Great opportunity to foster language skills, travel, and meet amazing people. September 02, 2026
By A student (Political Science and Spanish, Williams College) - abroad from 01/13/2026 to 05/26/2026 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Madrid
To be honest, I gained a lot of independence and skills in navigating challenging situations.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
A fantastic program where I got the opportunity to spend great time with a host family, meet new people, practice my language skills, and try a lot of new food and travel. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Great, there were some central locations not too far away where everyone who was staying with different host families could meet up. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Excellent. I had a private room to myself. I had a host dad who was super helpful. When my desk broke, he helped me fix it, and he also bought me a shoe rack without being asked. |
| * Food: |
My host dad was a great cook. Although I will say that I struggled to find certain foods I am looking for because of the small grocery stores. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
My host had certainly helped with this. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt very safe and frequently took runs and walks at night in the park. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
The language experience was invaluable. |
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) |
It depends on how much travel you'd like to do. There was a lot of money set aside for people doing particular excursion programs within Madrid. I say that you can save a lot of money if you stay within Spain, take a lot of trains, and never take plane rides to other countries. That wasn't my choice, but everyone's boat floats differently. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $350 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Leverage student discounts. For example, when I traveled to Rome, I bought my Coliseum tickets for only $2. If you travel internationally, book early and book things quickly, as sometimes it's only possible to get into landmarks at the last minute when you buy expensive resale tickets. For some things, like the Alhambra in Granada, you should be looking at purchasing tickets more than two months in advance. |
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 |
Very substantive. Language pledge, host family only speaking Spanish, opportunities to practice the language, etc. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| 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? | A B2 course. |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Find the students in your program who are willing to speak English, as well as the students outside your program who are willing to speak with a non-fluent speaker. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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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? |
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 could have known more about the other students: half Middlebury, half other schools. Middlebury students are a bit closed off, but everyone else is pretty open. |
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 Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
