The scholarship I receive fully covers tuition, accommodation, and living expenses.

Source: dou.ua https://dou.ua/lenta/interviews/ukrainian-mit-student/ This is the story of Nazar Druhov — a Ukrainian high school student who initiated the Ukrainian translation of Khan Academy courses, raised $350,000 in funding, and was admitted to Tufts University. In 2025, he transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is now studying as a second-year student. At the same time, Nazar continues to develop Khan Academy for Ukraine, a project that has raised nearly $500,000 in total funding and localized 4.13 million words of educational content. In an interview with dou.ua, Nazar shared that he entered Tufts University in 2024 and studied there for one year. Students are required to choose a major by the end of their second year, so during his first year he focused on mathematics and computer science courses that genuinely interested him — four courses per semester. Overall, the program requires completing 30 courses over four years. One of the most memorable courses for him was Bridge to Higher Mathematics, a discrete mathematics class covering set theory, combinatorics, and proof-writing techniques. According to Nazar, proofs are essential for deeply understanding mathematical ideas that are difficult to grasp intuitively or visualize. During these classes, he felt the same joy of learning he had experienced earlier in school while participating in math olympiad clubs. Applying to MIT During his first application cycle, Nazar applied to a total of 21 U.S. universities. However, in the early application round, he applied only to MIT. Later, while his application was under review, he expanded his list by applying to 20 additional universities. After being admitted to Tufts, he had to withdraw his MIT application, so he does not know whether he would have been accepted at that time. MIT uses its own application portal, unlike most universities that rely on the Common Application or Coalition Application. Applicants are required to submit four or five essays, each up to 225 words. In 2023, MIT reinstated the SAT requirement, which had been suspended during the pandemic, so Nazar took the SAT specifically for MIT. He also submitted recommendation letters from his high school teachers — in mathematics and Ukrainian language and literature — and completed an interview that lasted 3 hours and 41 minutes. Essays and extracurricular activities In total, applicants must write five essays, provide an additional statement of up to 350 words, describe five extracurricular activities (around 50 words each), and briefly list awards and achievements. One of the new questions Nazar faced concerned his motivation for transferring to MIT, so he rewrote all of his essays from scratch. Over the year, his interests, perspectives, and writing skills had evolved significantly. In the extracurricular section, Nazar described his participation in MIT’s Independent Activities Period, which takes place from January 1 to January 30. During thi