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Looking for advice

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Szap79
  11/18/2016 17:46 EST

Hello, I am looking for some advice. I am 19 working on my associates degree and am planning on finishing out my degree online whilst I am over in Guate (Yes, I am planning to live there for more than a few years, to start). My mother is Guatemalan and I was hoping to get my double citizenship (I am American) and I was hoping on getting some advice for that. Secondly, I don't know if I should study in university over there (or if I can even do that) or if I could get a job or how. I was a chef here for a while, but I love doing language and translation jobs; I was always translating documents for my parents and working as a translator for them at big events, and my associates will be in interdisciplinary studies: Arts and Humanities (specifically in languages, I speak quite a few). I have a tiny bit of student loan debt (I was attending a 4 year university at first but due to extraneous circumstances for my family, I had to leave) so how can I pay that from all the way over here? Please help, I would appreciate any advice. Also would love any new friends that understand what I will be going through.

zaqwsx
  11/19/2016 19:20 EST

The University of San Carlos is more than 200 years older than Harvard and one of the finest universities in the world. It is free to Guatemalan nationals and I am told it is much easier to get into as a transfer student from the U.S. than as a new freshman. There are also several good private universities and their tuition is a small fraction of a U.S. school and you do not have to be a citizen to attend. With a Guatemalan mother citizenship should not be a problem I would call a Guatemalan attorney. Edwardo Salazar 502 4034 9753 might be a good place to start since he also teaches at San Carlos and speaks perfect English. Not just tuition is cheap here, I had a law student living with me for a while, everyone chips in and they buy one copy of the text book, they scan it and give everyone the book on their android tablet....so much for buying $150.00 text books.

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Guategringo
  11/20/2016 08:24 EST

zaqwsx,
first of all Harvard is 40 years older than USAC. Harvard was founded in 1636 and USAC in 1676. Citizenship with one parent as a Guatemalan is automatic upon applying. The best university in Guatemala for medicine for example, Universidad Francisco Marroquin costs approximately Q5,500 per month for ten months of the year or about $733 per month. Calling USAC one of the world's finest universities is in my humble opinion stretching the truth and stretching it quite far...

zaqwsx
  11/24/2016 19:23 EST

the predecessor to San Carlos was founded by Bishop Franciso Marroquin in 1562 over 500 years ago harvard was founded in 1636. My point was it has been around a long time. The tuition has gone up, it is now q100.00 a year, about $`13.00. That is far cheaper than an internet college in the U,S, you made my point that Franciso Marroquin Medical School (founded 400 years after Franciso Marroquin died) is less than $8,000 a year, less than a 10th the cost of the cheapest U,S, medical school but I think we were talking about undergraduate and even at the private universities tuition is in the hundreds of dollars not thousands. And yes, it is not a big thing to get citizenship if your mother is Guatemalan but unless you want to take a chance of denouncing your U.S. citizenship somewhere in the papers it is cheap and a good idea to get a Guatemalan attorney to help you.

Guategringo
  11/25/2016 17:26 EST

Not sure where you get your information about a university 500 years before San Carlos, but please post it as I do not believe that. I agree with you about the low cost of secondary education here in Guatemala. I am talking about undergraduate school. Here in Guatemala you enter med school out of high school and study for 7 years then you specialize for one year. You do not have to denounce your citizenship. Guatemala does not ask you. You do not have to hand over any other passport to get a Guatemalan one.

fsmith2010
  1/18/2017 02:54 EST

Thank you for your information. I am an American looking to help a Guatemalan friend of mine attend medical school in guatemala to become a doctor. He does not have the funds to attend, but my colleagues along with myself, do. I am wondering what the approximate prices are for a year of school, as well as which universities are the best bet for medical degrees. My friend has a high school education and is 21 years old. Thank you for your help.

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William Russell's private medical insurance will cover you and your family wherever you may be. Whether you need primary care or complex surgery, you'll have access to the best hospitals & doctors available. Unlike some insurers, we also include medical evacuation and mental health cover in our plans (except SilverLite). Get a quote from our partner, William Russell.
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Guategringo
  1/18/2017 07:01 EST

My son just started med school here in Guatemala. There are four universities that I know of that offer med school. The top school and the most expensive is Universidad Francisco Marroquin that costs approximately $675 per month. the second most expensive is Rafael Landivar at about $450 per month, followed by Mariano Galvez, which I do not know the price of and finally Universidad de San Carlos, which is a public school and costs approximately $14 for the entire year, yes just $14.
Many people here in Guatemala attend USAC the public university which has a very good medical program. UFM (Francisco Marroquin) is considered the best especially for those that want to some day work as a doctor in the U.S. or Europe.
Of course there are other cost involved at all schools such as books, lab equipment and others... if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to send me a PM.

sojournerEXPAT
  3/9/2017 11:08 EST

I took a tour of UFM with an administrator. Anyone looking into attending a University in Guate should at least take the tour and see how great this college is. UFM is the only libertarian college in the world.

Guategringo
  3/9/2017 12:00 EST

My son is studying medicine at UFM. GREAT school!

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