I recently recieved an e-mail from the director of housing at SLU informing me that they had no spaces available in their residence halls. Instead they would send me a list of host assignments to choose from. This was not what I had planned. I put a lot of time into choosing a study abroad program and made sure not to consider those which included housing with a host family.

My father attended SLU Madrid in 1969-70 and stayed at a Colegio Mayor called El�as Ah�ja. He suggested that I may find a feminino or mixto Colegio Mayor near the SLU campus. We proposed this alternative to the director of housing and she replied that although we may find one available, "most Colegio Mayores won't deal with Americans because american young people don't have the best reputation in Spain."

We will be contacting various Colegios Mayores soon. In the meantime, however, does anyone have any advice? Which, if any, should we contact? What are their policies towards foreigners? Are there other alternatives?

My father said that some and/or all don't open until October anyway. I don't know but I would greatly appreciate any input. Thanks!

Hello! I'm sorry about to hear that I don't know much about Colegios Mayores, but the Universidad Complutense de Madrid web page has links to the sites of some Colegios Mayores in the Ciudad Universitaria. Go to www.ucm.es, click on "Localizaci�n", and then on "Plano en detalle". When the map appears, simply click on the names of the Colegios Mayores you are interested in. I hope this helps you. Good luck!

Wow Nellie, bad news on that SLU program stiffing you like that I find it hard to believe that a reputable program such as SLU would not guarantee your housing. Anyway, if the Colegio Mayor you were to be in is full of other Americans than you will probably be better off finding a host family if you can since you will experience the Spanish culture much more that way.

Hi etien, thanks for the great tip on the UCM website clickable map (this is a direct link to the map page), I checked it out and it is useful regarding the "Colegios Mayores".

Saludos,
jer...

I'm kind of curious as to your reasons for not choosing to stay with a host family. Having been an exchange student, I speak from some experience. I suppose for a college age person, there might be some privacy issues? It's really kind of a privilege to even be invited to a Spanish person's home! Most do their entertaining, etc. in restaurants except for their very closest friends(correct me if I'm wrong here, Jer)unlike Americans. I'm sorry that you've been hung out to dry like that in any case and much luck toward getting the accomodation you need.

Hello again! I'm sorry if I seemed to express negativity towards stay with host families. I should have explained my reasoning. I have participated in an exchange program before. My senior year of high school I spent two weeks with a host family in Puebla Mexico. It was a WONDERFUL experience and I couldn't have asked for a more hospitable host. I stayed with a girl my age and her mother. They were very kind and made sure I felt at home. I also agree that it was perhaps the best way to experience the culture. I learned, however, that for future study abroad opportunities, I would prefer to live on my own. This decison is based only on my personality type and for many other people I would strongly recomend host family stay. However, after living on my own for the past two years and because I'll be in Madrid for nine months, I believe it would be better for me to live a dorm type residency.
No word yet on the Colegio Mayores. I'll let ya'll know when things get straightened out.