Ivan Kozyryev and Alina Volobuyeva going over one of the practice essays with Yuliya Kravtsova
In the background: Iryna Shakhmantsir commending on Anastasiya Horodetska’s essay

Free time, finally: walking around Poltava

Munching before yet another class

Volunteers 2008: Yuliya Sychikova (UPenn), Oleg Kozachenko (Franklin and Marshall), Alina Volobuyeva (Bates), Iryna Shakhmantsir (Vassar), Ivan Kozyryev (Yale), Anna Levina (MIT)

We have finished the selection process, and chose 17 out of 167 of the interested students to attend our Seminar 2008 and to benefit from our support during their application process to the top-notch educational establishments of the world. The Seminar 2008 will take place in Poltava, and will begin on July 25th, 2008.

It is needless to say that the competition was fierce, and only the ones who, in our opinion, have the best chances to win a full scholarship were admitted. We have had 167 registered applicants, of which 138 have submitted complete application packages. 152 students were tested at our 15 testing sessions administered in 13 cities of Ukraine. Here is the 2008 score statistics.

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We have received many inquiries regarding the testing. Our volunteers will be contacting you in the next several days regarding the testing centers available closest to you. Please be patient. We will also post all of the information online as soon as it is available.

For now you are welcome to contact our volunteers in Ukraine with any questions that you might have.

General information:
Please arrive 15-20 mins before the listed testing time.
The testing together with the interviews will take about 6 hours.
The testing will consist of us checking your English skills (listening, grammar and reading sections) and your Math skills (an hour-long test in Ukrainian).
15-min long interviews will be held right after the testing.
Please make sure to bring with you the following:

1. Your Ukrainian passport or birth certificate (if you do not have a passport yet)
2. Two pencils
3. One blue or black pen
4. An eraser
5. A pencil sharpener
6. Calculator for the math section of testing
7. Snack and water (testing might be long and exhausting)

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Did you ever ponder how much is discovered, created, solved and made possible by curious young minds? Whether one looks at the student-run Youth League of the African National Congress activating a vigorous struggle against apartheid in South Africa, the creation of Skype, the first online telecommunication software, in Estonia, or even the dawn of Google, the best online search engine and the top performing company on Wall Street today, one notices that all these and thousands of other brilliant endeavors were fueled by boiling young minds of students who cooperate.

AlinaVolobuyeva retelling her theater performance at Bates College to Anatoliy Khomenko and Bohdan Oryshkevich in a café in East Village

USA/USA Program, initially created to coach Ukrainian students to win full scholarships to top-flight colleges and universities in the USA has slowly evolved into a network and a common ground for these young scholars. While the sociologists and city planners break their backs to create “third places,” as Ray Oldenburg called them in his book, “The Great, Good Place,” locations where individuals can interact outside of workplace and home, the USA/USA youth finds these “third places” everywhere delving into active communication. At different schools hundreds of miles away, they use email and Facebook to discuss math assignments, share photography works, review books or think through political ideas. Whenever they end up in the same city, they never miss an opportunity to enjoy each others’ wit in person. Any location goes: restaurant, a bench in a park, an apartment where one of the USA/USAers live, etc.

This is how I first met Iryna: sitting on the floor with 5 more USA/USA students and alumni, drinking tea, laughing and talking about their school courses. At first I was unsure that this young sporadic and vivacious girl constantly laughing and teasing the other students could ever be serious. However, I had to change my mind a second later when she picked up an argument with another USA/USAer. Both knowledgeable in the subject, they ardently grappled with the ideas for several minutes, but soon took off to check who is actually right against a third source. “True scholars - they actually went to look it up,” I thought.

As I found out, born to a family of a former militia officer and a pharmacist, Iryna grew up in Rivne. Her first educational endeavors started at school #15, which provided her with a firm knowledge base. An excellent student since first grade, she, nevertheless, understood what excellence meant to her only two years later and always pushed herself much farther than other all-A students since then. “I won the school English competition in elementary school, and was pronounced a school star. Basking in “you are more than prepared for the city competition,” I was sure of my victory. The third place was a devastating surprise. I suddenly knew that listening to praise was exactly what distracted me from studying as hard as I normally would. I never listen anymore; I just make sure to compete with my clever peers, learn from them where possible and to prepare better than the teachers point out as sufficient. I don’t want to be in third place, I am going for the first.”

Iryna Shakhmantsir doing homework for her Art History class at the Hotchkiss School

I discovered exactly this hard-working attitude displayed in Iryna’s track record. She won a third place at the all-Ukrainian English Olympiad in 9^th grade and beat everybody taking gold in 10^th; as gifted in sciences as in humanities, Iryna continuously participated and won prizes at school and city Olympiads in Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics. As one of the best Ukrainian students, Iryna was sponsored by the American SSEP Program to come for a month-long trip to North Dakota. At 14, this girl outscored everybody in the competition for 10 places in the USA/USA Program Seminar and then so charmed the interviewers that the decision about her acceptance was unanimous. The USA/USA Seminar of 2005 became the “third place” for interaction with students on a par with her, a kind of reality check that Iryna needed to push herself to a new achievement. “Hanging out with the USA/USAers that summer opened new horizons of international education and gave me new ideas. It definitely pushed me to work harder in order to win a full scholarship,” said Iryna.

Holding the Light by Iryna Shakhmantsir

This seems to be an experience of every USA/USAer - gaining an access to a pool of hardworking young minds not only forces them to work extra hard and compete with the best, but also to learn from and stimulate each other. “Some of us are into amateur photography, Photoshopping and art history,” explains Iryna, a mischievous smile shining from her face, “We like to share and comment on each other’s work, some even do small photo shoots together.” Ivan Kozyryev adds, “I have read Aldous Huxley recently, and found a peer from the Program with who I could discuss Huxley’s ideas strolling through the streets of New York City . Both, reading and the conversations that followed provoked so many thoughts!” It helps that the students have a man of what seems like boundless knowledge, Dr. Bohdan Oryshkevich, as their leader and the heart of the Program. Internationally educated medical doctor, he is not by any means limited to that field. Dr. O, as students call him, is equally able to take students on a historical journey walking them through neighborhoods of New York City or peek at ancient Europe speaking about economics of the Neolithic era. Dr. Oryshkevich jokingly says, “I started this Program so that I could interact with smart young people,” and continues seriously, “I want students to think, I want them to cooperate and work with each other. I ask them for strategic advice on the most serious issues within and outside of the Program. My idea was to create an organization built from the bottom up. I am not interested in being a dictator, it’s a student organization.”

In the fall of 2008 USA/USAers, Iryna among them, will have four full scholarship students starting their first year at MIT, Princeton, Yale and Vassar. What does such a network of talented youngsters in and outside of Ukraine mean for their motherland, which is often dragging on the bottom of the International Monetary Fund’s and World Trade Organization’s evaluation charts? Iryna said, “I do hope things will get better, after all USA/USA can potentially produce so many leaders in different areas for this country. I cannot predict future, but I, personally, will try to do something. One individual can make a difference. Now think what a group of motivated young people, such as USA/USA, could do!” I also hope that student interaction of young vivid Ukrainians like Iryna in the “third place” of the USA/USA network will help Ukraine reach the top place in its development and international image.

Hanna Maksymova, Yuliya Sychikova, Olga Davydenko, Olexandr Kal’tsev hanging out during one of the breaks.

Yevheniya Krutko, Program Coordinator, speaking with the audience after the panel discussion.

We are glad to announce that due to strong financial support from our sponsors this year, we will expand our activity to all of Ukraine and will increase the number of students in our Seminar. We plan on continuing our expansion in the coming years, but cannot guarantee it.

This year’s team of consists of

• Ivan Kozyryev (Seminar 2008 Leader)
• Anna Levina
• Iryna Shakhmantsir
• Alina Volobuyeva
• Yevheniya Krutko
• About fifteen of our students and parents of our students located in Ukraine are committing to help with administering testing in June and running the Seminar in July
• Eight USA/USA alumni together with Dr. Bohdan Oryshkevich, the Founder and Coordinator of the USA/USA Program, will review the applications to the Program in New York City.

If you are interested in helping us in any way, please contact our New York office.
To apply to the Program please review our requirements: Announcement for the Seminar 2008 in Ukrainian

Many probably remember the uproar in the press and academia in 2005 when Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers suggested that the lack of female scientists in the USA is due to the “innate” differences between men and women. A lot has been said and written on this topic, but it does statistically appear that there are more men than women in science in the United States.

The female students at the USA/USA Program do not pay attention to these numbers; many of them actively pursue undergraduate degrees in Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Biochemistry etc., and then continue on a PhD track. One of many such students, Olga Davydenko, 22, is from Sevastopol. Double-majoring in Biochemistry and Bioengineering, she will be graduating Magna Cum Laude from Union College in June of 2008. She will start her PhD program in molecular biology in the fall of 2008 at University of Pennsylvania. Union College is an independent, highly selective undergraduate institution that has educated prominent bankers, inventors, writers, scientists, diplomats, lawyers, and a former President of the United States - Chester A. Arthur. Located in Schenectady, a small town in upstate New York, this is a perfect place for young minds to focus on their academics.

After trying in vain to shove her old high school interest in Chemistry and Biology under a rug, and pursuing a degree in accounting, Olga came to Union. I asked Olga about her prospects in “soft sciences.” The energetic, effervescent and witty young scientist replied, “Well lets see, if it wasn’t for USA/USA I would have now graduated with a degree in accounting from Sevastopol National Technical University, which does not sound bad at all, except I hated economics and loathed working a boring job for the rest of my life. I would also be married now. Shudder.”

Once given a chance to study something she really loved, Olga used every opportunity to learn more and be a leading example in her field. She is President of the Chemistry Club at Union. All three of her campus jobs are directly related to learning more and encouraging others to learn as well: She works 20 hours a week as a tutor for the Biology Department, is a tutoring supervisor for The Academic Opportunity Program (AOP) and the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), and a lab technician for one of her Biochemistry professors. This girl does not seem to stop working even during her summer breaks. “ Every summer during my undergraduate career I did research. After my freshman year I was in Ukraine working on the USA/USA seminar and conducting research in the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas located in Sevastopol. The summer after my sophomore year I completed an Endocrine Society Fellowship while working in a reproductive endocrinology lab at the Wadsworth Center in Albany, NY. The past summer before my last year of college I was a Union College Summer Research Fellow working on the project that was to become my senior thesis (which it did).”

After her acceptance as one of the 10 USA/USA Program scholars in 2001, Olga has been actively giving back to the Program. She worked without monetary compensation for three summers at the USA/USA Seminars where, together with other volunteers, she instructed the new USA/USA scholars on how to write essays, study for the SATs and fill out financial aid forms. Besides teaching scholars about the technicalities of the application process, the USA/USA Seminars turn into galvanizing gatherings for young Ukrainian talent, inspiring them to reach high and work hard. Not every USA/USA scholar ends up coming to the United States, but each of them remembers their Seminar and is “never the same” after they’ve completed it.

Young scientific minds like Olga would not have had an opportunity to pursue their passion in science in Ukraine: they all confess that it’s a sad situation with inadequate equipment in the labs and low salaries for scientists. If they stayed back in Ukraine, these students would most probably have chosen other career paths, the same way Olga tried accounting, and their gift to science would be completely lost, both for Ukraine and for humanity. After coming to the United States they can work on their research and become true leaders in the field, and then set up world-class research labs in Ukraine. The USA/USA Program serves exactly these motivated, talented students, opening the doors of opportunity to regular Ukrainians from ordinary families who are eager to learn in a world-class environment.

I asked Olga in private whether she came to the USA to stay, to which she responded that she likes being in this country solely as a science student because “the labs are fantastic,” but she misses “the general atmosphere of Ukraine.”

To find out more about the USA/USA Program and its students please contact Yevheniya Krutko, the Executive Director of the organization.

USA/USA Program
80 Maiden Lane, suite 606
New York, NY 10038
Tel: +1-212-785-4170
Yevheniya@ukrainianscholarships.org

80 Maiden Lane, Suite 606
New York, NY 10038-4954
info@ukrainianscholarships.org
www.ukrainianscholarships.org
+1-212-785-4170

УВАГА

Школярі середніх шкіл України, що випускаються навесні 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 років, і бажають навчатися в США, Канаді, Швейцарії або Англії, починаючи з осені 2009 року!

Влiтку 2008 року Програма USA/USA - УКРАМЕРЕЖА (Ukrainian Student Association in the U.S.A) проведе свiй чотирнадцятий лiтнiй навчальний семiнар в Українi. Протягом семiнару українські студенти, якi здобувають освiту в Сполучених Штатах на повних стипендіях, навчатимуть молодших учнiв, як вступати до англомовних пiдготовчих шкiл (лiцеїв з проживанням, що готують школярiв до вступу у престижні вищі навчальні заклади) по всьому свiту i до унiверситетiв у Сполучених Штатах. Наші cтуденти також проводитимуть тестування i допомагатимуть робити остаточний вiдбiр претендентiв на участь в семінарi. Конкурс в Програмі дуже високий. У 2007 роцi 68 зареєстрованих претендентiв змагалися за 10 мiсць в семінарi. Діапазон результатів з TOEFL учнiв, прийнятих в Програму в 2007 роцi, був вiд 427 до 593 балiв. П’ятдесят стипендіатів нашої Програми 1992-1995, 1997, 1999-2001, та 2002-2006 років виграли та використали для навчання бiльш ніж п’ять з половиною мiльйонiв доларiв у формi стипендiй вiд провiдних підготовчих шкiл Пiвнiчної Америки i Європи та вiд американських університетiв.

Критерії: До участі в Програмі запрошуються українськi школярi, що випускаються зi школи у червні 2008, 2009, 2010 або 2011 років (тобто на вересень 2007 року були учнями 8, 9, 10 або 11 класу), і мають українське громадянствоі. Усi претенденти повинні впевнено володiти англiйською мовою та бути здатними набрати 450 балiв або вище з TOEFL на час вступу до Програми USA/USA. Учнi, що вже навчалися у Сполучених Штатах (наприклад за Програмою FSA/FLEX), повинні отримати 600 балiв по TOEFL, щоб мати шанс на вступ до Програми.

Щоб подати заявку для вступу до Програми USA/USA, учнi повиннi надіслати наступнi матерiали:

• Заповнену реєстрацiйну форму українською та англiйською мовами, вказуючи iм’я заявника, домашню адресу, номер телефону, email (електронну адресу), факс (якщо наявний), дату народження, список усiх шкiл, що учень вiдвiдував, адреси цих шкiл, рiк випуску зi школи, а також паспортну фотографiю. Заявник може надiслати pеєстрацiйнi матеріали вiдразу або разом з рештою матеріалів. Завантажити реєстраційну форму можна ТУТ ;

• Офiцiйний шкiльний транскрипт (всi оцiнки за останнi чотири роки) українською або англiйською мовами, що мiстить iм’я учня та назву i повнi координати школи (шкiл), які учень вiдвiдував(є). Рiк випуску повинен вiдповiдати критерiям Програми;

• Xронологiчний список англійською мовою всiх наукових, позакласних (творчих), лiтературних, художнiх, лiдеpських, спортивних і т. п. занять i досягнень. Необхiдно також включити опис рис характеру, кар’єрнi плани i пояснення бажання навчатися в Америці;

• Твiр англійською мовою на тему «Що вам найбільше не подобається в Україні, і як би ви це змінили?»

• За бажанням: додатковий твiр англійською мовою на вільну тему;

• Рекомендаційний лист (характеристика) від вчителя або директора/завуча школи англійською або українською мовою. Завантажити рекомендаційну форму можна ТУТ (укр.) або ТУТ (англ.);

• Рекомендаційний лист (характеристика) від друга або однокласника англійською або українською мовою;

• Перелік п’яти книжок, що найбільше вразили заявника, і які він/вона готовий обговорювати англійською мовою;

Усі матеріали необхідно надіслати звичайною поштою (краще рекомендованим листом) на адресу Програми, зазначену вище.

Тестування: Учні, що вчасно надіслали всі необхідні документи, будуть запрошені на тестування з англійської мови та математики, а також на співбесіду в Україні перед остаточним зарахування до Програми.

Місце проведення: Bідібрані учні будуть проінформовані про місцe та дату проведення cемінару. Тестування та співбесідa вiдбудуться у червні 2008 року перед cемінаром. Точна дата залежитиме від області, в якій проживає школяр. Школи, зацікавлені у співпраці з Програмою USA/USA (наприклад, допомога з проведенням тестування), будь ласка, пишіть нам!

Час: Семінар вiдбудeться в середині або наприкінці липня 2008 року.

Кошт: Участь в Програмі USA/USA є абсолютно безкоштовною на всіх етапах, тому що в основi Програми лежить волонтерська праця наших співробітників в Україні та в Америці. Щедрі внески від меценатів становлять фінансову базу нашої Програми. USA/USA - неприбуткова недержавна організація у складi Координаційного Комітету з Допомоги Україні.

Обмеження: До участі в Програмі допускаються тільки кандидати народжені після 31 грудня 1989 року. Наша Програма не дискримінує на основі статі, раси, релігії та етнічного походження, але до Програми можуть вступати тільки громадяни України.

Подання заяви до нашої Програми не гарантує вступу до неї. Відвідання семінару не гарантує вступу до американського університету або отримання стипендії. Американські університети самостiйно відбирають студентів та надають їм стипендії, але Програмa підтримує своїх стипендіатів на всіх етапах вступу. USA/USA оплачує всi необхідні вступні іспити, доступні в Україні (TOEFL та SAT) для своїх стипендіатів, але фінансування SAT та TOEFL буде наданe тільки за умови успішного проходження семінару.

Завдяки щедрій спонсорській підтримці цього року ми заоохочуємо учнів з усіх областей України брати участь в конкурсі. Ми також плануємо прийняти і допомогти двадцятьом учням замість звичайних десяти зі вступом до навчальних закладів за кордоном, якщо знайдемо таку кількість студентів спроможних змагатися за стипендії міжнародного рівню. Ми продовжимо розширювати і покращувати Програму в 2009, якщо матимемо стабільну спонсорську підтримку.

Усі документи для вступу до Програми мають бути відправлені звичайною поштою (краще рекомендованим листом); будь ласка, не надсилайте документiв приватним кур’єрoм або електронною поштою. Документи мають прийти на нашу адресу не пізніше 15 червня 2008 року; ми рекомендуємо відправляти їх завчасно. Якщо учень надасть свою електронну адресу, то йому буде надіслане повідомлення про отримання його документів. Остаточний вибір учасників семінару здійснюватиметься волонтерами та випускниками Програми в Нью Йорку.

Всі запитання надсилайте на адресу, зазначену вище.

переглянути документ MS Word: Announcement for the Seminar 2008 in Ukrainian
переглянути всі аплікаційні форми і документи

You will find all relevant announcements and forms relevant to applying to the Program under the category “to the applicant” on the right hand side of the page and on the Apply Now page located at the top of the page. Please dont hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
USA/USA Program which is about to change its name to IQ-Ukraine