The steps to the final approval (Part I)

Until the day you see your name in the final list of the approved candidates, lots of steps are taken. A big part of it the anxiety makes it a little hard to deal: waiting!

I'm going to sum it up in two posts(what would be a single one at first) the steps I took so far that got me here to the approval and the many last details to take care of, until the day of the departure. Let's rewind this tape!


1 - The Signing up:

This is the very first step I took! There is a time when they release an announcement to provide places for candidates who want to apply to study abroad, twice a year. Then, there's the offical document regarding the dates and rules for the process.

I applied first for the US. But then I was also torn between UK and Australia, so I sat down with a friend to talk about the idea to go for the latter. After a lot of thinking, Australia it was! (maybe I can have a post about the reasons...)


2 - The Approval of my Home University:

This step is still one of the easiest ones, no need to worry much about it, since it's only beginning.

A couple of weeks after the period of signing up ends, the coordinators of our home universities (the ones responsable for the international issues) have access to our applications. All you have to do to keep it going is to be a good student. And what may that be? Doing your job, like having good grades, a good attendance for all the classes, and not having failed many subjects. (By many, I mean up to 3 or 4. By the way, I would consider even 3 that a lot!) I myself gave up 1 unit on the 2nd semester and wound up failing it, but that wasn't a big deal.



3 - The Proficiency Test:

I think this is the part where people fear the most during the entire process. I chose to take TOEFL, about a month a half after signing up. Yes, I retarded it a little bit, having in mind that the right thing to do is to take it before even signing up, but the due date to turn in the score was far away at that point, so it was no stress.

I knew it was crucial to get to know the structure of the test. So, I spared about a week to study for it with a friend and did very well! I've always been into english my whole life, so it was no problem for me. I got a 103 out of 120.


4 - CNPq's Pre-Approval

This is when shit starts to get serious! I remember I started to worry a little more about the application process at this point, because I had always considered this step the most important.

Getting an e-mail and finding out that I was pre-approved on the program was a big relief! On this part, they cross people off the list. 3 main reasons for that, I believe:

4.1 - They hadn't taken or hadn't gotten a minimum of 600 out of 1000 as an average score on our "National High School Exam" (originally called ENEM - Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio). This exam is becoming very important in the country to grant spots for students at most of our universities.

4.2 - They hadn't done any English Proficiency Test. As I said before, unfortunately people try to apply for the program without being truly prepared first, so they don't go through on it.

4.3 - They hadn't been approved by their home university, for whatever reasons they judged previously.



5 - The first contact of the Agency

Now it was time to gather the documents!

The agency that took (and still is taking) care of me and my colleagues was called LAE(Latino Australian Education).

This agency is responsable for dealing with the students who chose to apply for the Group of 8. They've been helpful with tips and ideas since from having my documents translated(how it should be done) to my placement at Monash University, which was the one I chose as my 1st option!




To be continued...