🔺 r/studyAbroaduScary_Sprinkles_·34 days ago
Barcelona or Madrid: Where should I go for the spring semester?
I currently have an application open to IAU Barcelona coming from a school in Texas. I am slowly coming to have doubts about not choosing Madrid instead because a lot of people have recommended it over Barcelona. One of my biggest worries is that I wont find friends in Barcelona as many friend groups from my school plan their study abroad semesters together and are very cliquey. It seems there is a big majority of students from my school going to Madrid. The advisors in the Study Abroad office also recommended Madrid over Barcelona, but I had planned on Barcelona for a couple semesters and so I just stuck with it. I have never visited Spain and I do not come from a very well traveled family, so this is a big deal for me. I am nervous about feeling very isolated and out of place in another country. I'm not introverted but I am also not one to make friends with everyone. I want the whole experience of going to different countries on the weekends and fully immersing myself in the culture. At the same time, I want to be money conscious, as I will be using my savings while I am there. Is this even plausible? Ultimately, I chose Barcelona because I love the beach and nature and it seems…