Exchange Report

I would prepare by deciding whether I want to live in Madrid or in Getafe, where the university is located. I would always recommend living in Madrid since this is where your social life will likely take place. Commuting from Madrid to Getafe will likely take you around an hour if you live close to the city center. I would use Idealista to find an apartment.

It was quite simple to find an apartment through idealista. There are many agencies that rent rooms out to students, the one I used was Adalup housing. I looked into student residences but I found them to be too expensive for what they were offering. Location wise I would recommend staying close to Madrid center, with the best areas being Chamberi or Salamanca in my opinion. I avoided the area Lavapies, however, I have friends who lived there are had a good experience.

The campues was very big and there were very many international students. However, I think that many students knew each other beforehand and this made it a little hard to integrate yourself. For this reason, I would try and get to know about people who are going to the same uni ahead of time. The teaching style, in my experience, was not very different in comparison to WU. I took the class Competition Policy and Antitrust law and I found that the professors were very different, so there is no specific way for the teachers to be. My biggest recommendation would be to not take classes in Spanish unless you have a very good knowledge of the language, because this will make your experience much more difficult.

Public transport is great, and you can get a transportation card for 10 euros with which you can travel in the city of Madrid as well as outside using all types of transport. You only have to reserve an appointment to get the metro card. I felt very safe in Madrid, especially living in Chamberi. There are many whatsapp groups and so on where you can meet people and do every type of activity.

What made my exchange experience great was the city of Madrid itself, specially the language and the culture. The city of Madrid never sleeps, and you can meet so many people, so it is definitely a city for those who want to socialize. In Madrid, there is always a plan, whether it is to go out for a coffee and study session, or to have a drink at night.