Details

• Spain
• MAWiRe-21
• Graduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 5 months

1. Preparation

Be sure to have all documents you need up to date (passport) and save up some money to be able to afford the travel expenses. If you go in the summer semester (Jan - June), make sure to only select exams at WU that end before December, or you will have to travel back and forth.

2. Accommodation

The search for an accommodation is madrid is not easy, as many flats in closer proximity to the city center are quite expensive and you have to be wary of scams on online platforms. I have lived in a student housing by MadridRoom, which was expensive for what it was (size and comfort), but at around 620€ a month was quite ok for being only 10min away from the university. I was close to the parque del oeste, which is a really nice park and also a very safe area to be in - its a quiet living area and i was directly next to a catholic private school. However, my accommodation didnt have a living room, which i would recommend everyone should look for, as this made it very hard to connect with the flatmates.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus of Comillas is nice, its basically one big 8-shaped building build around a church. It features a cafeteria, an on-campus gym as well as two courtyards where football and other sports can be played. There is also an outdoor garden area where you can sit in the sun. The teaching rooms were adequate, however the chairs and desks are a bit uncomfortable if you are bigger, as you cant stretch your legs due to storage drawers built into the desks. The academic culture with other Erasmus students was very cooperative and friendly, however I have heard that the general academic culture at the university (at least among law students) is very competitive and sometimes hostile (homework being deleted from laptops, no sharing of teaching documents between students, etc.). I have not encountered any of that in my time there tho. The teaching style is very different from WU, as the courses were very small (20-30 people max) and there was a lot of homework to do. From essays to presentations and other things to do at home (which sometimes didnt even count towards the continous evaluation) you basically had to do stuff for uni 24/7. I sadly cannot recommend any of the courses I took, as they were all somehow problematic. Be it an insane amount of homework (5-6 pages essay every week) or chaotic teacher with zero course preparation making up exam questions on the spot - every course had something that (at least for me) made it unappealing.

5. Every day life in the host country

The feeling about public transport for me is mixed - the Metro in Madrid is amazing and I never had any trouble. The prices for under 26yo cannot be beaten (10€/month), however, as I turned 26 during my stay it got somewhat more expensive (35€/month). Also, the busses where somewhat unrealiable, as I waited 30min for a bus that should be going every 10min, while on another day there were 3 busses (of the same line) at the station but all the bus drivers got out and smoked a cigarette while everyone was waiting to get somewhere. Where I was, I had no safety concerns whatsoever. Madrid has many events during the year, be it the carnival, the madrid marathon, fireworks or other things - it all depends on the dates, but Madrid always offers events. For leisure and sports, there is the official madrid app, where you can book a slot for free or a small fee to rent e.g. a tennis court or to go swimming in the public pools. What was also really helpful when the busses were unrealiably again, the app bicimad allows to rent e-bikes from almost anywhere in the city for a low price.

6. Testimonial

My exchange was not easy, as i had to go back and forth between Madrid and Vienna, however it was a worthwile experience: I learned how to deal with being alone and hardships along the way, and I learned a lot during my stay.