Which would be better: Alcalá de Henares or Madrid?

I have been given the opportunity to study in Spain either in Alcalá de Henares this fall semester, or in Madrid during Spring semester.

I realize they are both very close to one another,so that isn't really what I mean. But given the choice, which one do you think would be the better and why?

Climate based on time of year.
Things to do depending on time of year.
...Things like that.

I'm a long time lurker on this board because I admit that I sort of live vicariously through all of your travel stories, dreaming of the day when I can finally go. Now it's my turn
I just want to make the right decision. Any info either way would be helpful.

Depends what you prefer: big city or smallish town. Madrid obviously has a lot more going for it and I'd recommend it. The only real advantage of Alcala is the human scale, especially of the university. The main campiuses of Madrid, if that's where you're going to study (ie Complutense and Autonoma) are vast and impersonal, with no real "university" feel. it could be harder to make friends there.
Climatic differences are negligible! I'd go to Madrid, on balance. Have fun.

Like said before, it really depends on what you are looking for. I don't know Alcala well, so i cant give my opinion on that city.
BUT, I had to choose between studying in Granada and in Madrid. I chose Granada because it is more of a university town...60,000 students! The total population was around 350,000. So it was a smaller town. I could walk wherever I needed to go, and with all the students, and my classes being at the university will all spaniards, I really was able to make some good friends. I also felt like I was able to get more involved in stuff, dance lessons, I tutored at one of the local schools, stuff like that.

Like I said though, Ive never lived in Madrid, and dont know Alcala well, so I dont wanna try to tell you what to do. Just my thoughts...Im glad I chose to go with Granada.
Kelly

A few questions for you, though... Where do you live? How large is the school you attend now? Do you prefer a rural (suburban, actually) or urban area?

I studied in Madrid. I lived there for a few years and constantly return there. If given the option again...without a doubt, I'd choose Madrid.

Even when you have nothing to do, there is always something out there. I also prefered that it wasn't a college town, such as Salamanca. All you ever get to meet in a small college town are the same students, like you, who are looking to meet others.

You could be in the city and not run into your classmates for days on end. Don't get me wrong...I'm not suggesting an anti-social area. But when I went to Spain I wanted to meet Spanairds and deal with them on a daily basis. Living in Madrid I got to meet Spanairds from all over the country. Try finding a true madrileño! Most people in the city come from other areas.

Did I visit other regions? Yes...and loved all that I saw, especially Andalucía, and above all, Granada. But, if I were going to study and live in Spain...no question about it...Madrid.

One final question for you: have you ever been abroad? My personal experience and one that I have noticed with several other people...you always fall in love with your "first" foreign experience. In my case...Madrid.

Sheryl

About falling in love with your first experience abroad...its so true. Before studying for the semester in Granada, I studied in Bilbao. I fell in love with that city, and was heart broken to have to leave it and go to Granada. The first couple weeks in Granada, all i did was compare it to Bilbao, eventually though I grew to love them the same...they are such different cities i dont know why i ever even tried to compare them .

Wherever you go, the biggest thing you need to keep in mind: dont do the american thing. make the extra effort and really integrate yourself into the spanish gang. I took all my classes with only spaniards (instead of the typical classes with americans trap), lived with a host family, and pretty much hung out with only spaniards or other international people the entire time i was living there. that was REALLY hard at first, but really really worth it in the end, and im sooo glad i made myself do it that way!!!! So dont fall for the american trap! Join a dance group, take classes with spaniards, live with a host family, and make the effort!
If you can do that, it wont matter so much where exactly you are.
Kelly

I studied in Alcala and personally I would not reccommend it, but again it depends on what your looking for. If you prefer the fast pace of a city, Madrid is your choice. Alcala is a smaller town that I found to be very sleepy, meaning boring. I found myself constantly jumping on the train to Madrid to be with friends and to go out, but would have to end up staying with friends or getting a hostal for the night/weekend. I would dred having to go back to Acala....but it is a more cultured experience..

hope this helps..I say Madrid!

I studied in sevilla for one year. There were alot of americans there. The first semester I had intercambios and lived with two different families. They were ok. The only problem I had was having to live by the rules.Dinner at 9. Senoras get very mad when you don't show up for dinner. They take it personally. It also depends what time of year you are going.In sevilla the fall semester there were less americans. In the spring they are everwhere in central. The most important thing for learning the language is to live with and hang out with spaniards. They know the best places to go.I met spaniards and hung out almost exclusively with them my second semester. This is when my language skills grew by leaps and bounds. When my progam ended I lived in madrid for two months. I had all spanish roomates. My spanish improved greatly. It was so much fun. I really didn't really meet many americans in madrid. If you go to puerta del sol you will see them in the bars and clubs. Once you get out of those areas you encounter many spaniards.Madrid is an excellent place to study spanish. I also lived in barcelona for one month whith americans in a different program. They complained that they were not learning much spanish in barcelona.Barcelona is still beautiful and is still one of the most beautiful cities in europe.I had great times there as well.In the end it is up to you.

Thank you all for the responses.

My goal is to become fluent en español so that is the most important thing. That being said, I have been offered more choices. (Ack!) I have been told that staying with a family is a better way to learn the language than staying with other students, so I'll be doing that. But my question is, which of these cities would I hear English less and Spanish more?

Alicante
Bilbao/Getxo
Madrid
San Sebastián

In other words, which ones will have less tourists and more locals?

in Bilbao is it through Universidad de Deusto? I really liked Bilbao. Keep in mind Getxo is outside of the actual city of Bilbao, but a quick metro ride in. Also keep in mind Bilbao is in Euskadi, and therefore not going to be your "typical" (if any such thing exists!!!), or maybe I should say steretypical, or traditional spanish city. Its a different culture. That said, I LOVED Bilbao, for sure one of my favorite places in Spain, 2nd only maybe to Granada.

Wherever you go, if you feel confident in your spanish and really want the full immersion experience, 2 things.
First, like you said, live with a family, or with other spaniards. DO NOT live with other americans. I had friends who did that and they didnt learn as much and were always together. I lived with a family, and though at times it was hard, or i didnt like it, in the end it was a much better choice!
Second, take normal classes at the university with all spaniards. NOT with all extranjeros. While really hard at fist, this is so worth it! You get to really feel like a normal student, and I found it to be a lot easier to get to know people. Plus, its an entire cultural experience in itself, very very different than your typical USA university classroom. Note: if your doing this, be sure and go in the Spring, the semesers are different if you take classes with spaniards, the first semester ends after christmas in January some time, and the second semester ends in Mid-End of June.

Just some thoughts...

I would have to say the best thing to do from my experience is to live with students that are spaniards. I have lived with a spanish family, with foreigners(germans english)and spaniards as romates. The problem with the spanish family is that you talk at dinner time and that is really it. Whe it comes to doing outside things the isn't much going on.The best is with spaniards that are students. Not only do you live with them , but they also want to do things with you. Events such as clubbbing and you get to meet their friends.

In regards to Bilbao/Getxo, this program is sigificantly less expensive than all the other programs in Spain.

I understand that there are many dialects in every language, including Spanish. But at the same time, in some cases (such as creole in the U.S.), a dialect can become another language entirely. A student could come to the U.S. to learn English, and if he was stationed in creole country, he would learn creole instead (just an example). Is this the case with Bilbao/Getxo?

"The main languages spoken here are Castellano and the ancient Basque language, Euskera, the origins of which are unknown. There are some similarities to other European and African languages but this is a unique and strange tongue which bears no relation to Spanish."

I think I just answered my own question. Oh well...

yes Euskera is an entirely different language with NO relation to Spanish, and no you wouldnt understand any of it. that said, i wouldnt let the euskera thing keep your from Euskadi. While you may hear it on some radio or tv channels, or some people on the streets, the main language is still castellano. All signs are in both languages, and in the cities everyone speaks both. In fact, Id venture to say that it is actually a minority of people in Euskadi who do actually speak Euskera. Most of what you hear is castellano. I dont know how to explain it. its not like Barcelona where Catalan really is the main language. I can tell you i learned just as much spanish in Bilbao as I did in Granada.

If I had the choice, I would choose Madrid. One point that hasn't been made is that some students at your university will be staying for the entire year and it will be sad for you to have to leave half way through. If you study in Madrid in the spring, everyone will finish and it gives you the summer to travel.
Either way, you'll have a great time. Is it possible to stay for a year? One semester is so short- by the time you get acclimated, you have to go home.

Thanks for asking this question! I'm going to Alcala de Henares for a month. I chose it because it's a smaller city and because I could go into Madrid easily. I'm hoping to stay with a family because that was my experience in Mexico. However, I haven't learned if that will be the case yet.
One other question: How do I get my luggage from Madrid to Alcala de Henares on the train? I'm sure it's not that hard, but how do I go about it?
Thanks.

My son just completed a semester in Alcala and really enjoyed living and studying there. He lived with charming Spainish family for four months and really liked it. Alcala is almost a subburb of Madrid and therefore offers a small town atmosphere but access to Madrid is easy and cheap buy bus or train. We visited Alcala last month ( and other areas of Spain) during Semana Santa. We found the city enchanting, lots of great old architecture, good but not overpriced restaurnants and bars. You will meet other students from all over the US and the world studying there. I think I'd have to recommend Alcala over Madrid for students.

Although I realize my response is probably too late to help out the original poster, I thought I would add my two cents because I have quite a bit of experience studying/lving in these cities...
First off, from the city options that you have listed (excluding Alcala) I am assuming that you are looking at the USAC program. I have studied in both San Sebastian and Madrid through that program so I can speak about those two cities specifically, and I have lived in Bilbao and spent significant time in Alicante. Starting with Bilbao.. even though it is the cheapest option, this would probably be my last choice, especially if you are looking for a typical Spanish experience (people from Bilbao please don't attack me on this one because I liked the city, but from an American student's point of view it does not offer as much as the other cities). It is a great city with a lot of things to do and culture to see, but it is not quite as senic as your other choices and you probably would not be able to find a Spanish souviner to save your life:)
San Sebastian is great, but like Bilbao is not very "Spanish". The nice thing about San Sebastian (like Alicante) it is a little bit smaller so you are really able to kinda become one with the city. People always want to go there because of the beach (which is very gorgeous and fun during the summer) but overall the weather there is not always the greatest, kinda rainy and really only hot in August. It is still a great city with a lot to offer, but one other thing I noticed is that most of the kids that went to study there were there for more of a vacation than anything so it is more difficult to try to learn Spanish because the others around you are not very supportive and since it is a smaller cities, the opportunity to meet Spaniards is not as great.
Alicante is much like San Sebastian with a little better weather (small, touristy city). Once again the beach is very attractive and so many students go there for more fun than learning (not to sound like a geek but you really don't want to leave after 6 months or whatever and not have learned a thing). Great city, lots of fun, a little more of the Spanish culture.
I have obviously saved my favorite for last because I think that hands down Madrid is the best choice (although I admit I may be a bit biased because I have a lot of family and friends there). Madrid is a great place to go for many reasons, and because I think it offers you everything you would want from a study abroad experience (except a beach, but hey, I can tell you where a couple pools are to hold you over until you can hit the beaches on the weekend or whatever). This actually brings me to my first point, which is that Madrid is centrally located with a rediculous amount of transportation options that would easily allow you to travel just about anywhere (unlike the other cities where you would most likely have to fly first to Madrid, and then wherever you wanted to go, or where a trainride to Sevilla from San Sab would be downright torture:) Also, as others have mentioned, Madrid offers you the most typical Spanish experience you could get and the city is just very special. You have so many more cultural opportunities, and also opportunities to meet and hang out with Spaniards, which is what you need to do if you want to improve your Spanish. I have found that the more serious students go to Madrid (not to say that the classes are hard, because they are not--many A+'s to show for that), but they also know how to have fun and party so I think it is a good mix. A small town like Alcala is nice, but as one of the previous posters said, you would probably find yourself spending more time in Madrid than anything else.
About USAC as a program, I cannot really say if it is good or bad because I have not studied with any other programs. I can say though that you do not have class with other Spaniards, you go to class with Americans, which as others have said, is not the best situation for learning Spanish. I also know that Madrid is really they only city where they offer the opportunity to live with college students from Spain (which would be your best option). Good program, but definitely could improve (as I am sure every program could:)
As for living, I would definitely go with the others and say either live with a family or live with Spanish students (this would be my first choice because you will probably find yourself not spending a lot of time with your family and the Spanish students can offer you so much more). I have seen too many times when kids go there to study abroad and live with other Americans and don't learn a thing because they were always speaking English. You would really be surprised how easily you can get around with speaking very little Spanish.
My final advice is, wherever you go just go somewhere, because anywhere is better than not going at all. Studying in Spain was the best experience of my life and literally changed it completely. I am now a Spanish teacher and am looking to get married to my Spanish boyfriend within a couple of years and and the we will move back to Madrid (I am so lucky:). Even if it doesn't affect your life as much as it did mine, you will seriously be so happy that you did it!!! Sorry everybody for the novel, I just really love to talk to people about this.

There can be another possible combination. Starting on September there will be an special rapid train shuttle service from Atocha to both Alcala's campuses (city center and Meco). Total travel time from Madrid 18 minutes....

You could live in Madrid and enjoy the advantages of Alcala Uni

Nativo writes: Yeah, that's the train the Terrorists bombed: Some of our relatives live in Alcala and work in Madrid. Alcala has a more diverse (interracial) population; and then there are the Storks.