Hello all--

I'm a first timer to this forum but have a bit of a conundrum. I'm a college Junior who has recently applied to 2 different study abroad programs for this spring: API's program in Granda or my home institution's program in Madrid. While a lot of my decision will involve debating between the 2 locations, I have other things to consider as well that I hope people can help with.

The program in Granda sounds amazing; it's a nice size town from what I understand with plenty to do and not too far from Sevilla or Madrid and hey--the south of Spain--sounds great! The program allows me to choose my own type of residence: homestay, residencia, or apartment--a big plus for me as someone who is fairly independent and from a mid-sized town but not a huge city and who enjoys personal space. Similarly, as dumb as it sounds, I have terrible food allergies and am a picky eater, and living on my own--I believe--will allow me to set my own eating schedule not based on a host family as well as providing my own food for myself that won't cost much extra since my meals will be excluded from my total program coast.

For Madrid, again, this sounds amazing. But I hear a little too often that the city is a bit overwhelming and that you never truly feel like you can get to know the place and make it your own in the 5 short months of the program. Similarly, the only option here is a homestay; the program claims it chooses carefully for you, but I have never lived in that type of environment and to be honest, it scares the hell out of me. Again, with the food allergies, my meal times and actual meals are set by the family I live with regardless of what I want. Also, we have a strict no-English speaking policy on the program both in the home, classroom, and with our fellow students during the program

If anybody has any advice to offer, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Unfortunately, I got into the Madrid program last Friday and have to give a final decision by October 12 (next Friday) and may or may not hear from API until that day or the day before--leaving very little time to decide what to do, assuming I get into API which I'm under the impression I will. PLEASE HELP!!!

Thanks!

hey ATLgirl and welcome to the forums.

the board has been around for years and there is a TON of great info on it so it is always best to do serches before starting as new thread.

for example, there is a good thread entitled "Madrid vs. Granada" at http://spaintalk.multimadrid.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/195...1001511?r=5831001511 .

i am going to close this one so as not to have 2 on the exact same topic. please post on that one to continue this discussion there.

saludos & thanks for understanding,
jer...