Studying in Latin America

Chile is safer than America, actually.
Out of those cities, Santiago has the best infrastructure, but it is also the most expensive City. Mexico City has the second best infrastructure, and also happens to be the cheapest out of the bunch despite being more developed than Bogota or Lima. Puebla is even cheaper than Mexico City but the infrastructure is more similar than that of Lima while Lima is more expensive than even Mexico City or Bogota (similar prices as Mexico but worse infrastructure).

As far as safety goes; Chile is the safest country out of the bunch (murder rate of 4), followed by Peru (murder rate of 10), then Mexico (murder rate of 20) and lastly Colombia.(murder rate of 25), all are approximates as they vary yearly. Have in mind that violence in Mexico is escalating (went from a murder rate of 13 to 20) while violence in Colombia is deceasing (went from a murder rate of 80 to 25), so things might change by the end of the year; but Mexico is still safer than Colombia for the moment. Nowt, things vary internally, so as far as the cities go, Santiago is still the safest, followed by Mexico City, and Bogota and Lima are about the same (all have lower crime rates compared to the rest of their countries). Puebla used to be a really quiet place, but things are escalating there, still lower crime rates than the rest of the country. Lima does tend to feel more sketchy at times than the other cities even if all of them have their bad parts. Santiago still stands out, tho.

As far as development go, the nice parts of all cities will probably surprise you, as they have first world levels of development. Thing is, they also have a huge inequality, so the divide between good and bad neighbourhoods it's noticeable; particularly in Santiago (the most unequal of the cities) and Mexico City. Lima is the poorest one. I doubt you would wander into the bad neighbourhoods, tho, but you need to know where they are (ask a local), especially in Lima.

>>1277584
Not a lot of people speak English in any of the countries, so you need to learn basic conversational Spanish if you want to socialize a little bit more. Try to not learn slang, tho, as it is very specific to each of the countries and it won't be useful elsewhere.

Now, as far as qts go, Bogota wins hands down, they are also easier to approach compared to most latinas, only behind Peruvians (but they are also the most underwhelming ones). Mexico City and Puebla follow, you would probably get surprised in Mexico as it is underrated in this regard imho, Chileans in Santiago are just meh, and Peruvians are sweet, but it's hard to find qts.
Now, if you are not into that, I don't have strong opinions about men, but Colombia probably also wins.

Night life is as follows: Bogotá > Mexico City >>> Santiago > Lima > Puebla
Nature: Santiago >> Puebla > Mexico City = Bogotá
Architecture / historical sites, etc: Mexico City >>> Puebla >> Lima > Bogotá > Santiago
Climate: Bogotá >> Mexico City > Lima > Santiago
Spanish accent: Bogotá > Puebla = Lima > Mexico City > Chile
Food: Puebla > Mexico City > Lima >>>>>>>>>>>> Santiago >= Bogotá

And lastly, if you want to have a great time and are also planning to rent, you can live the great life with, 700 dollars in Puebla, 1000 dollars Mexico City and Bogotá, 1200 in Lima and 1500 in Santiago. If you won't rent, then substract about half of that.

Have fun.

>>1277572
Argie here

If you come here with money and will only focus on studying you'll do well, but if you have to work here you'll have a bad time because housing is expensive as fuck and the jobs pay like shit unless you have a bachelorate or something (but why come here if you have one?) plus the inflation makes your wage worth less and less over the ocurse of time.

Transport is a mess here, be prepared to travel on the bus/train/metro standing up, to stand the extreme heat of the summer(some trains/buses don't have A/C). Expect many protests cutting traffic everyday plus traffic jams, so you'll never arrive at the expected time/ have to leave earlier to arrive on time.

There is also a lot of robbery at all times in almost any place. There are many no-go zones but the is not a "go-zone", so if you come here you'll have to be careful at all times, specially at night.

Good thing, you don't have to pay for university, at least not with money.

>>1277962
Shut up you self hating cuck.

Buenos Aires metro is excellent and the bus network is efficient and cheap

The only no go zones are slums and you know exactly where they are

The only time you have to travel on public transport without a seat is during rush hour

>>1277572
I would go to Lima. Andean countries have the most neutral Spanish accent. As Bogota is more violent... About Santiago, Chilean accent is known as the worst one

Bogotá sucks. Medellín is the only really good option in Colombia.

>>1277584
>>1277585
Really good advice, thanks.
Mexico City and Bogotá are probably the front runners as of now, although the size of Mexico City scares me a bit.
You seem very knowledgeable, so if you were to choose, which city would you pick and why?
>>1277962
>>1277971
Argentina is unfortunately not really an option, but thanks.
>>1278023
The accent doesn't matter that much to me, although the Chilean one obviously isn't a plus.
>>1278078
What's so bad about Bogotá?

>>1278102
Nothing it sucks if you don't know anyone and aren't comfortable to go out on your own but if you know people the city really shines. Great dining options, nightlife is great, good options for sport, the North of the city is really nicely developed. Flying with VIVA Colombia is dirt cheap so you could see the whole country.

>>1277962
>Nobody asked about Argentina
>Typical self-hating Argie Macri cuckvoter comes to give his shit opinions even though nobody asked for them
>Badmouths the country even though it's one of the safest destinations in Latin America along with Chile (Buenos Aires murder rate is lower than Fresno, CA)
Matate pelotudo

>>1278102
I'm currently in Bogota. There are lots of foreigners learning spanish here. Lots of stuff to do, nice people, food isn't as bad as portayed in previous posts, there are lots of ethnic cuisines, weather is amazing (15°C) on average every single day, night life is outstanding. traffic is a bit shitty though. I'd rule Santiago out as their accent is a bit hard to understand. I've been to Lima and I'm not a big fan tb.h. Mexico city and puebla could be good options too but don't know too much about them

>>1278218
Another Argie here, i literally can't stop seeing >>1277962 dudes like this all over the place.
Its hilarious.
That said i don't rec to OP to come here, its full of Argies...

OP, go to Bogota.

I spent the last year living around South America and have spent a few weeks in all of those except Chile. I've heard Chile is a great place but if you happen to like women then it doesn't compare to the others.

It might seem silly to make your decision based on the women, but once you fuck some colombian women (the type that only know Spanish, not the cunty westernized ones), you'll see why it makes sense. Colombian women are absolutely incredible and love white guys. I've been in Bogota for a week now and I've already had 4 ONSs with seriously cute girls 10yrs younger than me. A white guy that speaks Spanish really well is really sought after here by the locals.

The only downside to Bogota is that the climate isn't great - Puebla and Mexico City are pretty much always sunny with a perfect temperature, but Bogota is always slightly frigid and has light rain/clouds much of the time.

Lima has shit weather for most of the year and (mostly) ugly women with a boring culture relative to the others. Give it a pass.

Mexico City is a good city too, but the culture and women there are nothing like Colombia. People are a little bit colder in Mexico, a little bit more westernized almost.

Also - there are tons of great weekend/longer trips available from Bogota. The surrounding nature is incredible and you can go to lots of seriously interesting places for cheap via the colombian budget airlines. In Mexico you can visit beaches with a flight or a very long bus ride.

Oh, and as far as safety concerns go - none of these places will present a risk to your physical health. You have to learn the important safety rules (e.g. use uber instead of local taxis) but when follow them, you'll be fine and shouldn't ever end up getting robbed.

Going to jump in because i see bad advice from who knows what kind of idiots.

I have no experience of any cities other than Mexico City DF and Puebla. Between the two, I would almost certainly recommend DF: it's a major international hub, with an incredible food scene, and as the capital has tons of options for weekend travel.

That being said, it isn't extremely cheap to live (depending on the location), and is pretty massive. You want to pick your neighborhood well.

Puebla does have great food as someone mentioned, but it's even though it's the 3rd largest city in Mexico, it is not a "big" city like you might be used to from travel or in Europe. The nightlife is only soso. Location is further south than DF, so it's still very amenable to intercity bus travel. Local transportation sucks big time.

Bus is the preferred way to get around in general, but especially if you're on a budget or in Puebla (also the puebla airport is like nothing).

Would highly recommend DF if you choose Mexico. As for the country itself, there are dangerous areas which your embassy should be able to recommend avoiding. Talking with locals and being smart will go a long way also. I've gone by major bus through states that have unrest and was fine, but this was because we were transiting the state on a major highway. I would not, for example, choose Zamora as a place to spend a weekend.

Mexicans in general are a warm and hospitable people, at least they have been to me. Speaking spanish will open some great doors for you so hopefully you can have fun and get the chance to take in the awesome culture, history, and food!

Hey OP, half Brazilian half Danish here. I would recommend Chile personally. Stay away from Mexico, it's a shithole and I have never met a Mexican who wasn't completely autistic

>>1278102
I enjoyed Mexico City more, with Bogota as a close second. Both of those cities, along with Sao Paulo are my favourite in Latin America.

t. I actually lived 1 year in Mexico City, 10 months in Bogota, year and a half in Sao Paulo, around 6 months in Santiago, 1 year in Lima. And I spent several weekends in Puebla even though I never lived there.

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>>1278102
Why not Argentina though?
Granted, it's kinda expensive these days, and our accent is weird and very different from the rest of South America, but aside from that it's a good place to learn Spanish. Many foreigners come here to do so.

https://www.instagram.com/por.buenosaires/

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>>1278515
Another good Buenos Aires instagram account:
https://www.instagram.com/andregrevex/?hl=es

>>1278273
>Bogota
>Amazing weather

What planet are you on?

Every time I go to Bogota I get maybe 10 minutes of sun over 3-4 days.

Alright, based on the advice ITT, I think I have narrowed it down to Bogotá and Mexico City.
What should make me choose one over the other? Any clear advantages that one has over the other?

As I see it from the info in the thread, Mexico City has better food, slightly better climate, more interesting historical stuff. And I think I've been told before that the Mexican educational system is a bit more "European". How chaotic is Mexico City and is it easy to get around in? I mean, it is obviously huge and its' size is a bit daunting to me. But then again, Bogotá is huge compared to Copenhagen too.

From what I can gather from the thread, Bogotá has better nightlife, women and better possibilities for cheap travels around the country.
Anything else?

Obviously in Denmark you hear a lot of shit about how these cities are dangerous but compared to each other, I guess there isn't a lot of difference?

All the help has been great so far, thank you all so much!

>>1278515
Technically I could go to Argentina but that would require that I arrange everything myself since my uni hasn't got any exchange agreements in Argentina.

>>1279001
If you are preoccupied with the level of education, Chile wins in the overall level of the students and education systems. Mexico follows, if you discount Costa Rica, even above Argentina or Uruguay. Now, having the better system and having the better schools differ, as Brazil would sweep the floor with everyone else regarding universities, with Chile, Argentina and Mexico being tied in the second place. Private schools are between decent and good in all the countries as far as I know, and not that different from each other.

Anyway, Mexico City has a fairly decent transportation system (just learn to avoid the rush hours) or better yet, use an uber (try to avoid using taxis, as well, they are usually not a good service in the slightest), at the time schools open, traffic is usually not that bad. But learn to time your routine to avoid inconveniences (this depends on your location). The size of the city can make it overwhelming at first, but this also makes it more interesting. And as you said, Bogota isn't a small city either way, not at all.

As for how difficult it results to move inside, this depends a lot on where the school is going to be located (the centre, the outskirts, the north, south, east, west, etc.), and where you are going to stay and how far away from the school it is going to be. If you are close, it can take between 10 and 20 minutes, and if you are far away from it, it can be up to 1 hour (it can reach to over 2 hours, but I doubt you will stay that far from the school). Traffic can get horrible at times (not always and not all streets/routes), but at least you won't be driving.
>tl:dr:
In the end, it all comes down to in which part of the city you will be. You can get very different answers depending on that.

Maybe I am not the most indicated person to answer that, as I travelled as a freelancer in there, and didn't really bother with punctuality and travelling in schedule all that much.

>>1279036
Top Universities in Latin America (QS Rankings):
Top 20 University Country
1 Universidad de Buenos Aires Argentina
2 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil
3 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mexico
4 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Chile
5 Universidade Estadual de Campinas Brazil
6 Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Mexico
7 Universidad de Chile Chile
8 Universidad Nacional de Colombia Colombia
9 Universidad de los Andes Colombia
10 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Brazil
11 Universidad Austral Argentina
12 Universidad de Belgrano Argentina
13 Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina Santa María de los Buenos Aires Argentina
14 Universidad Externado de Colombia Colombia
15 Universidad de Costa Rica Costa Rica
16 Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú Peru
17 Universidad de Palermo Argentina
18 Universidad de Santiago de Chile Chile
19 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Colombia
20 UNESP Brazil

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>>1279001
>>1279067
PISA Scores

Hope this helps OP

>>1279036
Argentina has the only university in the top 100 QS rankings, actually.

>>1279069
Last time I checked, things were different. Colombia is catching up.

>>1277962
Nigga i'm a hue finishing my 7th month in BA and even tho i hate and want to murder your entire middle/upper class for their retarded arrogance the city is fine af, relatively safe and the transport is great and cheap. The coffe house and bookstore at every corner made me dimonds

stop hating yourself, there are enough of us in the rest of Latin America that will do so