ESADE Business School

The main residence hall was located close to campus but far from the rest of the city. For the money, an apartment is much cheaper and a much more authentic living environment. Dealing with everyday living, like grocery shopping or ordering butane tanks, can be a challenge at times, but only help improve language and adaptability skills.

Marketing Internacional is a great course! It's a fun subject to learn with students from around the world.

Exchange students will not fail ESADE's courses unless they really try to. So, to improve academics, the school could hold exchange students more accountable. However, I personally wouldn't like to see that changed.

Not to live in the Residence Hall. I lived there for about a month and it was a waste of money. It was also very isolating socially, as most students lived downtown and cab rides to the Res Hall were quite expensive. Also, get a mobile phone as soon as you can. It improves your social life immensely and is very cheap and easy to use. The mobile phone system is far better than the system in the United States.

The university is small, but they do plan a lot of diverse and fun activities for exchange students. Through the university alone, I went on a ski trip to Andorra, trips to Girona and Figueres. ESADE sponsored a "sports competition weekend" at a resort in the country that was really fun. There was an end-of-semester ball and a Christmas party, in addition to the weekly parties planned in conjunction with local clubs. Academically, ESADE has a good reputation. If you're looking for a challenge, this may not be the place, but you can learn a lot if you choose to. I was able to take my classes pass/fail, so it wasn't a huge priority for me.

At the time, the exchange rate favored the dollar significantly. However, after visiting Barcelona again this past summer, I noticed that the cost of living is just much lower, especially in terms of food and nightlife.