Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)

I'm studying English philology (linguistics and literature) here at Complutense. Officially, all the courses are supposed to be in English, but in practise it takes a while and a lot of running around the first week to find out which courses are actually in English and which aren't. Still, I found excellent courses from excellent professors in English.

The department of English philology needs some structuring, organisation and guidance. The professors themselves don't know what's going on sometimes when it comes to practical matters. Also should they invest in a good book shop where you can buy all your books for a reasonable price. Now a lot of things are copied. Professors should let their students buy an anthology instead of copying everything and destroying a lot of trees.

The educational system and queality of the courses in the Universidad Complutense si quite dissapointing, for what I have seen. The best therefore would be to take classes one is really interested in and try to escape the "Troncales" or "Obligatorias" which tend to be the less interesting ones.

The teachers and students tend to be focused on the exams, and much of the work is memorising. I would suggest to put in some more reasoning and practical works, in order to interest and give a better fomation to the students.

The educational system in Spain sitll being quite "ineffective", the best is just to take the courses that seem the most attractive and interesting for yourself.

Often in Sapin students only have half- days, meaning that their study takes much more time then necessary, so, why not put more hours per week and less years? Also, the lack of effectiveness in the educational system results in Science students not having much opportunity to do labs.

Take subjects that you enjoy back home, regardless of whether thay may seem more difficult to follow. Your enthusiasm will make you want to understand.

None. By not having exams I was able to choose enjoyable rather than easy courses and also had plenty of time to focus on my dissertation research.

I had difficulties getting the books I needed from the libraries; and because Complutense and Politecnica are right next to each other, it is sometimes difficult to tell which campus the library you're in belongs to. If you have research projects to do, consider finding an alternative early.

Do not settle; if the program or university does not have the courses that you feel would serve you best, keep researching.

I would suggest that local students take more time to welcome the international students as well as the international students not to be so "cliquish".