I was procrastinating until the very last minute before the exam. In preparation, I only practiced writing article summaries twice — I posted both of them on Journaly previously.

The exam itself took place on August 15 online. There were strict rules: we were supposed to show our rooms on a webcam, turn off the second monitor, etc. But they didn't enforce it. In fact, after all the applicants got their articles to write summaries on, they told us to disconnect from the call and wait our turn to answer. There was no oversight.

I think the article I got was fairly easy — it was about raising children. I wrote a summary in about half an hour and then posted it on Journaly while waiting my turn. I even managed to implement the corrections in my answer (thanks, Uly!). Yes, I cheated. I had also lost faith in this university a little — the lack of oversight didn't seem right. Although they'll be able to gauge your level during conversation anyway, right?

When it was my turn to answer, they re-added me to the call. The examiner asked me some questions about my educational background, why I'm getting a master's degree, which programs I've applied to, etc. I struggled here a little. I couldn't remember the names of the programs I'd applied to, and I lacked vocabulary related to education. I didn't know what the type of education is called (extramural studies).

After that, they asked me to read my summary. After I finished, they asked me, "Is that it? Shouldn't there be something else?" Apparently, I had ended my summary too abruptly, and there was supposed to be some kind of conclusion, including my own thoughts on the topic. Well, I had to make something up on the fly, which I did somewhat successfully.

We chatted some more on the topic of the article and about some other stuff. In the end, they gave me a score of 76/100, which isn't terrible — at one point I was afraid I wouldn't even get a passing score (55/100). But there were 40 applicants who scored 80+, and there were only 34 scholarships for the programs I applied to. Good grief!.. or so I thought.

They called me two weeks later. There were vacant places available. The university increased the amount of scholarships somehow. Also, I think that some applicants chose to go to other universities. So, now I'm a college student!

Classes haven't started yet, but I took a look at the curriculum and was somewhat disappointed: there's no Japanese course in my program. As a second foreign language, they offer either German or French. They were supposed to offer Spanish too, but I think there's a problem with a teacher's availability. For the third foreign language, there are some exotic options: Hebrew, Serbian, Hungarian, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. I'm at a loss here, as I have no interest in any of those languages. They do, however, offer Japanese as an additional paid course, which I think I'm going to take.