Introductions
Hey everyone~
Since this is my very first post here, I thought I might introduce myself.
My name is Natasha, and Iâm 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 Iâm not getting my hopes up in succeding this year, but, thereâs always next year!
The colleges Iâm 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 SĂŁo Paulo (USP) (Nov 26th)
Anhembi Morumbi (Dec 9th)
Einstein (Dec 10th)Â
And so far, my grades havenât been terrible, but Iâm far from whatâs needed to med school. (Iâm already looking for places to study next year to prepare to the vestibular.)
Speaking of which, from what Iâve heard, the steps to being accepted into college are diferent in Brazil than in other contries, so Iâll try to explain how it works here.
âVestibularâ
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 canât choose the ones that we want to study.)
Public colleges usually divide these tests in two parts. If you donât achieve the necessary score in the first one, you donât even take the second test.
This second test is usually made with witten questions, and only has the specific subjects that youâll 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, youâre in.
But what about my highschool grades and extra curricular activities?
Well, here in Brazil those donât make any difference. We are encouraged to learn a second language, but only for our professional lives and not necessarily for college.
We donât have âclubsâ or even âgroupsâ 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 âschoolsâ that focus on the âvestibularâ. Iâm 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 donât understand the solution, we have college students that help us have a better understanding on how to solve those tests.
And I guess thatâs 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~
