myself. At some point, I definitely want to continue my studies with a master's degree, but before that, I'd like to gain a few years of professional experience and work to understand which direction I want to deepen my knowledge in.

Advice

Minerva doesn't look at achievements in terms of how many competitions an applicant has participated in or what place they've won. Instead, they focus on what significance these achievements have had for the applicant and their surroundings, and why they pursued these accomplishments.

Try to approach your extracurricular activities more thoughtfully and consider what they provide, as well as how you can help not only yourself but also those around you.

Internal assignments are not something you can prepare for, but when writing them, make sure you're in a quiet and calm environment so you can concentrate.

To sum up, I can say that to apply to Minerva, you need to understand what Minerva is and why you want to go there, because Minerva is very different from other universities and has its own good and bad, strong and weak points.