Getting a free Master's in Brazil

[Santoro]

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.

 

[Cyclone]

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.
.

 

[nomadicdude]

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.

 

[Brosemite]

@ 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!

 

[STEEL_WARRIOR]

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.

 

[Stakes Is High]

I looked into this while living near one of the better state universities in Brasil (UFSC). I looked into the program, and they save two spots per class for foreigners within each program (for a free degree). The masters in economics covered essentially the some topics I learned in undergrad as a business finance major. Moreover, i was working with Brasilian MBA students and they were not that intelligent.. I figured it was a waste of time to acquire a free masters.

 

[xmlenigma]

@ 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!

Bro - How's it been so far? Drop some data.

I looked into this while living near one of the better state universities in Brasil (UFSC). I looked into the program, and they save two spots per class for foreigners within each program (for a free degree). The masters in economics covered essentially the some topics I learned in undergrad as a business finance major. Moreover, i was working with Brasilian MBA students and they were not that intelligent.. I figured it was a waste of time to acquire a free masters.

Hmm.. And add to that you have to Self Fund your living.. Unlike in the US where an MS/ PhD can be a fully funded ride.