Experience report
Name: Isabelle Oomen
E-mail: i.c.w.oomen@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Spring 2015
Academic year: 3rd Year Bachelor, 2014-2015
Host University: IE University Madrid, Law School
Country: Spain
TOPIC: Admission, arrival, housing
When I got accepted to IE University, it appeared that another student from Tilburg University also got
accepted. Since then we’ve been in this adventure together.
IE University can help you with housing. Their website offers a lot of information and you can always
ask them for help in case you have any questions. IE also has accommodation of its own. There are
several residence halls. For a certain amount of money per month you have an all inclusive
accommodation. This is not what I wanted. I wanted to live with other people in the centre of Madrid
and choose my meals etc. myself.
We searched a lot on the internet. Websites like idealista.com offer many rooms. But since we
experienced that they aren’t that trustworthy, we hired a Dutch organization ‘Madridstudents’ to help
find us accommodation in Madrid before departure. They didn’t succeed in this. They picked us up
from the airport and we took a taxi to the hostel we were going to stay until we found two nice rooms
in the same building. The next day we went with Madridstudents to a Spanish organization called
‘HelpMadrid’. The same day we visited several places. At the end of the day we found two beautiful
rooms in an apartment with 5 rooms in total. I had my own balcony and in one of the nicest areas of
the city; ‘La Latina’.
Unfortunately IE didn’t organize an official introduction activity. At least nothing like the ‘TopWeek’ in
Tilburg. In the first week or so they did organize a so called Tapas Night for the new exchange
students. I went there and it was a lot of fun and met new people from all over the world. But I would
have liked to have a somewhat bigger introduction, where we could get to know more people from our
classes too. This way it is easy to get to know your classmates from the start. Since almost all of them
knew each other for a few months already, this would have been a better start to the semester for the
exchange students who join them.
TOPIC: Location of university/city
I lived in the centre of Madrid, Spain, during my exchange. Madrid has several ‘areas’. I lived in La
Latina which is very much in the centre, but less touristic and therefore nice and quiet. My university is
located in Salamanca. This area is slightly above the centre of Madrid. I only had to take the metro for
15 minutes to get there, which was really nice.
I fell in love with Madrid. It is so beautiful and diverse. There is so much to discover. Obviously Puerta
del Sol is an important place, you could call it the hart of the centre. Then you have Gran Via where
you can shop ‘till you drop. Also the parks are perfect to just chill with you friends; like the Retiro Park,
Casa de Campo and I personally really liked the little park near Templo de Debod.
There are a lot of places where you can eat and drink, which are really good. Nearby Plaza Major
they are really expensive. In this area Mercado Miguel is located. This is one of the nicest places to
drink and/or to eat tapas, unfortunately quit expensive, but worth it. There are also more informal,
cheaper places like 100Mondaditos and El Tigre. In almost every area of the city there are little
squares with many restaurants, which when I think of them now makes me want to go back to Madrid
even more. Also in La Latina, around the street ‘Cava Baja’, it can get really busy with people sitting in
the sun and enjoying life. Especially on Sundays, that’s why we often called Sundays the ‘La Latina
Day’. On these days there is also the Rastro; the biggest market in Madrid. Which I wondered around
many times and never gets boring.
There are many sportclubs in Madrid. I was a member of Fitup, which eventually turned into a
BasicFit. But I preferred running outside, through the park. Especially around Madrid Rio is a good
place to exercise.
There are many fun things to do in Madrid. For example, do a tour in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium,
go to the Matadero, the Rastro, artgalaries in Lavapies, museums etc. It is almost too much to
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mention. The best part of living in Madrid is too just wonder around the city, everywhere you go you’ll
find fun and beautiful places.
Of course, there are also many clubs, bars, etc. where you can dance and have a great time. Such as
Kapital, El Mondo, Ocho y medio, Moondance (if you like Spanish music!) and many, many more.
TOPIC: Academics
I took 7 courses, mostly business law courses:
 Corporate Governance
 Law Unplugged V
 Litigation II
 Competition Law
 International protection of human rights
 International business transactions
 Spanish language course
Most of the courses were only worth 3 credits, therefore I had to take more. Overall I really enjoyed all
of them, especially litigation and competition law. IE University mainly is a business school and
teaches business law courses, that is why I chose this University. At Tilburg University there aren’t
many business law courses in the bachelor I chose.
The teachers at IE University are really good. They all have a very successful career and gave many
examples and anecdotes from their own lives which made the theory come alive.
The courses are mainly focused on comparative law (mostly Spain, the US and Europe. Which I think
is a really good perspective. The systems are more clearer and make more sense. And of course,
although I like Spain, I’m glad I didn’t get all my classes about only the Spanish law system.
It was hard work, especially because I had more courses than I usually have at Tilburg University, but
I’m happy with my academic achievements. I learned a lot. I would certainly recommend IE University
to everyone.
TOPIC: Social life
During my exchange semester (spring 2015) there weren’t many other exchange students who
studied law at IE University. Therefore my group during the lessons was mostly really small; like 5 to
10 students. Which was rather an advantage than a disadvantage regarding academic achievements,
but socially it would have been more fun to be in a bigger group of people from the start. Many
students I know are exchange students or do a dual degree there. I didn’t spend that much time with
local students, only in my litigation sessions.
But IE has a new commission which organizes many trips and activities throughout the semester and
that is where I met many more nice people. The activities which IE organized I liked most were the trip
to Toledo, parties during the week, and of course the IE Sping Ball.
I lived with four other people; a friend from Tilburg, a French girl, a French guy and a English/French
girl. I feel really lucky that I got to know these people. That is the biggest advantage of searching a
room for yourself in a bigger house; you immediately get to know more people. Who, in my case,
were the best. We all were member of CityLife Madrid. If you go to Madrid on exchange you should
definitely become a member. They organize so many things every week, every day, you’ll never be
bored again. They organize smaller activities such as winetasting, salsa classes, etc., but also bigger
trips. For example I went to Morocco with them for four days and it was amazing!
TOPIC: Living costs
My room in Madrid was 480,00 euros a month. At the beginning you need to pay a deposit which was
1,5 month rent, so that hurt a little my wallet, but you will get this back in the end if everything is as it
supposed to be. There are many rooms which are less expensive. Mine was really big and had a
balcony which I love, it was worth it.
Then food is a big expense. Groceries at the supermarkets, like Dia, Coviran and Lidl (!) are usually
not that expensive, but they are daily costs. Going out for diner doesn’t have to be very expensive if
you don’t go for the most touristic places such as Plaza Major. You could also have a bigger lunch for
only 15 euros maximum. This is the so called Menu del Dia, this includes a starter, a main dish, a
dessert and a drink. I did this a couple of times, but since I had quite long days at the University and
the food is not always the best I didn’t do it that often.
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I didn’t have to buy any books for my study. Most of it was online and otherwise the library of the
University was really good. For one course I lend a book from a classmate who has had that course
already. Only for my Spanish course I bought two books. Which were around 40 euro. I did had to
print a lot, mostly at the printshop which was never expensive except for that one time that I agreed to
printing in color, that cost me 8 euros for a few pages!
Going to clubs is expensive. Drinks are usually about 8 euros and most clubs need you to pay around
20 euros to even get in, sometimes this includes 1 or 2 drinks if you go early in the evening. With
CityLife you can get great discounts. They organize pubcrawls where you pay upfront a certain
amount and you’ll have free entrance and a free shot.
TOPIC: Culture
I didn’t experience a real culture shock while being in Spain. They have different manners, but not that
hard to relate with since it is just another European country. The fact that Spanish people are always
late is kind of true. Especially noticeable at the University where classes usually start 15 minutes later
than they actually should. We were always right on time in class, so we didn’t really blend in on that
part, but the laid back culture is enjoyable. Another thing that is different and needs some time to
adjust is the daily schedule. The first few days we ate dinner at a Dutch time, around 6pm. After a few
days you automatically sink into the Spanish ways of eating at 4pm and then again at 10pm. This way
the nights in Spain are really long. It takes some getting used to, but eventually you become to really
love these long cozy evenings.
In Holland nearly everyone speaks English. I knew beforehand that this wasn’t the case in Spain, but
still it surprised me how little or no English at all Spanish people know. This made communication,
especially in the beginning hard. But after a few sessions of my Spanish language course it was fun to
try speaking Spanish and see it improve. So that is kind of the advantage of no one speaking English,
you are forced to speak Spanish.
The culture difference I enjoyed to most, is obviously the food. The food in Spain, the tapas, the
wines, the long dinners, are so much nicer than in Holland.
TOPIC: Personal development
Going on exchange is going out of your comfort zone. This is scary in the beginning. But I know, from
experience, it’s a step you must take. It helps you to adapt and do things on your own and make
decisions individually. It really helped me to become more independent and less insecure.
You learn how to deal with things. Just how we dealt with, at least my worst experience of the
exchange. It was only the second day of our stay in our new home. We were then only with the two of
us, the other roommates hadn’t arrived yet. We just bought groceries to prepare a lovely meal, when
the power went out. Nothing in the apartment was working anymore; electricity, lights and we didn’t
have our Spanish phones yet so we couldn’t call anyone. We decided to go to our neighbors which
were also a group of students who helped us contact MadridStudents and HelpMadrid and ate dinner
with them which was really nice. The next day someone came and luckily fixed everything. Looking
back now, this was a good night after all, since we met out neighbors and the two of us handled just
fine. It won’t be forgotten quickly.
The best experience was the friends I made and all the wonderful things we have done. I couldn’t
chose one. It was all amazing.
TOPIC: Tips for future students
Although it sounds scary, and it wasn’t my intention to do so at first either, I recommend staying in a
hostel for the first few days to search for a nice room on location. Then you can see for yourself if you
like the room, the people, the area, the vibe, etc. Also the truth is that the agreement you make via
internet is not always to be relied on.
Save a bit of money before going on exchange. You are going to want to participate in the activities
and nothing is as bitter as not having the money to do it.
If you want to do bigger trips such as Morocco or Portugal I recommend you go with an organization
such as CitlyLife Madrid. They organize many trips like these. You pay a certain amount which
includes everything they arrange. This way you know more precisely what you expenses are going to
be like. Also, I liked going in a big group where you easily meet new people because you are together
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for a couple of days. And it gave me the feeling it was safer to wonder around an unknown city with a
big group and people who have been there before, in stead of by yourself.
I recommend taking a Spanish course beforehand. I did a little bit of Spanish myself before my
departure, but it was not enough to speak to locals. At the University I did a language course which
helped me a lot, but it is so much more fun to be at a sufficient level of Spanish already and to
improve it, than to stumble on.
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