School Dni Bank Account Help!

[sleslie23]

Ah, if you are working then UBA won´t work for you. They have nothing in the evening.

This is very annoying!

Both the Centro Universitario de Idiomas and UBA Laboratorio de Idiomas only have Spanish courses during the day. This is why I have always gone with private lessons.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

I guess staff hours are limited to during the day and the facilities\classrooms are only available during the day. I think also they believe you should treat it like you are in full time education. It does have the feel of being back at university.

However, yes, it is frustrating. Luckily my internal transfer was held up for so long I was able to squeeze in a few courses at UBA whilst waiting for all the red tape to unwind.

 

[otoñita]

So I am replying to this topic rather than starting a brand new thread because I feel like I'm in a similar situation to ARbound. Unlike him though, I am currently in the US about to graduate with my Bachelor's degree in Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. I spent the last year studying abroad in Argentina (June 2012-June 2013) and am near fluent in Spanish but not a native speaker. I absolutely fell in love with the culture and the people there and I have a one-way ticket to return to BA in June after I graduate. I am not sure what exactly I want to do with my life yet; I just turned 21 and I have a lot of opportunities but no clear direction except South. I don't have a hefty savings account and I've accumulated several thousand dollars in student loans but I'm wanting to go back to school for Biology/something in ciencias exactas.

I've read a lot about the bureaucracy nightmare it is for foreigners to study at UBA and heard lots of horror stories but I still want to. I would, by studying there, be able to defer my student loans, and I have a strong network of family and friends in both the USA and Argentina that have offered to help me. I also don't care about the value of my degree in the USA that much as I don't plan on living here permanently. I know all of the steps to get a student visa and I've done that on my own before so I'm not as concerned about that. I am, however, still a little unclear about the high school equivalency exams and how I would go about sorting all of that out:

1.) I am arriving in June and registration for CBC is in February/March so I would have time to study for and take the equivalency exams, right? Does anyone know whenish they are given? I have done a little research but gotten very vague information. Even this guide (http://estatico.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/educacion/gestion_privada/docs/guia-alumn-extr.pdf) just says it depends on the school they tell you to go to.
2.) I know that the exams I'd have to take are: Lengua, Lengua y Literatura, Geografía, Historia, Instrucción Cívica, y Educación Cívica but is there any information online about these exams besides their titles? I would also really like to avoid actually having to enroll in any sort of adult classes and am a really good learner on my own if I have the materials. I'm more or less comfortable with my Spanish and I took classes at DiTella (and Universidad Belgrano, although they were kind of a joke...) with regular students and was able to keep up fine. If anyone has any resources (online or otherwise) that could help me study or get an understanding of what these materias and exams are like that would be awesome!

3.) So I don't want to get my hopes up but is there some way to ask for an exception to not having Argentina’s version of a high school diploma altogether? Since I’ve already got my Bachelor’s (or will have) AND it’s in Spanish Language and Culture (not just of Spain but Latin America too…)? I mean, logically it doesn’t make sense to have a college degree but not a high school degree…so would I somehow be able to “validar” my bachelor’s degree and have that count as sufficient entry for a carrera de grado en la UBA?

Thanks for your help, I’ve already found a lot of valuable information on here, I just feel like my situation is very…situational.

 

[Montauk_Project]

there are no exceptions. you can have a phd but you need a high school exam. Maybe you should consider a masters program at UBA? For that you don´t need the HS degree, just your bachlors, but it isn´t fee.
Don´t go to night school, this will take years, get a tutor to help. I think if you take 10-20 hours a week to study you can get pass the HS with 2-4 months of studying, if you have good Spanish and aren´t familiar with the material. To get more information, go to the HS you are assigned to to take the exams and talk to the teachers who will be administering the test, you are not the only person taking the exams.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

There is no way to get out of the exams. The exams are for subjects that you wouldn´t have had.
Argentine history
Argentine geography
Lit 1 and 2
Language 1
Civics

Since when is civics a topic of importance to Argentines?

 

[Kettle]

I would, by studying there, be able to defer my student loans,

Just a clarification for any soon to be graduates in the US - you can request deferral of repayment of your student loans in the US by enrolling in a degree program that's approved by your loan service provider. Foreign universitiies (with two or three exceptions) do not fall into this category. You can defer the repayment of your student loans by demonstrating financial hardship, or debt that's very high relative to your income - look into Income-Based Repayment.

 

[ARbound]

Well an update from myself and my advise to anyone considering this:

Unless you're coming from a country in which Argentina has an agreement on high school equivalentcy (and even then still) don't waste your time here, go to a good school in a good country.

Also, unless you have thousands of USD/EUR saved it will be a fruitless attempt as school at UBA is free, but you must complete all the required courses and still go through all the legalization issues, not to mention speak Spanish and have a source of income (you're going to be hard pressed to get a good paying job/teaching English, I work full time and make $600 usd a month).

Go anywhere but here people, don't make the mistakes I've made...

 

[Montauk_Project]

@ARbound I think we told you all of these points before you came here, that you will need to pass the HS exam and there are no exceptions, that paperwork will take time and that UBA is horribly full of red-tape. Also, if you don´t speak Spanish passing HS exams let alone taking university classes is going to be very hard, especially if you are teaching English (less time to learn Spanish).
What you were talking about doing is a 6-10 year plan, you are not even done with year one, so you are on schedule.