andos

It is not generally a requirement, but it obviously helps. Take into account that other applicants will have some research experience, which is going to count to their advantage. Grad schools need evidence that you will be able to actually do a lot of research. If someone has meaningful research experience, that goes a long way towards giving them the evidence they want. Hence, I would say: do your best to get some research experience. However, you may have good reasons not to have had any research experience, and you may be able to explain that in your application. Still, you will definitely have to be able to show somehow that you can articulate and pursue a research question.

Actually, do some research on funding options provided by Capes or CNPq. If you manage to get funding from these agencies, it is probably going to be easier to be admitted to graduate programs outside Brazil. It seems to be more expensive, in general, for institutions to take international students; so you have better chances if you bring external funding with you. If you don't manage to do that, then yes, you'll only know about funding after acceptance. But it shouldn't be a great concern with the institutions you've mentioned. If they like you, they are going to fund you.

Not being at an open house when you live far away from its location really does not seem to be detrimental. It is certainly understandable. However, some of the comments here made it sound as if attending an open house before being accepted, as an international student, and paying for the expenses may be detrimental... Is that really so? I ask it because I am actually going to do that in a week, and I am really nervous about the crazy possibility that just being there may be somehow detrimental. The school I'm visiting provides a partial reimbursement, but I am paying for most of the expenses.

I'm going to apply to a PhD program, but I'm quite nervous about how badly a dropout in my career will affect my prospects of getting into a good school. My situation is the following: I started a MA, got very good grades, was a top student, but I had to abandon it in the last year... that's it, and that was complicated, so I feel there is no way to explain it in a few words without an awfully vague "personal problems". Two years later, this is 2014, I went back to school, got readmitted to the program and I am successfully writing my MA thesis. During the time I spent outside academia, I learned much more about myself, and it became more clear to me that doing research in my area is a crucial part of what makes me happy. Other than that, my application is competitive, I guess. I have decent grades, decent GRE scores, probably awesome letters of recommendation (not from any very known professors, though, since I live in Latin America, but they know me very well), and I have plenty of research experience. My MA thesis will not be completed until January or so, but I will have a good written sample of my work to send with the application. So, the question is: will my past dropout be a kiss of death or can it be overcome by other aspects of my application?