I'm finishing high school now and I'm confused about the requirements. I heard that something changed in the last few years about this. Does anyone know how to explain to me how it actually works in 2026?
Yes, practically all public universities use the Enem as a selection criterion, either directly or through Sisu. What changed is that some institutions now also accept your school transcript or other exams, but the Enem score is still the main thing - so study hard to get a good one.
The Enem score is essential for pretty much all Brazilian public universities, but how they use it varies a lot. Most use Sisu, which is that selection system where you list your course options and compete with other people based on your score. But some people mess up thinking they need an absurd minimum score - in reality, it all depends on the course and the competition. A super competitive course at a top university will need a much higher score than a less popular course at a smaller university.
What's important to understand is that there's no fixed national "cutoff." Each university has its own cutoff scores that change with every selection process. If you want Engineering at USP, you need a really high score, but if you want a less competitive course at an interior university, the bar is lower. There's also the case of social quotas and affirmative action that can work differently depending on the institution, so it's worth checking specifically the notices from the universities you're interested in.
About what changed - some places really did start considering school history as a tiebreaker criterion or even as an alternative entry in certain cases, but the Enem score remains the main currency. So yeah, you need to take it and get a good score, but "good" is relative to your goal. Focus on preparation and go all in.
In most cases yes, you're going to need your Enem score to get into a public university. But the important thing is that there's no mandatory minimum score at the national level - each university sets its own cutoff based on how competitive the program is. So you could get a score that would be excellent for Engineering at one university and not enough for Medicine at another, you know?
Sisu is the most common way to use your score, but there are other ways too - some federal and state universities have their own selection processes that might consider your Enem score along with other things, like your academic record or even specific entrance exams. It's worth checking out the application guidelines for the universities you're thinking about attending, because each one has its own rules. And another thing: if your score isn't great on your first try, you can take it again, so it's not the end of the world 😄
The Enem is still the main way in for most federal universities, but what your classmates didn't mention is that some state universities have different criteria - not all of them use only Sisu. It's worth checking directly on the website of the institution you're interested in to see if they accept high school transcripts, average performance from secondary education, or if it's strictly through the Enem.
I know people who got into federal universities without a perfect record, so the Enem score really is the biggest factor. What nobody's pointing out is that some state universities use their own criteria - Unicamp, for example, has its own specific entrance exam, and other São Paulo state universities also do things differently from Sisu. It's worth checking the website of the institution you're interested in so you don't get surprised later, because each one works its own way.
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