Reviews of Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, Lisboa | Portugal

Useful | 0

ines g

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Communication and Information Sciences, Graduate, Erasmus

Housing

Type of housing: Apartment/House

Arranged by: Independently - My choice

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why?

I woud choose again an apartment to life because it allows me to share my international experience with other "international" people in an independent way... and I would have to learn how to manage on my own, again!

Personal assessment

Cost

Facilities

Location

Cleanliness

Space

Personal comments

There is a Social Service to advice students about how to get an accomodation but what they offered us/me was living with a family, which didn´t fit with was I wanted.

Useful | 0

ines g

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Communication and Information Sciences, Graduate, Erasmus

Student life

Describe host city:

Students equally interact with the local and student community

Activities, Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Personal social experience

Activities

Nightlife

Travel

Overall

Personal comments

I would say Bairro Alto is the best area to have a nice coffee watching people walking around... and also the hot-spot of Lisbon night life. Portas Longas in Rua Altamira is the best place to go for a beer while you listen to fados and talk to people (everybody talks to everybody there... I don´t know what they put in the drinks. And Miradouro da Graça is an unavoidable place to have a coffee with Lisbon at your feet on a sun set.

Useful | 0

ines g

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Communication and Information Sciences, Graduate, Erasmus

Overall

I wish I had known...

I whish I knew the word hurry was not in the portuguese dictionaries. Now I know and I love tha way of life, but at the begining was a real cultural shock!

In my opinion:

Everybody loved it, you will too!

Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important

Academic reasons

1

Culture

4

Costs

2

Activities

3

Campus life

2

Party / people

3

Weather / location

3

Personal recommendation

I wouldn´t recommend my university except for those who study economics, the rest of the courses were so-so. And about the atmosphere, it was not as open as I expected it would be.

During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot

Became familiar with another culture

4

Traveled

4

Improved language skills

4

Met people from other countries

4

Became more independent

4

Partied a lot

3

Experienced a change in life

4

Advanced my studies & career

2

Final comments

You can find some photos I took in Lisbon at: http://www.dreamwater.com/inesgalba/lisboa.htm and some personal (and highly subjective) impresions, in spanish only, sorry, at: http://www.dreamwater.com/inesgalba/IMPRESIONES.htm

Useful | 0

ines g

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Communication and Information Sciences, Graduate, Erasmus

Academic

Course recommendations

I would say the academic side of the experience was not the best because I didn´t find very interesting the courses offered and the academic demand was quite poor.

My academic experiences

Quality of courses

Variety of courses

Access to resources

Interaction with teachers

Interaction with international students

Interaction with local students

Personal comments

I would encourage students to look for extra-academic resources or maybe a part time job, so the the interaction and integration in the social life in Lisbon would be more interesting as the university I went to was more an elitist one in regard to social classes than in the academic level.

My opinion of the university assessment

Exams at end of course

Exams throughout the course

Essays and/or projects at the end of course

Essays and/or projects throughout the course

Overall

Useful | 0

ines g

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Communication and Information Sciences, Graduate, Erasmus

Languages

Language of instruction: Portuguese

Local language was: Different than language of instruction

Was learning Portuguese a key decision factor?

Yes, I wanted to improve my Portuguese

Was learning the local language a key decision factor?

Yes, I wanted to improve my the local language

How much did you improve your Portuguese?

My level before: Basic phrases
My level after: At ease in most situations

How much did you improve your the local language?

My level before: Basic phrases
My level after: At ease in most situations

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

I could only speak some phrases in portuguese before I went there, and most of them I had taken from lyrics of fados and brazilian music, but people from Lisbon are so patient and curious about foreign peole that I hardly could avoid to learn the language ;)

Useful | 1

ines g

Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Communication and Information Sciences, Graduate, Erasmus

Expenses

Main source of funding:

An ERASMUS grant

Other sources of funding:

Family<br> Personal savings<br> Government assistance

Work opportunities:

I didn't explore any work options

Personal spending habits

Most of the things and services in Portugal are cheaper then in Spain but I don´t know why, maybe ´cos I didn´t worry that much about conversions, I spent more being there

Housing, Telephone:

was more expensive than at home.

Travel, Nightlife, Overall:

was the same price as at home.

Food:

was less expensive than at home.

Accessibility of student needs

Second-hand text books

Second-hand household items

Second-hand bedding

Administrative

Money from home

Personal comments

I would say it´s rather difficult to find cheap accomodation in the heart of Lisbon even when the appartments were old and sometimes ancient, but it always depend on what are your preferences.

Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, Lisboa

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