In many Spanish speaking countries there are many good universities but getting into them is very difficult. In many countries, students have to take a test to be be admitted and only those students who are excellent are allowed to enter. In other countries, students are told what career to pursued depending on their grades. As a result, the students prepare many months in advance to take tests or follow whatever requirements the universities may have to be part of their student body. There are universities like the University of Complutense in Madrid where more than 120,000 students attend while there are many smaller universities where hundreds of students attend. The same is true in countries like Venezuela.
Like in the United States, there are private universities that are very expensive to attend and no scholarships available. There are also public universities where the majority of the students apply before graduating from High school. A disadvantage of the public universities is the size of the classes where there are so many students that there are no seats for everyone. Some universities are moderns and offer everything a student needs to prepare well while other universities are smaller and not equiped well enough to prepare the students for a good career.In Spain one of the oldest universities is la Universidad de Salamanca funded in the XIII Century. This university is famous not only for its architecture but for all the famous people who taught there. Like in many universities in the spanish speaking world, the length of time required to obtain a degree is five years-although many students take longer than that to finalize their studies. To adapt to the working world, students can attend classes in the morning,afternoon and evening depending on their work schedule. In the mayority of universities student are on their own when it is time to find a place to live since there are not dorms on campus as is the case of many universities in North America.
In a Spanish speaking country students are more likely to be more involved in the political movement by participating in marches and organizing protests against national and international injustice. So, when you have the opportunity to study abroad take into consideration that the students in the university you are attending might be very politically involved. Please do not allow this to prevent you from studying abroad and learning Spanish by living in a Spanish speaking country. Check with your embassy or government before traveling to be inform of the political climate present where you want to go.
7 years ago
