EXPERIENCE REPORT UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRD
Name: Larissa Huethorst
E-mail: larissa_huethorst@hotmail.com
Study Program: Bachelor Psychology & Health
Exchange semester: Spring 2015
Academic year: 2014- 2015
Host University: Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Country: Spain
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
In the Spring Semester of the academic year 2014-2015 I went on exchange to Madrid.
Although this city wasn’t my first choice (due to last minute complications I changed from my
original university of choice to UCM) I am very glad I ended up here, mainly because of the
marvelous city and the fact that you will be forced to speak Spanish here. That is because the
inhabitants of Madrid (the so called Madrileños) rarely speak English, and at university all the
courses are taught in Spanish.
Madrid is a city you will soon learn to love. It is a city that is so lively that it will give you
energy the minute you arrive. With its 3 million inhabitants it is huge but the numerous barrios
(neighbourhoods), all with their very own character, will make you feel at home as you will
gradually get to know them. This is what I find so special about Madrid: the one minute you
walk at Gran Vía amongst tourists and Madrileños (the famous street where it is always busy,
even in the middle of the night), and the second you feel like you entered an old village,
walking through the barrio La Latina. You will never be bored. You can always go for churros
con chocolate (Chocolatería San Gínes is open 24 h.), tapas, have some sangria/ tinto de
verano (a mix of Fanta and red wine, really good!), go to the park (Retiro is most famous.
Another option is Parque del Oeste, where you can also find the old Egyptian Templo de
Debod), have a beautiful view over the city at Círculo de Bellas Artes, visit El Rastro on
Sunday mornings (a huge open air market where they sell both second had and new stuff.
Don’t forget to buy some food and drinks and enjoy them at Plaza de la Cebada afterwards!),
have some cheap montaditos (little breads) and a beer at ‘100 Montaditos’ (you can find this
food chain everywhere), have a Menú del Día (everywhere in Madrid you will find restaurants
that offer a 3 course lunch with one drink and a coffee for a small amount of money, most of
the time between 10- 15 euros), go shopping (Zara and Mango sell their clothes cheaper
here, and I suggest you take advantage of that. Don’t forget to go to Stradivarius!). Other
things you cannot miss while living in Madrid: a visit to Palacio Real and Plaza de Cibeles
(note that there is a terrace on top of this building! How cool is it you can have a drink on top
of the Madrid city hall!), Puerta de Álcala, Mercado de San Miguel (a gastronomic market)
and the comparable though more modern Mercado de San Ánton, Plaza Mayor, Callao and
the Callao Cine (a cinema), a match or guided tour in the stadion of Real Madrid: Santiago
Bernabeu, and museums such as La Reina Sofía and El Prado. And the list goes on and on.
If you want more (specific) tips please don’t hesitate to send me and e- mail!
I lived in the barrio Arguëlles, near Moncloa. A little further from the city center (which
surrounds Puerta del Sol), but close to the university. Universidad Complutense has multiple
campuses. The main campus is situated close to Moncloa and it is called Ciudad
Universitaria. Here I had my Spanish courses. As all social studies are located at campus de
Somosaguas, I had to take a bus to this campus that is located further away. By bus you
need around 20 minutes to get from Moncloa to campus de Somosaguas.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
As I mentioned before, my selection for UCM was brought to a close rather late. Perhaps this
has something to do with my late receipt of the pre- arrival information. Nevertheless you
shouldn’t expect to receive important documents and information automatically from UCM. To
illustrate, I had to send a lot of mails before I got the pre- arrival information, which turned out
to be incomplete and had some errors in it, as I found out upon my arrival. So don’t hesitate to
send e- mails!
Orientation/Introduction activities
January 22 there was a Welcomeday. Here information was given, for example about how to
get a student card and how to get to campus de Somosaguas. Everything was in Spanish,
and I felt a little taken off guard. The Madrileños speak Spanish really fast, so it was hard to
understand the teachers. As I didn’t have any prior knowledge of Spanish, I had taken the
beginners and advanced Spanish courses at Tilburg University. But that day I learned that I
was facing a tough challenge. Apart from the welcome talk and a general explanation about
the university, some student from IESN also stopped by. Becoming a member was very
cheap (I think it was about 5 euros) so I decided to become one right away. But apart from
some excursions, which are really cheap, I didn’t do a lot with IESN.
One day before the Welcome Day I arrived in the city. I flew together with the other student of
Tilburg University. I didn’t know her that well but we figured it would be nice to be with
someone familiar when you begin your adventure, because UCM doesn’t offer you any help.
This was the best choice I could have made! In the course of time we got our own group of
friends and it is really good to have someone around that comes from the same university.
Housing
Housing I arranged before my arrival. In Tilburg I was an IESN member and there I got to
know some people from Madrid, one of whom helped me get my room. Looking back I
wouldn’t have arranged my housing beforehand. I was living in a house where only Spanish
was spoken, but my roommates weren’t very close and to me they were not that open. My
house was located closer to the university than to the city center, and I would advise you to
search for an accommodation where it’s the other way around. In my opinion it’s nicer if you
don’t have to take the metro every time you want to go to the city center, and this will be a lot.
Furthermore it’s more convenient during the night. You can take the metro until 1:30 and
there are night busses but this can take some time. Searching for an accommodation after
your arrival can be stressful and hard so a better option would perhaps be to get in contact
with people that have already been on exchange here and were happy with their houses. On
the spot you could use sites like idealista to search for a room. As far as I know, UCM doesn’t
actively help exchange students searching for a room.
Living Costs
My exchange period I financed with some money I saved, the Erasmus grant, and I had a
maximum loan during the period of my exchange. My expenses were a lot higher than in
Tilburg. Most money I spent on my room, that costed 380 euros a month and was small
(about 8 m2), but I have to say it is quite hard to find a cheaper room and big rooms are very
rare. I also spent a lot of money on trips and food. Groceries are about the same price as in
the Netherlands, but you will eat out a lot more often. And I wouldn’t cut down on that if I were
you because it’s really part of the Spanish culture to be out a lot! Another monthly cost was
my public transport card, which you can use for the metro, and the (night) busses in Madrid.
For me it cost about 50 euros, but it’s about 20 euros cheaper if you’re under 23. As the
courses I followed didn’t use books, I didn’t spend money on books. Course material consists
mostly of the sheets, and sometimes extra book chapters.
Academic Calendar
I arrived January 21, one day before the Welcome Day. I had never been in Madrid before so
looking back I would have really liked a few days to get to know the city. Friday the 23th I had
a Spanish test to decide my level, the next Monday my Intensive Spanish course began.
Every day for two weeks I had Spanish classes from 9- 11 o’clock. The course was free and I
highly recommend it. I learned a lot, not only language wise but I also got to know a lot about
Spain. Culture, history, philosophy, and practical tips; really helpful and fun! The Intensive
th
Language course ended February 6, and as my regular classes started the 16 I had one
week off, which was really nice. My first exam took place at June 2 and my last was June 15.
During the semester you will have are a lot of days off like día del padre (fathers day),
that takes place March 19 every year. Semana Santa is the holy week in Spain. It is the week
before Easter, and it is a public holiday. Every year it takes place at a different date. It is a
great opportunity to travel to the South of Spain (Andalucía), where this week is still
celebrated in a very traditional way. I also traveled around Andalucía during this holiday and I
visited Granada, Córdoba, and Sevilla. Especially in the last two cities you will see a lot of
astonishing processions. Except from the official days off, I had a lot of days off due to strikes.
Sometimes classes will be canceled because of them; sometimes not. Most of the time
Spanish students know more about it so I would ask them.
The International Office
UCM has a general international office that is situated near Moncloa, and one for Psychology
students that is situated in the head building of Psychology (campus de Somosaguas). You
can get in contact with the office by sending an e- mail, but it’s better to drop by. It really
depends on the employee if he/ she is nice and willing to help you. My experience is that also
Tilburg University doesn’t help with or takes into account a lot of things. For example, by
sending a lot of e- mails early on, I found out myself that the university I was supposed to go
to in Barcelona only offered 1 Spanish course the year I went on exchange (the rest would be
given in Catalan), so that is where my Barcelona adventure ended before it had started.
Conclusion: you have to do a lot yourself.
Social Activities
There are a lot of activities organized for (exchange) students, but not by the university. Every
university in Madrid has its own delegation of IESN. They organize a lot of cheap trips, often
including a guided tour. I went on daytrips to Toledo and Segovia with IESN. They organize a
lot of longer trips as well, for example to Ibiza. Because those trips have a very busy
schedule, I chose not to join them. If I wanted to go somewhere, I went with my friends and
we organized it ourselves. I would really recommend it as it is a lot more relaxed and you can
do whatever you feel like with your best friends there! Other organizations that organize trips
and social activities are for example: Citylife Madrid, Be Madrid, and Disfruta Madrid Más,
You can all find them on Facebook for more information.
Making international friends went really fast. I didn’t meet them at the social activities
organized by the organizations I mentioned earlier. I met some of my friends during the
Welcome Day, and others I met during the Intensive Language course in my first weeks. I
guess everyone is new and in search for new friends in the beginning, so I would really
recommend joining the language course! Of course it’s also a lot of fun to improve your
language skills.
Apart from my trips to Toledo and Segovia with IESN, and my main trip in Semana Santa
to Andalucía (Granada, Córdoba, Sevilla), I went to Ibiza, Valencia, and Lisbon and Porto in
Portugal. It’s really worth to save enough money to travel. You will meet a lot of people that
want to travel as well and Spain is simply beautiful. Besides, there are numerous days off so
you have time! But if you’re on a tight budget or the end of your savings is in sight, don’t
worry. There is always more to see and do in this beautiful city! It is a lot of fun to just wander
around and explore a barrio you haven’t been to that much yet (examples of barrios: La
Latina, Malasaña, Chueca, Salamanca, Chamberí, Moncloa).
Culture and Language
During the first week of my exchange I instantly had obligations at the university so I didn’t
have time to discover the city beforehand. I can’t say I had a culture shock, but I did feel a
little overwhelmed by everything. What didn’t help was that I was still in a hostel at that time
and I was getting really exhausted by a lack of sleep.
I didn’t read a lot about Madrid before I went there so the size of the city took me by
surprise. Wandering around alone in the metropole I felt like a lost child without its mom, with
a new surprise waiting around every corner. Luckily I was with the other Tilburg University
student and this feeling went away fast as I got to know the city better.
I probably don’t have to point this out to European people, but since I heard so many people
from outside Europe that think European countries are very much alike, I want to point out
anyway that although the Netherlands and Spain are both situated in Europe, there are
definitely a lot of cultural differences. For starters, I would say the lives of Spaniards are more
centered around their friends and family than the lives of Dutch people. Furthermore, the
Madrileños live on the streets, as my Spanish teacher once said. I think he meant that
everyone is out on the streets when the weather is good and there is a culture of going to a
bar after work to have a caña (a small glass of cerveza, which is beer) or una copa de vino
tinto (a glass of red wine) and some tapas while chatting with family or friends.
As you will probably suspect, the culture of the Spaniards is very relaxed. Dutch
people often stop by the supermarket in a hurry. They sometimes almost run into the store to
grab what they need and impatiently await their turn in front of the pay desk. You will not see
this in Spain, and I loved it. Being 10 minutes late means being on time there. There even
exists a rule that teachers are allowed to start their classes 10 minutes later. My favorite
sentences became ‘No te preocupes’ and ‘Na pasa nada’: don’t worry, everything will be fine.
I heard it a lot and they were right: everything worked out in the end. This doesn’t mean that it
won’t take you a lot of time and effort to arrange whatever it is you need to arrange. The
responsibility of arranging important things is your own, so you will have to take initiative and
get in contact with the teacher/ responsible person yourself. Receiving a fast answer is very
rare and you will even get used to not receiving any reply. That’s why you should try to sort
things out very early on and keep on trying to get in contact, even if this means you have sent
an e- mail or going somewhere several times.
My view of the Dutch culture changed by going on exchange, in more ways than one. I now
view our culture as very centered around working and with a lot of rules. People are always
busy and don’t often take the time to relax. I also think of Dutch people as a little reserved,
compared to the always passionately and loud talking Spanish people.
In the beginning it is quite hard that everything is in Spanish. As I mentioned before, I didn’t
speak any Spanish at all one and a half year ago. So I took the beginners and advanced
Spanish courses at Tilburg University to prepare myself. I also took the Erasmus Intensive
Language Course (a free course consisting of 10 days of Spanish classes, 4 hours a day)
Nevertheless, I didn’t understand a lot during my first weeks of normal classes.. Don’t give up
though! Gradually I understood more and more. I think the Spanish course I took next to my
normal classes (also offered by UCM, though a payment was required. You do get 4 ECTS
for it) really improved my Spanish. Three evenings a week, two hours per day I had classes.
The overall level of Spanish of my classmates was a lot higher than mine. This made the
class not very enjoyable for me because I always felt behind, even though I had done my
homework. But I have to say that I learned a lot.
Personal Development
On my travels and during my exchange I learned a lot about the Spanish culture. I learned to
get used to it, appreciate it and love it to the level that I really miss it now I am back in the
Netherlands. I think most Spanish people understand the art of enjoying life to the fullest, and
I hope I will always keep this feeling with me. I also hope I will keep on living a little bit more
relaxed.
During my 5 months of exchange I learned more than any education or book could have
taught me. In my opinion this is one of the best and one of the only opportunities to learn a
new foreign language after you finished high school. As I said, I didn’t speak any Spanish one
and a half year ago. Although my level of Spanish right now isn’t as good as my level of
English, I can manage to have a conversation and write an essay.
I also developed myself personally, in a lot of ways. Adapting quickly to unfamiliar
circumstances is one of the things I learned. Self-development is inevitable during exchange.
You meet so many new people from different countries, and from each of them you can learn
something. So it is not only a lot of fun, but also useful, as you will broaden your view.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
After the start of the courses, UCM allows exchange students one month to decide on what
courses to follow. The first month you are therefore allowed to attend classes of all Bachelor
courses. I would recommend you to attend as much interesting classes as you can during the
first two weeks and then decide. That is because not all teachers will let you join their classes
after some weeks. Another reason is the fact that having to catch up is annoying and more
importantly, for some courses attendance is required. Sometimes you also have deadlines
you cannot miss. In the process of deciding on your courses, it is very important to search for
teachers that are nice and willing to help Erasmus students. In the case of multiple teachers
for one course, go to all classes and pick the best teacher.
Both the university and the way of learning are very different from what we are used
to. The university consists of old buildings covered with graffiti and things aren’t better on the
inside. You will find a lot of things that are broken, such as computers, printers and toilets.
The classrooms where you have your classes are a lot smaller than the lecture halls we’re
used to. The way of learning is also more comparable to our high school teaching methods
than what we’re used to at university. Classes are small and although exams are usually of a
lower level, you will more often have to write essays and do presentations with a group. There
is also a big difference when it comes to the study structure, as the Bachelor Psychology at
UCM takes 4 instead of 3 years. After this a lot of students continue with a one- year Master
program.
The relationship between the students and the teaching staff depends on the teacher,
but is often a bit more informal. For example, after the last class of the Spanish course, we
went for a beer with our whole class and the teachers.
Description of Courses
Course
Diversidad, exclusión
social e integración
(800183)
Prerequisites
None
Exam
Written
None
Written
Psicología Jurídica
(800204)
None
Psicología Clínica
Infanto- Juvenil
(800199)
Trastornos del
desarrollo (800202)
Spanish Course
ECTS
6
Comments
A large group essay
with in- between
deadlines, presentation,
multiple choice exam
6
Two partial tests (if
passed then no end
test) and a presentation
Written
6
Essays and an exam
None
Written
6
Individual essay,
multiple choice test
None
Written
4
Exam to determine
level, presentation,
weekly assignments
All courses at UCM were offered only in Spanish. 2 Weeks after the courses started, I picked
th
my final courses, which were all 4 year subjects. To simply your search for nice teachers,
here are the teachers I had: Diversidad, exclusión social e integración (Juan Ramos Cejudo
and Luis Francisco Carrasco Rastrilla), Trastornos del Desarrollo (Margarita Isabel Revenga
Sanchez), Psicología Jurídica (Ana Garcia Mañas), Psicología Clínica Infanto- Juvenil (María
Paz García- Vera).
I would recommend Trastornos del Desarrollo and Psicología Infanto- Juvenil. Diversidad
and Psicología Jurídica were both very hard because the level of Spanish was high. The
content of the course Psicología Jurídica was sometimes hard to understand and the
workload of Diversidad was too high and one of the teachers wasn’t helpful at all.
I obtained 22 ECTS during my exchange. I managed to pass the Spanish course and all other
courses, except for Psicología Jurídica, and I am very proud of this result!
Exams
All exams were multiple choice exams. Different from Tilburg University is that in my exams I
could choose to answer or not to answer. For every good answer you get points, and for
every wrong answer points are taken. Therefore I could also choose not to answer.
Tips for the future students:
Going on exchange is so much fun! I can honestly say it’s been the best experience in my life
so far. It does take a lot of effort. You have to arrange for a lot of things; all by yourself.
But then again, you really don’t want to miss this! So just do it, it would be one of the best
decisions of your life!
I would also advise future students to get in contact with former exchange students that went
to UCM, because sharing knowledge can save a lot of time. Therefore you can always send
me an e- mail or add me on Facebook to ask for help if necessary.
Blog
During my exchange I wrote a blog: http://larissacecielhuethorst.reislogger.nl/. I wrote about
everything I experienced so I think it can be interesting for future students that go to Madrid!
You can also find photos there.