Insper Institute of Education and Research

Located in Sao Paulo, Insper is the city’s most prestigious business school, producing graduates for top Brazilian companies through its undergraduate programs in economics, management, and engineering. The school used to be known as Ibmec, until it changed its name to Insper in 2002. It has about 2000 undergraduates across 4 years.

School’s Main Website | International / Exchange Student Website

GPA requirement:

3.0 / 4.0

Language of instruction:

English, Portuguese

Courses:

Course descriptions are sent to the incoming exchange students upon confirmation. Send an email to international@insper.edu.br (you can use English) to request for a list.

Portuguese language courses
Portuguese language courses are offered by Insper, run by an external vendor. The international office will ask for registrations on a first-come-first-serve basis. There are about 12-15 slots each semester, with 50-60 exchange students. You would attend a 2-hour class every day from Monday to Thursday for the first 4 weeks of school, and you’re done.

Flying Chalks’ tip: This class is key to conversational and reading Portuguese, so do indicate your interest as soon as they send the email!

Course registration process:

Registration for courses is via the email. The international office sends a form, called a Learning Agreement, approx. 3 months before your exchange and a finalized course list, asking you to choose from the list and fill up and sign the agreement.

Flying Chalks’ tips: The add-drop period is strictly limited to the first week of school and done manually by email. Try to look out for the email and register ahead of your other countries’ exchange peers. Also, do your mapping before they send you the Agreement using a provisional course list, which you have to request. Request it as soon as you get your Insper email! This way, it helps you get almost any course you want, and also have a very smooth ‘bidding’ process.

Attendance policy:

The attendance policy is 75%. However, Insper declares to their MOE 20 weeks of 2 classes per week as their official syllabus, but in actual fact the semester only runs for 14 weeks of 2 classes per week. Hence, you can miss 10 (25% of 40) out of 28 classes. Midterms and Finals are considered as one class as well. Hence, if you want to skip any exams, remember to keep some quota.

Selected facilities:

Student Activity Centre
On the 5^th floor of the building, there is a street soccer court, where the local students play during their lunch breaks. The CCAs are also located here, along with any student festivals.

Library terminals
The library is quite well-equipped with Bloomberg and other terminals without any need for booking.

Printing station
Located near the end of the ground floor (terreo), they can help you do your printing (you just pass the thumbdrive and pay cash) if your Insper account is not set.

Food on campus:

There are snack bars on the 2^nd and 3^rd floor (Brazil starts from ground floor). On the 5^th floor, there is a restaurant that serves buffet charged by weight (R$5.69/kg). An alternative is Casa de Pao de Queijo on the basement. That’s about all the food outlets on campus.

Flying Chalks’ recommendation: Due to the limited food on campus, students often eat around Insper. There are lots of restaurants along the streets in the neighbourhood, see the food section under “Surrounding environment” for more.

Every day, the noticeboards at Insper will be updated with that day's classes, optional workshops, as well as upcoming university-wide events, such as parties and conversations with the university's President. In addition, Insper has a “social culture” where the students are friendly and helpful. This then facilitates having an exciting student life!

Orientation program:

An orientation day is organized on the first week of school to welcome all the exchange students and allow you to meet your buddies (see buddy program below). Food is served and the session is free-and-easy without any briefings or rules to abide.

The following week, there will be a conversation with the President of Insper and the International department to clarify doubts and problems that exchange students face.

Buddy program:

Insper Intl will allocate each exchanger a buddy, who will contact the student beforehand. You are encouraged to meet your buddy as he/she will bring you around (as Brazilians are kind and friendly). There will also be unofficial groups around where friends just meet and go out together.  

Student clubs:

As Insper does not have a huge campus, it supports few sports activities. It has a few other student clubs that you can try to reach out and join some activities, although some have quite limited programmes for exchangers. In addition, Rede de Estudantes Intercambio (REI) organizes events and trips for all exchange students in Sao Paulo.

1. Insper student organizations

• Grupo de Ação Social – GAS: develops social projects through students’ volunteer work and financial donations.
• Diretório Acadêmico – D.A.: represents the students. It is responsible for the student’s communication with the schools’ board. They are also responsible for parties, barbecues and other events.
• Atlética: promotes sports practices and championships: soccer, basketball, volleyball, handball, and others. It is also organizes parties and events for the students. 
• Sementes Culturais: promotes events regarding the cultural aspect of students’ life. Their goal is to give students a more diverse point of view and “to open their eyes” to cultural aspects of our society.
• Sociedade em Debate: promotes debates between students and renowned members of society concerning the events of today’s world. The discussions touch on a variety of topics from economics to politics, education and others.
• Insper Junior Consulting: led by undergraduate students in their third and fourth year, Insper Jr. Consulting provides services to a variety of clients in the fields of Economics and Business Administration. Its creativity in the solutions presented and commitment to create results are its main highlights.
• AIESEC: this is an international student organization that, through professional exchange programs, allow students to develop their talent to make a difference in society.

2. Rede de Estudantes Intercambio (REI)

REI is a student organization – it translates into “network of exchange students”. It organizes a few things that might interest exchange students, such as travel trips (typically welcome trips to Rio and longer trips to destinations such as Fortaleza or Foz do Iguaçu) and parties at clubs (usually, guestlist (“lista”) is available for REI events).

Website: http://www.reisaopaulo.org/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/reisaopaulo/

3. Brasil de Portas Abertas (BRASPA)

Braspa means “Brazil with Open Doors”. It is the more professional version of REI, where it organizes students who are interested to take up a part-time internship by matching companies (usually startups) with students, at a fee payable by the student. It also collaborates with NGOs such as Cidade Pro Mundo for teaching English lessons to the poor local children, and offers other charity projects to exchangers who are interested. Find out more about BRASPA here!

Sao Paulo is a bustling international city with lots of options for food & beverage, shopping, and lifestyle. It is modern and international/westernized.

For food

Restaurants of a varying range are available around the city and the neighbourhood around Insper. One can easily eat cheap (based on per kilo charge) or at nice restaurants. Many of them are located in town (Avenida Paulista).

One of the most famous Western restaurant is A Figueira Rubaiyat at Rua Haddock Lobo, 1738. Japanese food and ramen is also popular, Aska Lamen (R. Galvão Bueno, 466) is one of the best stores around. Burger chains are also very popular, for instance, Z Deli at Rua Haddock Lobo, 1386 is one of the best choices.

Flying Chalks’ recommendations:

• Try Santo Kone (sushi opposite Insper)
• Taki Sushi along Av. Cotovia (15 min walk) (R$37.99 buffet)
• Panificadora Santa Olimpia (R$3.99/kg)
• Padaria Pellegrino (breakfast buffet approx. R$4.49/kg until 11.30am) for cheaper and better food
• Açai Bar (the powerfruit from Amazon) (along main road) and Sabores (R$4.29/kg) are also good choices popular among students.

For nightlife and entertainment:

The nightlife scene in Brazil, especially Sao Paulo and Rio, is bustling and lively. In SP, there are a lot of nightclubs littered over the city. Insper also organizes pre-semester, mid-semester and post-semester parties, where the students will party hard. Locals and exchange students usually organize a group to go for parties together, typically going to a student hostel for pre-drinks first, then joining the club queue (there is sometimes a guest list – do check), and then hitting the club, and finally going to someone’s apartment to chill for the rest of the night till the morning.

Flying Chalks’ recommendations:

It is said that Friday is gay night, but in general, it would be good to follow the parties organized or informal groups. For a list of clubs to check out:

• D-EGDE at Av. Auro Soares de Moura Andrade, 141 (Barra Funda)
• Audio Club at Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 694 (Barra Funda)
• Yacht Club at Rua Treze de Maio, 703 (Bela Vista)
• Ballroom at Rua Estados Unidos, 1570 (Jardim Paulista)
• Casa92 at Rua Cristóvão Gonçalves, 92 (Pinheiros)
• Rua Agusta near Avenida Paulista/Consolação is a famous club/bar street, but you must be careful as to the type of clubs you enter (e.g. those that offer “services”). For instance, Casarão at Rua Augusta, 791 (Consolação) is a strip club.

For daily necessities and groceries:

There are supermarkets located all over the city. The common ones include Dia% and Pao de Açucar. There is also a supermarket in the shopping mall near to Insper, Shopping Vila Olimpia. Convenience stores (local brands) are also scattered around the streets, making it easy to purchase stuff.

Flying Chalks' recommendations:

Dia% is the cheapest supermarket chain you can find while the Emporium Sao Paulo at Rua Pedroso Alvarenga, 803 is well stocked with international merchandise.

There are very few wet markets around, probably the only one in the city is the Mercado Municipal (which is also a tourist attraction). Other wet markets are generally in the suburbs and relatively more dangerous. Supermarkets are fine.

For shopping:

Sao Paulo is Brazil’s commercial centre and naturally the best city for shopping. Boutique shops are scattered around the city’s streets, though many are concentrated in the areas of Higienopolis (high concentration of international brand shopping malls), Itaim Bibi, Jardins, Vila Madalena, Rua Oscar Freire, Brooklin, Av. Paulista, Vila Nova Conceiçao, and Moema.

Cheaper and more local options are available in Centro, Republica, Vila Mariana and Paraiso. Liberdade (metro line 1) is the Japanese town, which is one of South America’s largest Chinatowns. It has a large concentration of Daiso-like Japanese stores, theme stores, as well as Asian restaurants. Liberdade is also close to Aclimaçao, another area of high Asian retail concentration.

Flying Chalks’ tips:

For popular souvenirs from Brazil:

• Havaianas outlet store located at Rua Oscar Freire, 1116 - Cerqueira César, 01426-000
• Melissa specialty store located at Rua Oscar Freire, 827 - Cerqueira César, 01426-000

Insper is located in Vila Olimpia – address is Rua Quata 300, CEP 04546-042. It also faces the main road Av. Helio Pellegrino, which has bus stops. Major buses also run along Av. Santo Amaro which is 5 minutes’ away. Rua Quata is a smaller cul-de-sac, which has Bike Sampa (the free orange bike service provided by Itau) station 62 right in front of campus.

The nearest subway/rail station is Vila Olimpia, along the CTPM line 9. It is approx. a 15-minute walk from Insper.

Getting from Sao Paulo-Guarulhos Airport (GRU) to Insper

1. Taxi Desk

For terminals 1-3, walk out of terminal building and go towards a congregated taxi desk. The driveway can get messy and you should only get taxis from the desk. For terminal 4, exit terminal building and turn right for taxi desk. For any terminal, show the counter the address, and they will quote you a fixed price and then call a taxi for you (this is totally legal). You board the taxi and pay the driver the amount the counter told you at the end of the trip (he has a slip stating that amount). From GRU to Insper should cost approx. R$160-200.

2. Airport Bus Service

Look for the red and blue airport buses located outside of the terminal building. Usually, they have a counter which they sells tickets, the buses run on a schedule. It costs R$42 for one way. The Airport Bus Service, however, stops at only a few locations. The two locations closest to Insper is Republica (subway line 3 and 4) or Brooklyn WTC (take a taxi back).

For more information, visit: http://www.airportbusservice.com.br/