Introductions
Hey everyone~
Since this is my very first post here, I thought I might introduce myself.
My name is Natasha, and I’m a brazilian biomedic in pursue of enroling in med school. (Please forgive me for any english related grammar errors)
I started studying in October/2017, so I’m not getting my hopes up in succeding this year, but, there’s always next year!
The colleges I’m applying for this year are:
Santa Casa (Nov 2nd and 3rd)
Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) (Nov 15th)
Faculdade de Medicina do ABC (FMABC) (Nov 20th)
Universidade de São Paulo (USP) (Nov 26th)
Anhembi Morumbi (Dec 9th)
Einstein (Dec 10th)
And so far, my grades haven’t been terrible, but I’m far from what’s needed to med school. (I’m already looking for places to study next year to prepare to the vestibular.)
Speaking of which, from what I’ve heard, the steps to being accepted into college are diferent in Brazil than in other contries, so I’ll try to explain how it works here.
“Vestibular”
Similar in a way to the SATs, here in Brazil, usually in the end of the year, we have several tests that we choose and pay for. These tests are only made of multiple choice questions and sometimes a dissertation. They are exclusive to the college you wish to enroll, and they are pretty much the only thing standing between you and your college of choice.
Anything can be asked in these tests. Well, anything we learned in highschool.
(Speaking of which, in highschool we have math, physics, chemistry, history, geography, biology, portuguese (grammar and literature) and english (grammar) and we can’t choose the ones that we want to study.)
Public colleges usually divide these tests in two parts. If you don’t achieve the necessary score in the first one, you don’t even take the second test.
This second test is usually made with witten questions, and only has the specific subjects that you’ll use more in college. For example, for medicine, it has math and portuguese (basics for most colleges), physics, chemistry and biology.
If you manage to have a high score in both tests, then you can enroll in a public college.
Private colleges are usually easier to enter. They have only one test that, sometimes, has multiple choice and written questions. If you get a highscore in it, you’re in.
But what about my highschool grades and extra curricular activities?
Well, here in Brazil those don’t make any difference. We are encouraged to learn a second language, but only for our professional lives and not necessarily for college.
We don’t have “clubs” or even “groups” that can make it into our curriculum. We only have the regular classes in order to make us get into college.
Someone that did nothing in highschool and someon who had straight 10s (our grades are ranked from 0-10), both have the same chances to go to college. (But more likelly, only the one that studied will make it)
Ok, so how do you study for that?
Just like the rest of the world (I think) we have some “schools” that focus on the ‘vestibular’. I’m studying in the afternoons at Objetivo and their focus right now is to make as many multiple choice exercises as possible while reviewing most of the content. We also have tons of exercises to try to make at home and, if we don’t understand the solution, we have college students that help us have a better understanding on how to solve those tests.
And I guess that’s it!
I hope this studyblr helps me with my motivation and to keep a steadier study schedule.
If you have any more questions about the steps needed to enter a brazilian college, or about anything else, please, feel free to ask!
See you on the flipside~
