To be honest, I don't think that Russia s a hard country to get into. I know some students who lived there for a semester, and they seem to enjoy this country, so I think that exchange programs are amazing because they allow students to learn more about other cultures. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into a student exchange program and visit Russia, but I managed to do it a few years later. I made an online application for russian tourist visa on this page https://www.russia-travel.com/visa-services/, and I went to Moscow a few months later. It was great, and I'm sure that St Petersburg is not worse.