Universitat de Barcelona - UB
(Reviews)

I studied a masters through the Online Business School together with the Universitat de Barcelona.
The master is alright. There are few inspiring teachers, and some really bad teachers. Studying online makes it easy to coordinate between work and studies, as well as traveling, but you need to have will to put yourself to do the weekly tasks.
It was a great opportunity to meet other professionals from LATAM, since most people who study this master were from South America and they were already working and had some experiences in the field.

The online masters are done through “Blackboard” which is a quite old fashion online platform, kind of like a forum. It also has an app, so you can be updated through your phone.
There are online classes and consultations every other week or three, which is too few in my opinion, but on the other hand, some teachers do not really prepare that much… and they just present a powerpoint they’ve been using for years (in a master about Digital Business).

In general, the master was fine, but would have liked to see more engaged teachers along the whole year. Would recommend it if you want to combine it with work/year of travel.

I did one year of Erasmus studies at the University of Barcelona and I really liked it. I could choose from a big offer of courses, times that the courses were offered and also languages the courses were offered in (Spanish, Catalan and English). Like this, every student could put together his or her individual schedule with times and topics and languages that he or she liked best.
Apart from that, the University of Barcelona is very international, there are hundreds of international students incoming as well as hundreds of students from Barcelona outgoing. Thanks to the activities of the “Welcome Week”, you get to know other international students very easily.
Regarding the professors and tutors, of course there were some really good ones and other ones that presented their content with less enthusiasm. You will figure out how you study best during your time at the University anyway. Sometimes it’s honestly better to stay at home and study for yourself…
Next to that, the buildings are not on one campus, but there are several campuses all around the city, which has the disadvantage that some buildings are perfectly located in the city centre while others (mine) are located at the very end of one side of Barcelona. Still, it’s connected quite well with metro, tram and busses.
There is also a big offer in extra curricular activities. Sports, political parties, student organizations, … I was part of the student association AEGEE-Barcelona/European Students’ Forum, which enriched my student life in a way that I found amazing friends, I travelled a lot thanks to AEGEE, I took part in different soft skill trainings and developed myself by working in AEGEE both on a local level, organizing projects and events and on the European level, participating in events and taking leading roles in our trans-national groups. Especially as an Erasmus student you are very welcome there. If you prefer to only participate in Erasmus activities and travels, I suggest to stick to ESN Barcelona (Erasmus Student Network).
I would totally recommend the University of Barcelona to anyone who wants to study his/her Erasmus in an amazing, vibrant city, because honestly, you will love your life in Barcelona! And next to that, you’ll study a bit… 😉

I studied at Holland until my university time and also started my university degree at Holland. After I came to Barcelona as an exchange student I have decided that this city is created for me and that’s why I moved to Barcelona and kept my studies here. After my graduation, due to its warm weather, as you know dutch people are not similar to warm weather, city was charming. Even my basis is coming for dutch education system, I easily got used to spanish-catalan education system. University is one of the most global universities in Europe. Welcoming international students all around world. System is more interactive compared to dutch system. If you like to be more active like me, UB is a good option for you.

In my point of view, UB has very modern equipment for the classroom, and library, etc. The study atmosphere is pretty nice, the teachers are very qualified. And I appreciate a lot the administration system, I have access to a lot of materials all the time, as long as I log in my account. UB has several campuses, in the centre, the building is very attractive, I highly recommend this university.

I was Erasmus student at UB for a semester but this was enough time to understand how perfect was Barcelona and its historic university. The campus is located at city centre that’s why it is close to everywhere and students can do many different activities during their break time or when school is over. About education, the system is self-enhanced that adding more and more to the current value. I was A2 level before I started my Erasmus and during classes lecturers kindly helped all foreign students to catch up with local students and learn Spanish. That’s why I both learned a new language and had a different perspective for my studies. I wish I could study all my years at UB.

As an exchange student (only English speaking), there were lots of offerings for classes and the international office was extremely helpful in organizing everything. However, there were

What I liked:
-the international office was very helpful
-very accommodating to English
-focus on international business (I am in the business and economics faculty)

What I did not like:
-the classes themselves differed from the course descriptions
-professors were very often late and disorganized
-very rarely received feedback on assignments, tests, presentations etc.

It is a unique experience, completely different from what we were accustomed to now. My faculty itself is very good although there are always aspects to improve; For example, some groups do classrooms in quite uncomfortable classrooms with regard to the chairs and the tables are so narrow that there is not even a single sheet … It must also be said that there are very good parts such as laboratories. What I do not like so much is the difference that is made when doing exams; I want to say that I find it unfair that for example morning groups have different exams than those of late, or even among ourselves. In general, it is an experience that I recommend since we are all aware that nothing is perfect and we have to get used to what is there.

The University of Barcelona allows you to do both face-to-face and blended learning. This is possible thanks to the continuous training (in which you choose to attend in person all the programmed activities and seminars) and the unique training (which offers you the opportunity to evaluate yourself in an exam at the end of the subject, on which will fall the 100% of the grade, without the need to carry out the compulsory activities of the continuous evaluation). The majority of students usually choose the continuous assessment, since you have partial exams that, on occasion, allow you to eliminate subject matter so that in the final exams you do not load with all the syllabuses. The single evaluation, on the other hand, is ideal for those students who, apart from being academically trained, devote part of their time to work (therefore, they can not attend all the classes taught by the degree). At the University of Barcelona, ​​the year is divided into two semesters; the first will go from September to February, while the second will start in March and end in June. Between these two semesters there is always two weeks of vacation (of these, the first is used to reevaluate exams that have not been passed). Revaluations work differently depending on the subject. In some you will opt for 10, while others only offer you the opportunity to pass with a 5 on average. The faculties of the University of Barcelona are distributed throughout the city, unlike other campuses. A large part is located in the university area (in Vía Diagonal), others in Mundet, those of health are usually located in different hospitals of Barcelona (Clinic, Bellvitge …) … From the own experience, they prepare the students very well to go out to the world of work. I study a healthcare career and the facilities with which my faculty counts are suitable for good learning. In addition, the hospitals offered by the university itself are well known at a national level, I would even say global, thanks to the research carried out and the great success of the treatments carried out.

I study at the UB of the Mundet campus and I consider that there are many aspects to be improved: for starters, the classrooms do not have enough number of chairs for the number of students there are. Often there is not enough space and we have to be tight. In addition, there are chairs that are broken and old hanging TVs that are not used and that probably do not work. As for the tables, most (if not all), are lame and do not stop balancing while you write. The toilets are dirty, YOU are still SOAP and almost all locks and latches are broken, so you have to be completely aware that no one enters while you are inside. Elevators are spoiled continuously and there have been many students and teachers who have been trapped for 1 hour. Only one water source works in the entire university. The worst part is that they do not fix any of the things cited above, I have spent three years studying there and everything is the same. It's really unfortunate.

In my opinion a bit chaotic. I studied 2 years of English studies in the central faculty. The historic building, architecturally speaking, great. The professes 50%. There are very good, native and non-native, but there are also with those who do not enjoy the classes. For me the main problem was the content focus and the content itself of the race.