Student review [#10996] for Design
at IE University

I was a student at the Segovia campus in the Design program.

In short, ranked by importance (top being the best/worst):
+Networking.
+The marketing/ image towards employees.
+International environment but mainly from Spanish speaking countries.
-Quality of education/ work in the BBA program.
-False advertising! IE University is not ranked among the best universities in Spain and/or worldwide.
-Mostly people from wealthy families which makes the university not diverse. A wealthy person stays a wealthy person regardless of their country of origin.
-Reputation among people who have friends studying at IE.

I assume one of the main reasons why you are interested in IE University is the reputation as “one of the best business schools”. Here comes the catch. The business school (MBA) is supposed to be one of the best. The undergraduate university is not! As a matter of fact it doesn’t even appear on one ranking. Don’t get fooled. Surveys are not rankings. IE University is not among the best universities. I would argue purely from a perspective of learning it’s a far below average university. How do I know that? I dug deep into the tasks the students had to fulfil and studied at a public university before. The workload of private vs public universities are galaxies apart. Why am I talking about the BBA program when I studied design? First of all, most people are interested in the BBA program. Secondly, the design and architecture faculty is small. You will get in touch with BBA students all the time, which is not bad, and overall the university is a business university. So, the BBA (in parts also other programs including design) program does not encourage or demand students to deliver top-notch work. Besides, there is not so much diversity on campus. Yes, fellow students from different countries or continents but rich people have similar points of views, regardless of their origin country. I have to differentiate here between students coming from a country outside of the European Union and students who have the ability to study without tuition fees in Europe. For a European citizen, IE University is one of the most expensive universities he or she can attend in Europe. That brings “It’s the most expensive university in europe. It must be the best. My dad is paying anyway” people to IE. To quote a person I met from Portugal just last week and didn’t attend IE “It’s a university where rich kids go who failed in school or would fail at a public university”. That’s IE reputation in a nutshell from a European perspective. I know for all of you outside of the EU. That’s a different story. IE’s tuition fees are on the same level as all tuition fees in Europe and far lower than in the US. Here comes my overall advise:

Dear European citizens,
Don’t come here. You have the luck of attending a university mostly for free or even get paid for it. Don’t waste your or your parent’s money on IE or any other private university in Europe. They are all similar if they are not non-profit. I got fooled by IE with their fancy campus and marketing (which all private university are good in). To IE’s defence, the design program is good and the professors I had put effort into the students and the program itself. But be aware that the design and architecture faculty is small and Segovia leaves not many opportunities to get to know people. It can be hard to “find your people”.

Dear reader from Latin America, Asia or Africa,
I strongly advise you to study at a public university in Europe. Several countries besides the UK offer undergraduate programs in English. Not only are the tuition fees lower, but I also assure you-you will get a better education. Still, from your perspective, IE may be a fit. The country is Spanish speaking and most international students come from Latin America. If you do speak Spanish you are likely to feel at home. Also because there are many “rich” people on campus it will open you some doors. Their parents are sometimes CEO’s from big companies, lawyers in a prestigious law firm and so on. You will get to know people who will become executives/important roles in business which will open you some doors if you knock. Also, IE’s reputation among employees is not bad.

Why did I attend IE?
The unique design program. I had a bad reputation of private universities before already but had an intensive talk with the professor of the design bachelor which led me to the decision to give it a shot. “It’s one of the best universities. It is surely different than most private universities”. Well, it isn’t, although not the worst private university, still inferior to (any) public university in Europe.

One last thing:
Yes, you will sit with 200 people in a lecture at public universities but only if you attend a research university. IE is a university of applied sciences. Both types exist as public universities.