Hola. This is my first post here on MadridMan's forums, so I'll do a quick introduction:

Born in the United States, my mother is Spanish and my father an American. My first language is Spanish, because that's all my mother spoke when I was little (they dont call it lengua materna for nothing). We visted Spain every summer, for nearly the whole summer (my parents were teachers, summers were mostly off and my abuelo paid for nearly the whole trip).

Currently, I am a student in a small engineering university in Missouri (University of Missouri-Rolla). Small, small town. Boring, boring engineering.

For the past few years I have felt something nagging. Like I'm not in the right place. Homesickness, you could say. But all my comforting nostalgic thoughts are not of my house in the USA, but rather of my tia's house in Toledo. Not just the house, of course, but of the whole culture that I partially experienced in my homelife and of the whole country and society. I've been dwelling on these feelings lately.

So! The point: I've decided to cure myself by going straight to the source. I'm making plans for next year to study abroad at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid . Three of my cousins go the school and I have an open invitation to live at their apartament. Seems perfect, right?

There are a few problems: this small university in the middle of nowhere Missouri doesn't exactly have much the way of international programs. It's pretty much all run by one man. Though I have been able to find out that our meager program does have UCM on their list, I don't know what else to expect this one man to do.

I made an appointment with him for next week, and I dont want to be caught unprepared. What do I need to do/have before I start making plans with him?

All that for just one question! Please excuse the lengthy post. I guess I needed to vent to some like-minded people a little. I cant talk to my friends or coleges about this. They wouldnt understand.

Muchisimas gracias!

From my point of view the most important thing is to understand (and confirm in writing) which credits from Spain you will be able to transfer and use toward your degree in the U.S.

If the person at your school is vague, beware. It is not unheard of that students without prior confirmation have zero foreign credits recognized by their home school.

An agreement or convenio means nothing in terms of recognizing credits.

Been there, done that-

Hola Super Martienez,

I live in Fort Worth, Texas U.S.A and I can completly relate with you in having a need or or nagging desire to live in Spain. My Father was in the U.S Military and I was a baby and lived in Torrejon, Spain in the subburbs of Madrid. I lived in Germany and Western Europe for most of my childhood and moved to the U.S. at 12 years old.

I visited a childhood friend in the last 3 weeks in Madrid and have been totally honest with myself dealing with my feelings....I am moving back to Madrid in the next 3 to 4 years. I need to save to money and make arrangements for a job but I will move back!!!!

My Heart and Soul is there .. I can not explain it but I competly understand what you are going through.
You only live once so live in the place that calls you !!!

Thank you for the advice Old Gingo. I will make certain that the credits will transfer.

Kathyrine, I am so glad to hear from someone else going through my kind of situation. I as well have been thinking of moving to Spain permanently. It would not be very hard, for though I was born in the US, I have Spanish citizenship due to jus sanguinis (because my mother was Spanish, I am too). And though the economy in Spain "no va bien", my entire extended family is financially fine in Spain. I am confident that I can do as well as any of my cousins.

I'm not sure what work I will find. I'm getting a degree in Computer Science (Informatica), so I'd like a programming position. It just doesn't seem like there are many of those jobs available these days. Being that I speak both English and Spanish fluently (though with a slight accent in both!), I could also get certified to teach English. The Expatriate Café gives me some interesting ideas. What are your plans, Kathyrine? How will you go about getting citizenship? What about work? Please tell me more about your situation. I talk so much not only to "vent" but also to encourage others to share. I am very interested in this subject.

But! I'm getting ahead of myself. First, before I begin to seriously make plans to move permanently to Spain, I want to spend a year there. That will be the real test. If when I come back to the US I still feel myself feeling out of place and missing Spain, I will know where my "heart and soul" are.

What I fear the most is that no matter where I go, US or Spain, I will miss my other "mother land".

Programming jobs in Spain are very frequent! It is one of the most demanded jobs here. And being bilingual is a very important plus.

You should make every effort to have your university director sign an agreement with Universidad Complutense, and talk him about your plans.

Give him a hook: UCM (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) has 120,000 students who could be potential exchange students in his university.

Hope you are able to move here

Fernando

Well, I had my meeting with my schools international coordinator today. Although my school does have an exchange program with UCM, it is shared with some other 9 universities in the United States. In other words, it is extremely competetive. Anyone with less than a 3.6/4.0 GPA is thrown out. He told me that there has never been a student from my school to be accepted (not because we are dumb, but because this is an engineering school. A's are unusual in "hard" science/math). He said I could apply, but that I should have a back-up school and definately expect rejection from the UCM program.

I also have some good news, however! One "back-up school" is looking very good. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid is an engineering school with a good reputation and a program for international students in Computer Science. UPM is part of the Global Engineering Education Exchange , as is my school. Much better chances for me to get accepted!

This is not exactly what I had in mind, as I really did have my heart set on UCM. My uncle is a professor there and I've got a few cousins that are students. It also is where my mother and father met. If I really wanted, I could go through an independent program, but that is a lot of trouble and very expensive (I'd have to drop out of school and none of my scholarships would apply).

So what's the word on the Global Engineering Education Exchange or Universidad Politécnica de Madrid? Anyone participate in the program or attend the university? What's the social reputation of UPM?

Gracias!

Hahahaha!

I assumed you knew UPM!

There are five public Universities in Madrid:

Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos I

The largest, by far, is Universidad Complutense. It has lots of different colleges, mostly concentrated in the Ciudad Universitaria estate of Madrid (northwest). They have a College of Computer Science .

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid is (as far as I know) the second largest. It is located outside Madrid (in Cantoblanco), have lots of colleges and a good reputation. They have also a School of Engineering in Computer Science .

Universidad Carlos III is located in Alcalá de Henares (north-east Madrid), it has a fair reputation in engineering. And yes, you guessed it, they have a School of Egineering in Computer Science .

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos I is the newest Madrid public University. It is located some kilometers south to Madrid. Oh, yes, they have a College of Computer Science . It has an average reputation.

And we end in Universidad Politécnica, which is were I study It has 20,000 students. It was created many years ago to have all engineering schools in one, unique university. Thus, it is the most specialized university in engineering. Its reputation is probably higher than the other four universities. Its colleges are distributed among Madrid. Some are in the middle of Madrid, some in Ciudad Universitaria, and the one who interests you is in Boadilla del Monte (to the west of Madrid). Check their webpage .

So, try to go for Complutense, and if you can't come here with their exchange programm, try first Politécnica, then Univ. Carlos III, then Univ. Rey Juan Carlos I and then Univ. Autónoma. But anyway, you will have a good experience in all of them, and you can be sure that they have the five of them a good reputation.

Even if none of them accept you, there are other half-public and private universities in Madrid which will be glad to have you with them.

Fernando

Thank you very much for all that information, Fernando! I'd heard of UPM before, but I didn't really know anything about it. Sure, I can always read brochures or look at websites, but it's best to hear what the students actually think.

So, Fernando, being a student there, what can you tell me about UPM? What do you study? If it's
Informática, what do you think about the school? The Boadilla del Monte website said it is 15 kmetros from Madrid. Is it possible to take public transportation from Madrid to Boadilla on a daily basis? (I'll be living with my cousins in Madrid)

Oh, and by the way, I was curious so I took a look at Trabajo.org for jobs in informática and the search turned out about 720 jobs in Spain (the only other field that had more was Comercial). And, yes, many of those 720 jobs had english abilities as a requirement. Indeed, Fernando, you were right, programmers are in high demand in Spain. Very interesting!

Hi Super

Visit this link: http://aula.elmundo.es/aula/especiales/2004/50carreras/informatica.html

UPM is considered by an international student the best university to course Ingeniería Informática (Engineering in Computer Science).

As for me I have studied Telecommunications (IT) Engineering in UPM. Although I consider that it could be better, I'm happy with the education I got, and have not had much problems to find a job. UPM is, perhaps, one of the most prestigious universities in Spain, and is reckoned in Europe as one of the best universities of engineering, along with Polytechnique in France.

It is possible to go to Boadilla del Monte on a daily basis by bus (most students do it), though car would probably be the best. If you see the map it is not very far from Madrid

Fernando

Super Martinez, check these links:

http://www.infojobs.net

(A popular website with many work offers about tecnology - informática, telecomunicaciones, marketing...)

http://www.lawebdelprogramador.com

(Comunity of computer programming in Spain, here you can find many offers and information too)

Just another thought about getting into Complutense. A long long time ago, I studied at the University of Florence. I found a Rutgers program that facilitated my entrance into and study at the University. I was able to choose my department of study and we had a Rutgers professor with us who took care of all of the administrative stuff. (That is worth a lot!) The way it worked was I took a leave from my university and enrolled in Rutgers for the year. My university preapproved the program, so all credits transferred. It was very simple (and cheaper than my pricy university!)

You might try to look for an American university offering a similar program to Complutense. It could be easier to get into than your school's program. Good luck!

Wow! I cant believe the amount of helpful replys I've gotten. Thank you Fernando, pinofas, Jana and everyone else who has replied. Oh and of course, thanks to MadridMan for setting up this forum and nuturing such an awesome community.

But enough gushing! About the studying abroad, the guy at my school said that I can only make plans for one semester. The Global Engineering Education Exchange website makes it sound like I should expect a whole year. I imagine that is just the beginning of the contradictions and problems I'll be running into in this process. Politecnica de Madrid is looking pretty good, but I'm going look into other programs just to see what's around. Obviously, going through the programs my school is a part of would be best.

Has anyone studied abroad at UPM? Did you take any classes in your field (like engineering)? I've been told that American students often aviod UPM because the instruction is in Spanish and the material is difficult. I dont mind the Spanish instruction, but just how difficult are the classes?

SuperMartinez. I sent you a PM with more info, but have you thought of taking a year off and coming as an Erasmus student? I'm assuming that you are an EU citizen through your mother...

Also, you might consider just enrolling directly here for a semester to see how it goes. Tuition here is a fraction of the cost of a US university...

Well, any engineering is difficult, but I must say that UPM is above average in difficulty. However, it is usually easier for exchange students (teachers are more benevolent).

Fernando

I have been reading all of the talk about studying abroad at Compultense, which is amazingly interesting to me because I too am studying abroad in Madrid for a year, I'm going my junior year and have been looking at compultense, Autonoma, and some at the others. I currently attend the University of Georgia(Im a first year) and I'm a spanish major soon to add another major, the second major is somewhat undecided. What I am certain about is that I love spanish, the cultural, all of it. I feel that I was born in the wrong country, no joke. My friends don't understand I love finding people who do! I agree the companies that go outside of schools (some good ones CEA and API), are more expensive but they do handle transfering credits and paperwork with less stress. If I could I would jump all over direct enrolement, my problem is that I am not fulent, (Im in 3010 level spanish, 3rd year college level) but speaking especially understanding castillean would be crazy my first semester because direct enrolement you have no support group to help. I would totally do it but if I fail I'm screwed. Money, considering I'm paying for it, is somewhat an issue, I've been saying for a while. If you can I recommend direct enrolement to the university. It is more work on your part but I think you having family there "vale la pena" it is totally worth it! I have a ton of info on exchanges for a year if you have specific questions, or advice, feel free that'd be awesome!

Update!

After a semester weekly meetings with my school's international studies director, I got my application to the Global Engineering Education Exchange in. A few months pass with no word from them. I figured my application had been messed up (the guy at my school was at best useless, getting around him was my biggest problem in this process) or I was rejected and not sent a letter.

Wrong. Today, a month later than I was told would have been the "latest" I would hear from them, I get an email from GE3 telling me that I've been accepted to study at la Universidad Politecnica de Madrid next year. Hooray!

I just wanted to thank everyone for their help and to let you know that it wasn't in vain.

Fantastic news Super Martínez!!! -Sort of made your day didn't it

Congratulations Super!!!! I studied in the UPM too, civil engineering, so if you need any help don't hesitate to ask!!!