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Other names:
Universidad de Barcelona
Contact: +34 93 4021709 (Int'l Office)

Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

Universitat de Barcelona, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 585, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
3.97 / 5 based on 744 reviews.
Description:
The University of Barcelona (UB) was founded in 1450. The present central building was inaugurated in 1871.

Today the university has four campuses, in different parts of the city. The UB is the oldest and largest of the six universities in Barcelona, and of the ten in Catalonia.

It has 74.000 students --more than half of the total student population of Catalonia-- and is the second largest in terms of students number in Spain.



Reviews
International Partners
Programmes
Accreditations
88% of students recommend
744 reviews
Housing
3.9/5
 All experiences (744)
Student life
4.4/5
 5 stars (234)
Academic
3.7/5
 4 stars (318)
Languages
4.2/5
 3 stars (174)
Expenses
3.5/5
 2 stars (18)
Overall
4.4/5
 1 star (0)
“University of Barcelona does not refund money!!!!!! Even if you tell them before the course starts, they don't refund, not even a part of it. So be super sure that you want to go there!!!” Read Review
rwihby, Canada

29 3-star reviews of Universitat de Barcelona

PAGE: 1 … 13 14 15 … 29    « PREVIOUS / NEXT »
14 to 14 of 29 
Review by rwihby, York University, Toronto, Canada
Business Studies, Independent
HOUSING    
Personal assessment
Cost
KEY:
Couldn't have asked for more.
Pretty good.
Could've been better, but didn't lessen the overall experience.
Disappointing.
Facilities
Location
Cleanliness
Space
Type of housing: Apartment/House
Arranged by: Independently - I had no other choice
If returning, I would choose: On campus
Why? Housing is difficult to find. Standards are a lot lower than in Toronto. Most apartments have no heating and many bedrooms have no windows. There is also no standard pricing and very few contracts.
Personal comments:
The university was unhelpful with accomodation. There are no residences affiliated with this particular university and all they do is give a website for you to search for housing.
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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STUDENT LIFE    
Personal social experience
Activities
KEY:
Amazing! Hardly had time to study.
Plenty to do when I had the time.
So-so.
Did not get involved.
Nightlife
Travel
Overall
Describe host city: Students equally interact with the local and student community
Activities, Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment
Personal comments:
El Copetin (a Cuban bar in the Born district, serves the best Mojitos in town).
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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ACADEMIC    
My academic experiences
Quality of courses
KEY:
Fantastic.
Pretty good.
Could've been a bit better.
Disappointing.
Variety of courses
Availability/access to resources
Interaction with teachers
Interaction with other international students
Interaction with local students
Course recommendations:
Access to professors is difficult, extra help is unheard of, contact via email or phone is a long process. The quality of the courses at my home university is much higher.



My opinion of the university assessment
Exams at end of course
KEY:
Liked it.
It was alright.
A bit annoying.
Didn't like it.
Exams throughout the course
Essays and/or projects at the end of course.
Essays and/or projects throughout the course
Overall
Personal comments:
Don't come to Barcelona to improve your academics. If you want to party and do lots of cultural things, fine, but the quality of the professors, the resources and the courses is not that great.

This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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Language difficulties
Social
KEY:
No problems.
I coped pretty well.
Sometimes it was difficult.
It was a constant struggle.
Educational
Administrative / Institutional
Overall
Language of instruction: Spanish
Was learning Spanish a key decision factor?
Yes, I wanted to improve my Spanish
How much did you improve your Spanish?
My level before: At ease in most situations
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)
Personal comments:
I speak spanish, and here there is a conflict between Catalan and Spanish. Some Catalans are a bit snobby about it and closed minded so they won't speak back to you in Spanish even though they know how to speak it. Many signs or magazines, theater productions, television channels etc are in Catalan. If you want to learn Spanish, go to Madrid, Salamanca or Granada...
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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EXPENSES    
The accessibility of student needs
Second-hand text books
KEY:
Very easy.
Minimal effort.
Accessible but required effort.
Almost impossible.
Second-hand household items
Computers / Internet
Administrative
Money from home
Main source of funding:
Family
Other sources of funding:
Personal savings
Work opportunities:
I didn't explore any work options
Personal spending habits:
Telephone calls are extremely expensive, in Toronto you can talk on the phone for a flat rate of about 30 $a month, in Spain it's about 30$ a week, without talking alot. I only used my phone to make arrangements to meet people. Never talked more than 5 min with someone. Nightlife, well most clubs are about 15euros to get in , and then alcoholic drinks are about 6 euros each. Ofcourse there are cheap bars, but I'm talking about clubs here... Groceries, with the exception of fruits and vegetables are more expensive. Oranges are really cheap... Accomodation, well I paid 270 euros a month for a room in an apartment which had no heating... That's about 450 canadian dollars...
Food, Nightlife, Overall, Telephone, Housing: was more expensive than at home.
Travel: was less expensive than at home.
Personal comments:
Don't get a cell phone... Super expensive. The universities have internet labs that are free, so use those instead of the internet cafes. There is also the Boqueria (farmers market downtown) which is super cheap.
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
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OVERALL    
Important to choosing this university...
Academic reasons
KEY:
Very Important.
Important.
Not really important.
Unimportant.
Culture
Costs
Activities
Campus life
Party / people
Weather / Location
I wish I had known...
The amount of trouble it takes to get a student residency card. No one tells you that you have to line up at 5am to 3pm a couple of times, before anyone even looks at your papers... It's rediculous!
In my opinion:
I loved it but I'm not sure everybody would.



During my experience abroad, I ...
Became familiar with another culture
KEY:
Happened all the time.
Happened quite a lot.
Happened a bit.
Didn't happen.
Traveled
Improved language skills
Met people from other countries
Became more independent
Partied a lot
Experienced a change in life
Advanced my studies/career
Personal recommendation:
I loved it because I met a lot of really nice people from many other countries and parts of spain, but the university itself is a far cry from any I've ever been to. I've studied at Univeristy of Salamanca, University of Toronto and York University and this is the worst organized univeristy with highly unfriendly staff. I think the international experience was good, but you can get that at any other foreign university. Better to go to University of Salamanca, if you want to study in Spain.



FINAL COMMENTS

University of Barcelona does not refund money!!!!!! Even if you tell them before the course starts, they don't refund, not even a part of it. So be super sure that you want to go there!!!
This review is the opinion of an iAgora member, and not of iAgora itself
Was this review useful?   Yes · No