CIEE College Study Abroad in Madrid, Spain

I really enjoyed studying abroad with CIEE! All of the staff members were so helpful and truly cared about our experience. The CIEE Center was like a second home for me.

Madrid is an excellent city to study abroad in -- tons, TONS of things to see and do. The night life is incredibleeee and there's endless restaurants and museums to explore. The people here are the kindest I've ever met.

CIEE made it easy to handle all the logistics of study abroad, especially the visa process, and I'm so grateful for their support! They also plan activities weekly which is soooo convenient. I can't recommend this enough! Study abroad changed my life!

I thought I was going to become friends with Spaniards but I was closer to the students in my program. However, there were friends of mine in the program that became closer with Spaniards. What I want to say by this is that there is opportunity to become friends with a lot of nationalities, and the best is that you would not expected. There is always something to do. Studying abroad is a great experience and it definitely makes you go out of your comfort zone for the best. You will know yourself better and become more open minded.

Wow, I had an amazing time during my CIEE study abroad block! When I arrived off my flight, I was immediately welcomed with warm faces. The staff are some of the nicest people that I have met and are always helpful. The dorms are a little bit far away from the CIEE center but the Metro is cheap ($10 per month) and is about a 40min trip each way. The teachers in the program are great. They are very knowledgeable but are super nice! One thing that sucks about the program is that food is not provided and the dorms have no kitchen, so eating out can get costly! Overall I had a great experience with CIEE in Madrid and would recommend it to other students

This experience is great for anyone who wants to practice Spanish, even if they aren’t taking classes. Many people here speak English so it’s easy to get around. The staff are all very helpful and know great places and recommendations for you to see. Housing is fantastic, I’m at the Galdos residence. I feel safe in this city, using the typical caution anyone would when alone. The only downside is that the residence is a metro or two away from most museums and parks that you want to attend. The trips we go on during the week with CIEE are always interesting and if you don’t want to go you can opt out. Trips to other places in Spain can be expansive, Barcelona for example by train is over 200 Euro right now. Lots of American food if you are coming from the states and get homesick but also plenty of opportunities to try local cuisine.

I had such an amazing time in Madrid! I had amazing professors and took one of the best classes of my life (Beginner Spanish) I met so many other fun people participating in my program, and made lots of friends who shared common interests. I also had a wonderful time exploring the city and all of the food, drink, and beauty Madrid has to offer (especially Retiro Park). It was such an incredible study abroad experience for all of my friends and I, I would highly recommend it to other students. :)

What I liked the most about this program is that the classes are very flexible and interesting and the professors are very understanding. In addition to academic work, I had the opportunity to do an internship abroad; CIEE found the best fit for me and it was an incredible learning and cultural experience.

Additionally, CIEE gives students a lot of freedom and independence so we can immerse ourselves more deeply in the culture, but they are always there to help and answer any questions that might arise.

This was one of the best decisions I made over the course of my college career. If you are even on the fence about doing a semester abroad do it. I promise you, it's worth the time, money, and experience. You will not miss anything while you're gone. Make the right decision. Go Abroad.
Some of my favorite memories of my 22 years of life have come from this experience. I get asked about it all the time and love talking about it. It is great for your resume believe it or not. Telling people that you were able to communicate in a society that doesn't speak the same language as you is a big eye-opener for people. The food, clubs, travel, and friendships that were made will be part of my life forever and this is something that I can recommend enough. I just traveled to Seattle to meet friends that I met abroad.

Madrid was an amazing experience. However, UC3M was a very long compute from where we lived in the city center. I think finding a university that is closer to the city center would be preferable, as I didn't like the atmosphere at UC3M.
Madrid is really cool though because there's so much to do in the city and just out of the city. Manzanares el Real was a personal favorite hiking spot and you can get there with the monthly metro card as it lets you get on busses, the metro and Cercanías trains.