My English Students' Universities

Nery Manuel Gómez Rosales

Universidad Politécnica de Gómez Palacio is a Durango State school offering bachelor degrees in Computer Sciences (Nery's major), Industrial Manufacturing,  International Business, and Biotechnology (medical laboratory techs).

The school operates on the quarter system with classes all year, straight through the summer.  There are a week's break at Easter and a month off for Christmas. The tuition is $1,050 pesos per quarter (under $100 dollars).  There are no additional fees. Admission is by completive exams.

Last year the school moved to a brand new campus several miles out of town.  The new facility has room for adding additional majors which are expected in the next couple of years.  An advanced program in computer animation and 3-D visualization will be introduced next year.  Nery is very interested in this.  Currently (fall 2010), he is taking a class in that area.  He sees this as a possible career choice, and hopes to enroll in the advanced program after he graduates in December 2011. 

The school has six computer labs of which five are general purpose labs equipped with regular computers. The sixth one has Dell work-stations with large, hi-res monitors as shown below.

The regular classrooms are not equipped with computers, except the instructor has a computer for use with a smartboard.

All students in the computer science program are expected to have their own notebook computers to use in class

All homework must be done on a computer and uploaded to the school's homework website each night.

The work-station lab is dedicated to Maya® software for animation and 3-D visualization. Nery spends about two hours per day in this lab.

Nery and his partner/gf Lizbeth are working on a Maya® project.  They lead their class in grades.  She has an overall average of 98, and his is 97.  Over half the starting class has dropped out.

Alejandro "Alex" Uribes Cuevas

Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro is a Coahuila State school with campuses in Saltillo and Torreón where Alex attends.  The college offers Master and Doctorate degrees in veterinary medicine.  Admission is by completive exams.

The school operates on the semester system.  The tuition is $450 pesos per semester (under $50 dollars).  There are no additional fees. 

The school has a cafeteria which is available on pay-per-meal or by semester subscription.  This semester plan is popular with the students who do not have homes in the area. The school has an outstanding reputation that draws students from all over the country.

Alex has a personal extracurricular program on weekends and vacations by assisting his veterinarian father on his rounds at local ranches. 

The school houses a variety of animals on campus to use in teaching veterinary sciences.

Surgery is an important part of a veterinary practice.  The students learn surgical skills by operating on live dogs and then following them through recovery and healing.

The dogs are donated to the school. Most are unadoptable street dogs scheduled to be euthanized .  After recovering from surgery, they are euthanized by the school.

Alex's older brother is also a veterinarian.  After Alex graduates, the three Drs Uribes plan to open a full service veterinarian clinic for both house pets and farm animals.

Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango offers bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees in three medical sciences: medicine, psychology and nutrition. Misael is in the medical doctorate program, along with his older sister. While he has not yet chosen a specialty, he is leaning toward neurology.

The tuition is $3,500 pesos per semester (under $400 dollars).  There are no additional fees. Admission is by completive exams. Out of more than 1,000 applicants, only 90 were accepted into Misael's class.

He has a tough schedule.  Classes start at 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning, and he often doesn't get out until 6:00 or even 8:00 in the evening.

Surgical training uses dogs as in Alex's school including following them through recovery and healing..

Misael's surgical team with their instructor.

Misael performs surgery on a dog.

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