Great program, awesome staff, strong curriculum, wonderful experience!

I did the Hamilton College Madrid Program in the fall of my junior year at Hamilton (2005). A little bit about my abroad experience in Madrid...

The Program: Hamilton started its program in Madrid over 20 years ago, and it is extremely well-run and organized. Hamilton's program is small, which allows you to establish strong relationships with fellow students both within and outside of the Hamilton network. I took an Art History class that met every week at the Prado, a Hispanic women in literature class, and a class on the Spanish economy--all three were great. Students are required to take Spanish as their fourth class, and are placed based on their ability at the beginning of the semester. The language class was pretty good as well, as good as a language class can be I suppose. The classes were small and the group of professors teaching the program was dynamic, dedicated, and engaged with all students. Professors even invited students to their houses toward the end of the semester for dinner and drinks.

One of my best friends at Hamilton opted to do a different abroad program through one of the international agencies like SIT and studied in Salamanca. Her program was significantly cheaper, but it did not sound nearly as well-run and enjoyable. Hamilton doesn't skimp on the program or on its weekend trips around the country. We stayed at really nice Paradores hotels throughout the country, went out to great dinners, drank tons of wine, etc.

Host family: My host family, two señoras who were sisters, was extremely welcoming and had been with the program since its first year. They were well adapted to having students and caring for them, I felt as though I was part of the family and not a foreigner renting a room.

One warning--if you're looking to go abroad and do zero work and drink 24/7, this program may not be for you. The classes, while significantly less strenuous than those taken in the US, are nonetheless somewhat demanding for an abroad program.

All in all, this is a great program and I continue to recommend it to friends and peers.