Exchange Report

Look for an apartment or a room early!! Madrid is super popular at the moment so room prices are super high so to avoid overpaying because you're under time pressure give yourself a few months to look for something that fits. Also keep an eye out for scams, I talked to a lot of people that lost over 1000€ because they got scammed. I personally got my room over Idealista (where there is a high potential for getting scammed), but if you want to be safe use one of the housing agencies like Housing Anywhere for example (but higher service fees). Also look at the different neighbourhoods in Madrid, I lived in Malasaña which was super lively but also very loud which most of the central barrios are but you can go anywhere by foot. If you want something cheaper/quieter I would recommend barrios a bit north like Chamberí for example. Also, I already learned Spanish in school but I took another language class before leaving and I would definitely say it improved my whole prep experience, as people were a lot more forthcoming if you can speak some Spanish. Personally, I went by plane because trains take forever from Germany and that worked very well and the public transport from the airport to the city is very good.

I got my room mid November and my semester started the beginning of January so I was in the end searching quite intensely. I used Idealista which is a Spanish housing platform but with no guarantees (beware of scams!!). For me it worked well but please read everything carefully and do not give your data too quickly to avoid being ripped off. If you want something more secure use Help Housing, Housing Anywhere etc. In terms of barrios I lived in Malasaña which is a young and very lively neighbourhood close to the university so I could walk there in approximately 10 minutes which was very nice. But it was also super busy all the time like most central barrios, especially also Sol. I would say for 5 months it´s completely fine and manageable but if you want something quieter I would recommend moving more south. Rooms are also very expensive in the centre and it´s normal to live in big flats with at least like 4-6 roommates. The flats usually are fine but the standards are not as high as in Austria for example and you really need to be careful because rooms often times do not have any windows!!! and you can´t see that clearly in the advertisements. My barrio was super safe as it was mostly young people, I would walk home at like 2 am and there were still people out in the streets in some of the many bars of Malasaña. That's definitely a plus and there´s so much to do in terms of nightlife there. But it´s generally always super busy in Madrid you will never not see people in the streets. I personally liked my flat, but just because my room had a big window and a little balcony so I had a place to relax and lots of light. Often times rooms are dark with small amounts of daylight.

The main reason I chose Comillas was because the campus is directly in the city, compared to the other partner universities in Madrid. But that being said it´s not really a big campus as we know it from WU but just one big building. In general it was nice but had more resemblance with a school than a university, smaller rooms, no big lecture halls, everything in one building etc. There was a cafeteria in the basement which was fine but I didn´t go there often and they didn't really have a library to study in just one room at the top if ICAI which was always full so keep that in mind. In general teaching methods were very good from what I experienced and the academic niveau was good as well, it was a lot more personal so no lecture style courses but more interaction and mandatory attendance!! You get a big part of your grades from class activities. I took International Finance which I would really recommend, but it was a higher effort course, same as Economics of the EU. Both very good courses. Then I also took Analísis Multivariante a Spanish analysis course which was fine but very easy especially if you have coding experience. And lastly I took a Spanish course which I would recommend everyone to do. The classes are so much fun and you really get to talking with other people and there are different levels depending on your language proficiency.

Public transport is super cheap, you need to get a personalised public transport card and then it´s 10€ for 30 days for students. In terms of safety I never felt unsafe in Madrid, as there was always life going on in the city but you still need to be careful of scammers and people trying to steal phones especially in the club. Socially and leisurely Madrid really is heaven, there´s so much to do and almost unlimited opportunities to meet up with your friends. Going out to bars or sitting on nice plazas is the best. Madrid is also full of events, during my stay there I experienced so many cool things happening in the city like festivals, big celebrations of religious holidays or other cultural events and most of them are free to the public. Also museums and lots of other cultural activities are free for students!! In terms of sports, Madrid is very well equipped they have an app called Madrid Móvil where you can see all public sports facilities and easily reserve paddle courts for example or public swimming pools. The parks are also very gorgeous to run in or chill, I would especially recommend parque del oeste and the Lago in casa de campo.

I met friends for life there and immersed myself into a lifestyle there that´s hard to live back home. Spanish way of living is just so beautiful because they are just so much more easygoing and they really enjoy the simple things in life.