I went on Exchange in Madrid, and as a result became some what of a Madrilleno. Here are tips, tricks, and recommendations that I learned:
Housing
Finding Housing
Housing in Madrid is hard to find. Many places charge a “landlord’s fee” which is one month’s rent in addition to whatever you are paying. Try really hard to not get one of these places.
My friend used Idealista and had a great experience. I used Spotahome and had a worse experience, but it depends on the place you choose and the landlord you get matched with.
Expect to pay around 500-800 euros a month depending on the place you get.
Where to get your place
Your options are on campus or off campus (in the city). Trust me, get your housing in the city even if it’s more expensive—it’s way more fun.
If you’re going to school in UC3M, then try to get a place that’s just one transit line away. Sol and Embajadores come to mind, but there are plenty of places you can check on Google Maps. My place was right beside Retiro Park and was beautiful, but getting to exams was a mission with a 50 min commute.
Transit
BOOK AN APPOINTMENT FOR A METRO CARD BEFORE YOU GET TO MADRID. You pay 8 euros a month for unlimited travel if you’re under 25. But you need an appointment to do that. You can get around pretty much anywhere with this.
Food
- Dominos all you can eat and drink for 8 euros
- get low cheese so you can easily down two pizzas
- Doner places are also really quick and cheap
- Groceries from Mercadona
- Protein milk here is really good
- Milk here is UTM, meaning it doesn’t go bad for 3 months as long as it isn’t opened. Can buy in bulk.
- Dia has super cheap pastries
- Most places have a Menu Del Dia, or “Menu of the Day”, which is available around lunch time only. Usually a 3 course meal with wine for pretty cheap.
School
UC3M has 2 campuses: Leganes and Getafe. Leganes is the engineering campus and where I spent most of my (not much) school time. The campus is actually quite small, and most people only go there for classes and then leave. You can take both english and spanish courses, however I would recommend technical courses in english only.
School here is lowkey difficult compared to the rest of the exchange schools. Passing is non-trivial, and as a result you should go into it with a good plan. That being said, me and my friend Adrian really figured out how to game school there and pretty much only studied right before major exams. For example, I was in Switzerland snowboarding the day before our hardest final exam (Controls)
Here’s a review of the courses I took:
- Computer Architecture [English] - was actually a great course learning wise, and the projects asked a lot from us. In the end our marks were super high though because bonuses were given out to people who passed lol. 7/10
- Controls Engineering 1 [English] - this course was really hard. The professors were bad, marking was rigged, and it was hard to persevere. Some Waterloo students failed this course. I’d recommend taking in Waterloo instead of here. 2/10
- Computer Networks [English] - learned a bunch, insanely easy, didn’t even need to write a final 9/10
- Bioethics [English] - super easy 10/10
- Technologica Etica [Spanish] - the prof just allowed me to translate the questions. Super easy. 9/10
Remember to go to the student faculty and ask for past exams! They will give it to you as long as you bring your own USB stick.
Also make sure you sign up for ESN/Erasmus because you get a ton of perks.
Travels
Book flights early! Your ESN card that you sign up for gives you a bunch of discounts on Ryan Air, busses, etc.
Highly recommend going to:
- 5 day trip in morocco (all inclusive, fully guided)
- Portugal (Lisbon, Albufiera)
- Italy Most importantly, you are in Spain! Make sure you travel all of Spain (Seville, Barcelona, Toledo) to really immerse yourself in the culture!
Also, if you have coop right after, your company might fly you out directly from Spain so keep that in mind when booking tickets!
Visa
Do this asap i’m ngl. The visa people are crooks, and the earlier you do this the better. Pls msg me if you have any issues here—I’ve been through it all.
Being Productive
A lot of cafes don’t let you bring your laptop and close kind of early IMO, so I had to work hard to figure out good places to work. I’d recommend:
- The libraries during the day (they are beautiful and free)
- Santander Work Cafes (free)
- McDonalds at night
Mostly people do end up working in their rooms, but try hard to make your friends not be lame like that!
Things to do in Madrid
I believe that part of the fun is finding some of these things out for yourself, but I will link you to some of my favourites:
- Explore all of Retiro Park. Most beautiful park I’ve ever seen.
- Carlos Sainz Go Karting
- El Prado if you’re artistic like that
- Tony Dos is a must for live Spanish Karaoke
- Kapital is the best club I’ve ever been to
Learning Spanish
This is the best video I’ve ever watched for learning spanish
But seriously just keep practicing. Everyone is very patient and you will get the hang of it!
Other Resources
Check out Shahaana’s amazing madrid guide as well!