Campus: There are four different campuses (three for undergraduate study), based on what you are wanting to study. The two campuses I spent time visiting were Getafe and Leganes.
Getafe: This is the first campus we visited and it's right outside Madrid, accessible by train, and housed Social Sciences/Law and Humanities majors. This campus had a mixed feel: some of the buildings felt more like office buildings, due to the modern nature of them, then in another part of campus, the history made the campus feel less business-like. They have a gym and library as well!
 |
| One of the Main Buildings |
 |
| Study Area |
 |
| Classroom |
 |
| Library |
 |
| These buildings were used by the military for the World War |
 |
| Courtyard |
Leganes: This campus reminded me more of a traditional American campus, with a cute downtown just steps away. It houses the Engineering school, which has about 8,000 students. There are no dorms on this campus, but you can either find a place locally to live or live in the other campus dorms and be bussed over. They do have a gym and library facilities on this campus. It was beautiful!
 |
| Where graduation is held; some of the buildings |
 |
| Downtown area |
 |
| Campus is in a park! |
 |
| Aerospace Engineering |
 |
| Mechanical Engineering |
 |
| Biomedical Engineering |
 |
| Another view of campus |
Living options: There are residence halls on some campuses as well, with mostly individual rooms, that are first come, first serve for students enrolling in at least a semester, but at least a year is preferred. They are separate from the tuition and cost about 600-800 euros/month. Madrid is one of the safest cities in Europe, so if you aren't living in a residence hall, the international school staff can help let you know great resources in the area for apartments.
Admissions Process: UC3M is on the Common Application, and students will compete with other applicants based on GPA (translated since their scale is different) and level of rigor in their classes (use our school profile to see what we offer). There is no national exam like the SAT or ACT needed in order to be admitted. There is a 1 month turnaround for the admissions decision, and while a personal statement and teacher recommendations aren't required, they are very helpful in letting the admissions staff know why the student wants to study in Madrid at UC3M.
The Early Admission timeline is October-April. The General Admission timeline is in June, after graduation, but it is recommended to apply early, since they admit about 300 students annually into the international program. It is a committee-based decision, meaning that they review each application and decide as a committee, instead of one person making that call. The academic GPA is re-calculated, converted, and unweighted. 60% of their evaluation process is looking at the grades and coursework from the last 2 years, but will consider earlier coursework if it is rigorous (AP-level). The other 40% of their evaluation is from looking at related-subjects, SAT/ACT/SAT II (if submitted), and extracurriculars and honors/awards.
The TOEFL is not needed for applying/admission. There is an entrance exam that is not required for admissions, but it does help them with placement.The test will have to be taken before a students starts due to needing to know level of Spanish fluency. If the student is a Spanish-speaking student, they sign a declaration when they apply, stating that they are fluent in the language. There are different tracks a student can be on: International Foundation Program, Freshman, Transfer, Free Mover, or Exchange.
The International Foundation Program is for the student that needs more proficiency in Spanish and/or if they need more academic courses since the programming in the US is so diverse depending on the high school the student attended. It is a year-long program, then they continue their studies after that year if they've done well. They had about 90 students in this program, so it's helpful to be around other international students who need that extra help or attention with the language. When a student is admitted, they take this test to see if they need the Foundation program or not. It will depend on the level they score on the test.
Freshman; The traditional student who wants to have their degree from UC3M.
Transfer: If you would like to transfer into UC3M, then the minimum requirement is 30 hours from the college you have been attending.
Free Mover: These are students who are taking classes at different places, but have a University they are a main student with.
Exchange: The exchange program can be through other European universities (Erasmus) or through the agreements that UC3M has with US Universities. They have over 800 agreements in 57 different countries, and also have an exchange program, where you pay the fees of your home institution to attend another university for a period of time. This is helpful because if you are enrolled at UC3M, but want to do an exchange with Purdue University, you are able to apply, paying the fees of UC3M, not Purdue, which are much cheaper!
Majors and Minors: Currently, there are 11 Bachelor's degrees that are 100% in English, 18 Bachelor's degrees that are bi-lingual (at least 50% in English), and many other degrees in Spanish. The majors range, but the schools they have are Engineering, Humanities, and Social Sciences/Law. They have what they call Dual Degrees as well, which is the same thing in the States as double majoring, but they have already set those degrees up to be complementary, rather than you choosing two different areas of study to major in.
Student Life: There are many sports, activities, and student organizations on campus that students can get involved with. Their Model UN program is the biggest one in Europe and there are also many international clubs for students from the US and other parts of the world. They even have a buddy program to help link a current UC3M student with a group of international students to answer questions and help with the adjustment!
Thinking about going internationally for education can be overwhelming! Here are the UC3M's rankings and accreditations, along with some current International students' perspectives on their time at UC3M!
Some more pictures from around the city!
