i think people are just trying to give you a realistic view point. that said, i think it totally awesome that at 16 you are already thinking this way! i'm a senior in college right now, and i started learning spanish in 5th grade, and have continued all through college with a spanish linguistics major. i have lived and studied in both Granada and Bilbao, and those experiences have probably been the most influential in my life!!! I only wish I had been thinking that way at 16! So good for you.

that said, what you are talking about doing would be really tough, not to say it cant be done! like i said, i started learning the language in 5th grade, from native speakers, and now consider myself to have near native fluency. when i studied abroad i took all my classes with spaniards. even though i didnt really struggle much with the language, there is a LOT more that becomes involved. it took a lot of getting used to the different style of classes there, different way of testing, grading, and just a really different university environment in general. i guess what im trying to say is that its a lot more than just speaking the language i eventually learned to love it all and would do it again in a heartbeat.

However, as much as I love Spain, Id even love to live there some day!! I cant say that I would have wanted to do my entire degree there. You are asking us to compare it to a US university, you cant really do that. At least at the two universities i studied at, even UoG, which has over 50,000 students, there really isnt that residential, campus "college" feel that you associate or get at big US universities. Its just different, most students, at least in my experience are living at home with their parents, and are from the surrounding area. Its a very different atmosphere than where i go to school in the US, with lots of students living on a campus, a campus town, residence halls and student apartments, sports teams and lots of parties and school spirit I would have felt like i missed out on the whole "college experience"

Anyways, im not saying dont do it, im just saying really think about it. there are lots of other ways to get the chance to live in Spain! You could spend a year abroad, intern abroad, there are so many ways. I do remember that there is a translation program at the UofG I believe, although i cant remember which facultad it was in right now. you can search their webpage though: www.ugr.es

Good Luck!
Kelly

Thanks for the support Kelly. Of course I know this will be extremely hard but I am not taking the easy way out. I don't even know if that is a place where I want to study. I just wanted some ideas. I have been in spanish for about 5 years and I have been to Spain a couple of times before and have lived with people who don't speak any spanish. while i dont consider myself fluent yet, i do hope to be someday soon. with this said i will definitely be living and studying at least for a year in spain. now i am thinking of U. Of Granada...thanks for the support tho...
Agente-I realize this is the realistical viewpoint and I know that. I have to be challeneged tho and I am not going to not try something just because it is extremely difficult...at least I can say I tried...also I am prolly not even thinking of going there! I just think u should have a little support for some people that are thinking when they are 16 about what they wanna do...it's just a dream of mine and somehow it will come true to study in spain.

Well I wish you the best Meencataespana.

I'd be more then happy to mail you my January and February 2005 GQ ESPANA magazines if you need some good well-rounded reading material (the February one has a good candid interview with Zapatero)

lol and why would u send those?

Meencantaespana said: There is only so many times one can look at the same magazine issue over and over again until it gets boring...

That reminds me, I need to pick up the May addition of GQ Espana...

Young Lady

There are a finite number of undergraduate slots in Spain, and there are always many more canidates than slots. Entrance is strictly based on the test results as stated earlier. Many talented Spaniards don't make the cut. This is not like the U.S. where any marginally intelligent person can find a some kind of college to take them.

My wife is a graduate of the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. In four years at the Autonoma my wife never met one American that was accepted to a four year undergraduate program.

One reason is, that besides the difficulty of the examine, they consider an American High School diploma next to worthless. Expect them to require additional classes at a juinor college level even to consider you.

If you are welling to take a year or so junior college courses and think you can be competive on a highly difficult test in Spanish with native speakers when you yourself admit you're not fluent, good luck.

I suggest trying to get into Yale or Harvard. It will be much easier.

Jovencita “meencantaespaña”,

I think you can try at the private universities in Spain, it could be easy to get into there, and then, after a few years you can have the university degree (licenciatura o diplomatura) or move to a public university. Pay attention that the degrees offered by
private universities must be recognised (or certified) by the Ministerio de Educación español.

Here’s a new private university in Sevilla. It has “traducción and interpretación”

http://www.ceade.net/proc_admi.htm
http://www.ceade.net/idio.htm

WOw, i love the support on this message board...most of u are prolly parents and i cant imagine u saying this to ur kids...i realize all of these things abotu the difficulty but its not liek it cant be done. of course it will take A LOT of work and a lot of trial and errors but where are u ever gonna get if u don't try? sorry but im looking at it realistically too. and u need to give ppl a chance sometime..im not doing the 4 years either i am going thru a US univserity so maybe u need to learn the words of _i hope u get it, good luck) not in a sarcastic voice.

I'm actually doing all four years at St. Louis University in Madrid. It's an American university, technically, even though a lot of Spaniards attend it and a ton of int'l students. You can finish all four years on the Madrid Campus if you major in Spanish or Int'l Business and the degrees are recognized in the USA and Spain. On top of everything, applying to the school itself is just like applying to any other American school. It's great.

also, in my opinion, Complutense is an ugly school, appearance-wise. SLU-Madrid, while PEQUENISIMA, is a lot more encantadora