Post: #1

Has anyone looked into this? I was aware that most modern EU countries have free university education, but apparently we can add Brazil to the list:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worl...most-free/

For a simple additional Master's and what i imagine to be a simply wild year of one's life, everyone who's out to get a taste of SA should contemplate doing this. Only problem is, i can't seem to find any additional info online on others having gone through the experience. It would beat toughing it out in the EU cold.

   

Post: #2

I didn't even know I could get a free degree outside of the states, the fuck

Post: #3

Do you need to know Portguese

Post: #4

Take this info with a grain of salt: I met a Honduran who said he got a master's in engineering from a university in Brazil. He was in the states to get one here because no one cared about his Brazilian degree. Don't know if that's all true or just an exclusive case, but there it is.

Post: #5

I've done a little research into it (I'm in the UK) and France is around €300 A YEAR for courses fully in English.

Post: #6

You can get a free master's degree in the US as well. Apply and get accepted into a PhD program. You will be paid a stipend. There is no tuition. Complete sufficient coursework to obtain masters. Get master's. Quit PhD program. Cost is $0. Just don't tell them that's what you're planning on doing.

What's the point of a master's from Brazil? If I saw that on a resume I'd think the person is too stupid to get admitted anywhere good, and therefore not worth hiring. Or is this just to go to Brazil and bang university girls?

Post: #7

Menace you can get a masters fully paid for without the PhD, at least in sciences and engineering.
Agree about your Brazil degree recognition. Who the hell would hire some guy with a degree in a non first world country? There's a reason all these foreigners go to USA, Canada, England etc.

Post: #8

(11-07-2014 01:51 PM)komatiite Wrote:  Menace you can get a masters fully paid for without the PhD, at least in sciences and engineering.
Agree about your Brazil degree recognition. Who the hell would hire some guy with a degree in a non first world country? There's a reason all these foreigners go to USA, Canada, England etc.

koma for some reason I always thought that in the US you could not START in a master's program in the sciences and engineering. I know in Canada you start in master's then transition to PhD. I don't think I have ever seen, for example, a master's in chemistry or physics program advertised.

Post: #9

Hmm... Maybe I am mistaken for the pure sciences like physics and chem?
Engineering for sure, geology for sure, geophysics for sure all offer Masters. Lots of guys will take a BS in Civil Eng for example then want more petroleum business training so they go to somewhere like New Mexico Tech, A&M, LSU, and other eng schools to grab a masters in petroleum, geological, mining, etc.
Geologists won't get hired anymore in the USA without a Masters, if they do thesis based then they get paid.
Course-based engineering and earth sciences require payment though.
All boils down to research grant money, so Unis love Masters students to do their bitch work...

My apologies if I jumped to a conclusion over the pure sciences though...

Post: #10

You guys are missing the point. The degree thing is just a cover to get poosy. Plus, you'll get into social circles etc. Maybe a handful of schools should give you something useful in terms of pedigree and education.

Though I have a deep interest in the second world war. I wonder if there is such a degree. Probably history with a focus on WW2. I wonder if Germany would be the place for that.

Post: #11

(11-07-2014 11:54 AM)Menace Wrote:  You can get a free master's degree in the US as well. Apply and get accepted into a PhD program. You will be paid a stipend. There is no tuition. Complete sufficient coursework to obtain masters. Get master's. Quit PhD program. Cost is $0. Just don't tell them that's what you're planning on doing.

What's the point of a master's from Brazil? If I saw that on a resume I'd think the person is too stupid to get admitted anywhere good, and therefore not worth hiring. Or is this just to go to Brazil and bang university girls?

That's one way to look at it. Another way to go about it would be to use it as a death ground strategy to learn Portuguese, if the master's program is in Portuguese. If it's not, you'll still probably learn Portuguese just from being there for a couple years.

Portuguese is a great language to know. Bonus points if the master's degree in Brazil is highly mobile, for example, IT.

Post: #12

Yeah, I guess if you're fresh out of college, then this is a good way to get another degree and party in another country and learn a new language. I can certainly see that. I guess the topic should really be Party in Brazil by getting free master's.

Post: #13

(11-07-2014 04:36 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  You guys are missing the point. The degree thing is just a cover to get poosy. Plus, you'll get into social circles etc. Maybe a handful of schools should give you something useful in terms of pedigree and education.

Though I have a deep interest in the second world war. I wonder if there is such a degree. Probably history with a focus on WW2. I wonder if Germany would be the place for that.

Yeah, we kind of went off topic there. Just thought I'd ask Menace to clarify what me meant, and learned about the MS dealio in the USA. Carry on with ingenious ways to slay...

Post: #14

^^ nah bro, everything is cool for discussion as long as we are civil with one another (not saying you or anyone wasn't just a general theme). Including if the degree would be useful and stuff. Also, I was just trying to add a little comedy into a serious discussion

Post: #15

In the grand scheme of things, there are far worse things than getting a free master's degree in Brazil (ideally in something useful), fucking Brazilian women, getting fit on Brazilian beaches, learning Portuguese, making friends overseas, and expanding your mind, all for a couple years.

This is a great idea to at least look into, especially for guys in their 20's or who otherwise have a couple free years coming up where they are free to disappear.

Post: #16

(11-07-2014 11:54 AM)Menace Wrote:  You can get a free master's degree in the US as well. Apply and get accepted into a PhD program. You will be paid a stipend. There is no tuition. Complete sufficient coursework to obtain masters. Get master's. Quit PhD program. Cost is $0. Just don't tell them that's what you're planning on doing.

There are some people at my university doing this. Not so much intentionally from the get go but it pertains moreso to entry level work opportunities having more availability for masters degree graduates opposed to PHD level graduates. Masters and PHD students even take many of the same classes except PHD students might have an extra paper or two to write per semester.

(11-07-2014 11:54 AM)Menace Wrote:  What's the point of a master's from Brazil? If I saw that on a resume I'd think the person is too stupid to get admitted anywhere good, and therefore not worth hiring. Or is this just to go to Brazil and bang university girls?

As a North American, I think one would be better off getting a degree in desired field within the US or Canada. It's kind of pointless going down to Brazil for a study abroad only in English as it won't really do much for you.

Universidade Federal do Parana and to an extent Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul offer intensive Portuguese classes for gringos that could last 15 hours a week in training for many different levels. At least the one in Curitiba possesses a great deal of South Korean, Japanese, Latin American, and European employees sent by their companies to enroll in these Portuguese courses.

Rio Grande do Sul has some international students like that too especially some from China, but UFPR in Curitiba has a longer history of doing this not to mention is closer to the big time companies in Sao Paulo or Campinas. UFRS offers more of a confusing Liberal Arts curriculum where students have many courses to choose from whereas UFPR emphasizes Portuguese in a professional working world context with less "variety" to choose from, but they get to the point (important shit).

Sao Paulo and Rio likely offer those same opportunities, but it's more expensive there obviously. UFMG in Belo Horizonte offers a program though it's pretty weak as classes only go 4 hours per week as the Uni is far away from all the other points of interest in the city. 4 Hours per week means less ground covered so one would need to stay longer months (more $$ in longer rent) to accumulate the same progress one could attain in aforementioned cities above.

So who would be more marketable in the global job market?
1) Those having an education from the US/Canada with an in demand educational background while having 6-12+ months of intensive Portuguese training being in Brazil through one of their universities

or

2) Not having a North American educational background while obtaining an English only degree in Brazil while picking up minimal Portuguese?

(11-07-2014 01:51 PM)komatiite Wrote:  Menace you can get a masters fully paid for without the PhD, at least in sciences and engineering.
Agree about your Brazil degree recognition. Who the hell would hire some guy with a degree in a non first world country? There's a reason all these foreigners go to USA, Canada, England etc.

True on both counts.

(11-07-2014 05:33 PM)Yeti Wrote:  In the grand scheme of things, there are far worse things than getting a free master's degree in Brazil (ideally in something useful), fucking Brazilian women, getting fit on Brazilian beaches, learning Portuguese, making friends overseas, and expanding your mind, all for a couple years.

This is a great idea to at least look into, especially for guys in their 20's or who otherwise have a couple free years coming up where they are free to disappear.

True though the relevant universities according to the Washington Post article only indicate Campinas (good looking girls/cheap costs) and USP in Sao Paulo (expensive as shit) while not being anywhere near a beach.

You need to keep these things in mind if wanting to enroll in a university abroad:
1) Need International Health Insurance ($30.00 + a month) before getting a student visa.
2) If American, would one still be required to be paying 120$+ a month in Obamacare if showing proof of international health insurance, enrollment in a university, and stay in a foreign country?
3) At least for Brazil, you need to prove to the Brazilian consulate that you can have sufficient funds via bank statements to study abroad. If you don't have help from parents, they need individual proof of being able to spend $2000.00 Reais montly (Roughly $800.00 USD now as of Early November 2014)
4) Figures in #3 pertains to Brazil. I imagine that proof of monthly financial capability would be higher for Germany, Finland, France, and Norway...maybe Slovenia is different.
5) You need to spend likely $250.00 on an international student visa/fees if not more.
6) You need to get an FBI Background check from West Virginia (go through an agency for faster results), which would be $50.00. Local/State criminal record checks do not count. PM me if needing a good agency.
7) Excluding Campinas or cities in Slovenia, those other countries can be expensive in general so be prepared to have sufficient savings to travel and be able to spend enough for a comfy life!

Post: #17

(11-07-2014 04:36 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  You guys are missing the point. The degree thing is just a cover to get poosy.

Thank you. sometimes this sub-board can forget what it's all about.
Sorry for bailing on the topic but i'm glad people are looking into this, besides what's so bad about a degree from Brazil? It's not that underdeveloped and as long as you go to the top 2-3 universities you'll have good enough reputation (although useless if you want to stay in USA)
.

Post: #18

(11-07-2014 05:51 PM)Brosemite Wrote:  You need to keep these things in mind if wanting to enroll in a university abroad:
1) Need International Health Insurance ($30.00 + a month) before getting a student visa.
2) If American, would one still be required to be paying 120$+ a month in Obamacare if showing proof of international health insurance, enrollment in a university, and stay in a foreign country?
3) At least for Brazil, you need to prove to the Brazilian consulate that you can have sufficient funds via bank statements to study abroad. If you don't have help from parents, they need individual proof of being able to spend $2000.00 Reais montly (Roughly $800.00 USD now as of Early November 2014)
4) Figures in #3 pertains to Brazil. I imagine that proof of monthly financial capability would be higher for Germany, Finland, France, and Norway...maybe Slovenia is different.
5) You need to spend likely $250.00 on an international student visa/fees if not more.
6) You need to get an FBI Background check from West Virginia (go through an agency for faster results), which would be $50.00. Local/State criminal record checks do not count. PM me if needing a good agency.
7) Excluding Campinas or cities in Slovenia, those other countries can be expensive in general so be prepared to have sufficient savings to travel and be able to spend enough for a comfy life!

1) Yup.
2) Not certain of that, but none of the 'Merican students at our universtity ever mentioned this.
3) It's around €650/month as far as I can remember here.
4) See above
5) For our uni, it's á €130/academic year. Not sure about Visa fees or similar.
6) Really? What's the reason for that?
7) True. Finland is quite expensive, and finding reasonable part-time work or work in general can be hard if your degree is shit or you can't speak Finnish. Some of the Americans I know have found good, business-related employment in larger multinationals during their studies. The rest have not.

Post: #19

I've met foreigners(French,Mexican,Chinese) at a private southern Brazilian Uni ( http://en.pucpr.br/pucpr-international/p...-students/ ) ,so i guess their tuitions are not very high.
If i remember well anyone with a high school education might try a place at a Brazilian Uni,but i don't remember how their admission exam is now with all this ENEM thing.

Post: #20

Relevant article on studying in France:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilylambert...timizely=a

The things I learn from this forum... I'm strongly considering going to France for a Masters in a few years after my service and I get my BA.

Post: #21

(11-07-2014 11:54 AM)Menace Wrote:  You can get a free master's degree in the US as well. Apply and get accepted into a PhD program. You will be paid a stipend. There is no tuition. Complete sufficient coursework to obtain masters. Get master's. Quit PhD program. Cost is $0. Just don't tell them that's what you're planning on doing.

I went this exact route to study in a major American party city. It has its ups and downs.

-Free tuition
-Free health insurance
-Stipend
-Option to travel 3x a year for conferences (this varies by university)
-All expenses paid international summer internship (gig that I landed outside of grad school and negotiated with my advisor to make things work)

Here's the downsides:

That education...was not worth shit. As most folks know, a science masters over qualifies you for most jobs and doesn't get you noticed by bigger companies (who usually want phD's for science related work)

My friends that took jobs right out of undergrad now have 3 years experience and are getting recruited for new gigs/ making 100k+. I'm just starting out on that grind, and with a job I could have gotten right out of college. From an economical standpoint it's not the greatest decision to make, but the fun and experiences while I was a "PhD student" were pretty sweet.

On an optimistic day I could say that eventually the masters will open doors when I would have otherwise 'peaked' but I'm not so sure it's really necessary. Real world experience trumps all, still.

Note: I was straight-up with my advisor and said in my grad school interview that I was leaning towards a masters but wanted to try the grad program before I made a decision.

I even checked the box for 'masters' degree on the application and he crossed it out and checked the PhD box. He knew what was up, but I think I got off fortunate finding a really cool advisor that was doing work that matched exactly with my prior experience, so he was happy to play along.

Post: #22

(11-13-2014 06:47 AM)Merris Wrote:  

(11-07-2014 05:51 PM)Brosemite Wrote:  You need to keep these things in mind if wanting to enroll in a university abroad:
1) Need International Health Insurance ($30.00 + a month) before getting a student visa.
2) If American, would one still be required to be paying 120$+ a month in Obamacare if showing proof of international health insurance, enrollment in a university, and stay in a foreign country?
3) At least for Brazil, you need to prove to the Brazilian consulate that you can have sufficient funds via bank statements to study abroad. If you don't have help from parents, they need individual proof of being able to spend $2000.00 Reais montly (Roughly $800.00 USD now as of Early November 2014)
4) Figures in #3 pertains to Brazil. I imagine that proof of monthly financial capability would be higher for Germany, Finland, France, and Norway...maybe Slovenia is different.
5) You need to spend likely $250.00 on an international student visa/fees if not more.
6) You need to get an FBI Background check from West Virginia (go through an agency for faster results), which would be $50.00. Local/State criminal record checks do not count. PM me if needing a good agency.
7) Excluding Campinas or cities in Slovenia, those other countries can be expensive in general so be prepared to have sufficient savings to travel and be able to spend enough for a comfy life!

1) Yup.
2) Not certain of that, but none of the 'Merican students at our universtity ever mentioned this.
3) It's around €650/month as far as I can remember here.
4) See above
5) For our uni, it's á €130/academic year. Not sure about Visa fees or similar.
6) Really? What's the reason for that?
7) True. Finland is quite expensive, and finding reasonable part-time work or work in general can be hard if your degree is shit or you can't speak Finnish. Some of the Americans I know have found good, business-related employment in larger multinationals during their studies. The rest have not.

No offense, but I didn't have to go through *any* of that upon applying (and accepting) a Master's Course at the top university in Singapore. And Singapore is considered the most expensive city in the world. Don't let things like this bog you down or second-guess yourself - just do.
.

Post: #23

Re: Obamacare, if you spend 330 or more days outside the US in a year, or you have residency in a foreign country, you do not have to purchase American insurance and you will not be liable for any penalties for not having American insurance.

Healthcare is the last reason not to go abroad.

Post: #24

@ Merris - Thx for those pts on Finland

@ Cyclone - Didn't list the info as a way of deterring ppl who want to study abroad in Brazil. Just listing the requirements as a guy who just received his Brazilian student visa one week ago. Better to be safe than sorry! Thx for that insight on Singapore.

@ NomadicDude - That info is a life saver. Thanks!

Post: #25

Wait friends can someone from a British colony take advantage of this 'free study' I'd like to do some computing papers in one of those Nordic countries.