First thing’s first- Nova SBE is located within 22 kilometers from downtown Lisbon, in an area called Carcavelos. Transportation issues and time delay should be taken into account while deciding on enrolling in this university. The area just nearby the campus is rather new and touristic- there isn’t all that much going on there, unless you’re type of a person who gets by through socializing all the time. The climate nearby is very humid- it might take a while for a body to adapt to it. If you opt to live in the city, either prepare for rather long trips to the university.
Nova SBE campus is rather new, so a sense of cleanliness is not an issue. The building seems to be of decent quality, with no major problems. It is structured in a way which is not very difficult to understand, with a centralized dining hall and different blocks spread out in the corners. It is easy to get by on campus, since the university has plenty of indicators in its hallways.
The courses are run by competent people in their fields. One of the downsides I’ve noticed is that the classes themselves are not very interactive, so if you were having classes at Harkness tables before, it might seem a little less joyful. Good thing is that professors seem to be adequately motivated and it’s really easy to walk up and talk to them. I’ll go into more details on specific professors or interactions’ specifics in later forums.
So, within a couple of weeks, I’ve spent in the university, I can say that the place is what you would expect, with standouts being the competency of the professors and on the negative side, general time troubles associated with getting to the location.