For over 15 years, our free preparatory program has supported Brazilian high school students in securing admission to universities abroad.
Here, students take the lead in their own application journey, supported by individualized guidance that brings together Fundação Estudar’s experience, methodology, and network to maximize their chances of admission to the world’s top universities.
It was 2009 when friends Wolf Klabin, Thiago Picolo, Samuel Elia, and Álvaro Piquet began discussing the idea of creating a 100% free program to help Brazilian high school students compete for admission to top universities abroad.
This led to the creation of Prep Program, initially within Instituto de Liderança do Rio (ILRIO), with a clear proposal: each student would work one-on-one with a mentor, who would guide them throughout the entire application process to leading international universities.
Prep Program was later incorporated into Fundação Estudar, which saw the opportunity to expand its mission of supporting more people in achieving the dream of studying at the world’s best universities. Since then, more than 600 Brazilian students have been prepared, resulting in over 1,600 admissions.
Since 2009, the program’s first year:
The 10 most attended universities are:
Na última turma apoiada pelo programa:
The total value of scholarships awarded to students exceeded
per year, revealed over four years of undergraduate studies
Students receive over 200 hours of application guidance at no cost. Regardless of their income level, Prep Program students receive comprehensive application support free of charge.
Students with financial need receive funding that can be used to cover application-related expenses, such as standardized tests, document submission fees, and other related costs.
For students who meet specific criteria, we also offer scholarships to help cover post-admission expenses, such as airfare, visa fees, and passport issuance.
As members of our network, Prep students are already considered qualified for our prestigious scholarship programs, Líderes Estudar and Tech Fellow.
Highly trained counselors—who have studied abroad and received specialized training in the application process—work with small groups of students to provide individualized, strategic support throughout the entire application journey.
Each student is also supported by a Brazilian mentor who is currently studying or has studied at a U.S. university, such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Northwestern, Duke, Brown, and others. This mentor provides personal and professional development, application guidance, and preparation for the international academic journey.
We understand that most students come from schools with little or no experience with the application process. For this reason, we work closely with students and their schools to successfully prepare recommendation letters, submit academic transcripts, and develop a school profile for their institution. We also guide students through the required documentation to secure scholarships from universities, navigate application platforms, and submit other materials required by institutions.
Students participate in weekly workshops led by the Prep team and receive exclusive, tailored, and up-to-date content on the application process. The sessions are dynamic and help students write essays, build a personalized college list, understand how to secure scholarships, and excel in university interviews. As a result, our students submit complete, cohesive, and high-quality applications.
Our team provides multiple rounds of feedback to review all key components of each student’s application, including essays and the college list.
At no cost to participants, we offer weekly classes focused on standardized test preparation (SAT/ACT).
All of our students receive a personalized letter of recommendation written by our team on behalf of Fundação Estudar to be included in their applications. Our letters have been praised for their quality by admissions officers from highly selective universities.
We host exclusive info sessions with admissions officers and alumni from renowned universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Brown, Duke, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, and others.
We recognize that the college application process can be stressful. For this reason, we offer our students access to low-cost or free therapy, addressing both challenges related to the application process and entirely personal needs.
With a network of nearly 600 alumni, our program offers a broad community of students across multiple industries and U.S. universities, providing additional support throughout the application process. Prep students also gain access to networking opportunities with other communities in our network, including our more than 800 Líderes Estudar and Tech Fellows.
The greatest strength of the Prep Program is its community of Brazilians across the country and around the world. For this reason, we create online spaces where students can connect with one another and with the broader community through events and traditions such as alumni panels and community-building gatherings.
Prep Program students begin participating in activities across the Fundação Estudar network and can even become contributors to the Estudar Fora portal.
