UC3M can be a bit too much if you care about your GPA, but Madrid is the best August 14, 2023
By A student (Economics, Middlebury College) - abroad from 02/10/2023 to 06/02/2023 with
UC3M / Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
I gained an appreciation for living in Europe and the more relaxed siesta culture of Spain, which I had never understood prior to my study abroad experience.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
It was pretty rigorous. Be prepared for super harsh grading and unwarranted average grades. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I appreciated the Middlebury School in Spain's administrative efforts. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Horrible. A bunch of us stayed in BeLive, which is a dorm near the Alonso Martínez metro station, and it was a horrible experience for all of us. The administration was incompetent, the local students living in the same building made a complete mess of the communal kitchen and were never held accountable. I would highly recommend against choosing that dorm if you are going to study abroad in Madrid. |
| * Food: |
The food was pretty good and the tapas culture makes going out with your friends and trying new foods pretty fun. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Most local Spaniards were not at all interested in being friends with us, so not very integrated. We just ended up forming our own circle of Spanish-speaking exchange students and integrating ourselves culturally. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had no healthcare problems. |
| * Safety: |
Madrid is, above all else, one of the safest cities I have ever been in. Highly recommend. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I'd choose the Middlebury program, but take all my classes at the Sede. |
Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
4. I traveled a lot but never paid more than 70 euros for a single flight (and that was very rare). Just be smart with your money and plan your travel in advance. Go to restaurants on the weekends with friends but during the week you're better off buying groceries and cooking wherever you are (dorm/apartment). |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Could not have been more than 150-200 dollars on average including trips. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
The whole point of the program was to be immersed in the language. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | SPAN300 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Exchange |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 0 |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I knew that local universities are so strict with their grading because the standards for what is considered good are so much lower. For example, an 8/10 is considered a GREAT score, but Middlebury's conversion means an 8 is an A-. Had I known this beforehand, I would've taken all my classes at the Sede Prim. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Youth Unemployment in Spain |
| Course Department: | Law |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Do yourself a favor and take a class with this professor. The most understanding professor who teaches pretty interesting classes on youth unemployment. You learn so much and the grading consisted of attendance and a presentation. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Work in the post-crisis |
| Course Department: | Law |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Super cool professor with a lot of experience teaching the economics of unemployment. She speaks very fast, which can make some of her lectures a little hard to grasp, but would highly recommend taking a class with her. She's very understanding with exchange students and our class consisted of a podcast we had to do on a topic related to recent trends in the labor market. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
International contemporary conflicts |
| Course Department: | Political Science |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | He was super chill and was amazing to talk to about the research he has done. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Economic Development |
| Course Department: | Economics |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Super challenging class. Two midterms and a 90 minute group presentation. Learnt a lot about myself and participation points made me speak more in front of local students, but not worth the stress during study abroad. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Advanced Spanish Syntax |
| Course Department: | Spanish |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | She's the coolest prof. We had like two exams and she was very clear on her expectations. Great person, great grader. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Leisure and Entertainment in the Golden Age |
| Course Department: | History |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Chill guy, super SUPER harsh grader. Had to really sit down with him more than 4 times to meet his expectations for grading, which he never made clear in the first place. He teaches on very cool topics though. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
