IE University from Asli Yurtsever

Asli Yurtsever
Aug 30, 2017
4 min read

About accomodation, does the university have any dorms for students or do students have to find accomodation on their own? If the university has the accomodation opportunity for students, is it easy to get into the dorms? If the student has to find on his/her own, is there any easy way to search it such as site, application or anything else.

The university offered one dorm but very expensive and inconvenient for students. I think only the freshmen stayed at the dorms. There is a facebook page IEU housing Segovia and the school’s facebook page always has rental apartments ads.

For students, in order to have no problem while they are going to university, which places would you recommend them to find room?

Plaza Mayor

According to classes in Koç University, do you think the university you went was harder or not? How many courses you recommend them to take to prevent any difficulty?

Fairly easier than Koç. 6 classes (our 15 ECTS) is easily doable.

Do you think the campus utilities were satisfied? Why?

You don’t spend too much time on campus except for the classes since it’s a small city. There is a social activities center. Maybe not students activities-wise, but campus-wise it is satisfactory.

As a student who live in the city that the university is located, how is the life around the city?

Relatively cheap city to live in, a university city. Everyone goes to the same restaurants/bars/clubs since there are few, but this way you get to meet a lot of people. The sincerity and the closeness make up for the lack of variety. Everything is closely situated and you walk everywhere.

What do you think about students clubs? Did you join any of them? Which one is your favorite?

There is a variety of clubs, I didn’t join many.

Could you tell us about the cafes and dining centers in the university? Did you find any Turkish Restaurant next to the university or in the city?

The cafeteria provided hot meals until 3 pm. They weren’t great but edible. In another café at the school, there were sandwiches, pizzas, salads. There is one kebab shop in the city but it’s fairly bad. No Turkish market at all. But I doubt one would miss it because Spain does Mediterranean food and everything is similar. The markets are equipped with stuff you would need to cook your own home food.

How was the library? Is it easy to find a spot in average day or in the exam week? What kind of utilities has the library? If anyone wants somewhere except the library, what would you recommend them?

The library isn’t as needed/used/coveted at this school. It is small and I never needed to study there. There are group study rooms located outside of the library if need be. I think a lot of the studying were done at everyone’s rooms.

Does the university have any spor clubs? What kind of sports are famous and fun to play in the university? Is there any swimming pool?

There are football and basketball teams for both genders. There is no swimming pool. The facilities are off campus.

If anyone wants to play instrument, could they find any place easily? Is there any instruments that are taught during the semester?

There is a student activities space off campus but it basically just provides the space. There is one piano, because obviously no one could bring their own.

For the courses, do we need to buy books or is it any cheaper way to get it?

I only needed to buy one Spanish exercise book because it was graded, I bought it online. My psychology course had an online free book. I think lectures were sufficient and wouldn’t buy the book they recommended (not mandatory)

Is there any health clinics in the university? What can students in case of emergency or injury?

There is a nurse but I never had to go. There is an urgent care near the school and a big public hospital. The urgent care requires payment but it is closer than the hospital.

Is there any bank automat in the campus? What does a student do if they wanna have bank account? Does it necessary? Do locals in the university area mostly use credit card or cash? Is it necessary to bring some cash with us?

No automats in the campus, everything in the city is fairly close. I opened a bank account because I needed internet at home and I made a lot of online bookings, travel reservations with my credit card and transferred my rent via online banking. I carried a lot of cash from Turkey and then deposited there to the bank. I used Bankia, but the school has an arrangement with Sabadell. Either one should be ok. Both credit card and cash are used; at some bars cash might be easier.

During the Visa application, do you have any recommendations or something that is not easily found online that you may share with other students to help them out in this long process? Which parts do students need to focus on?

Spanish consulate gives appointments very late, I made my flight by chance. So even though you don’t have your acceptance letter yet, make an appointment with the consulate. if your accommodation isn’t ready yet, make a hotel reservations for minimum 20 days and bring that with you to the consulate. If your apartment is arranged, ask your landlord’s national ID photo and print your signed contract (these were weird but they asked me for it).