Will Anthony

University: Universidad Europea De Madrid

Course: Odontologia (Dentistry 2015-2020)

Hometown: St Ives, Cambridgeshire

Knowing that I wanted to do a Dentistry course for a 5-year period, I wanted to do this abroad, to enjoy the sunshine and another culture, while learning a language. Madrid, being a cosmopolitan city was for me the ideal choice. Also, at the time of application, Madrid was the only university offering the course entirely in English.

I found the services of A Star Future really helped the application process, especially as neither I nor my family were proficient in Spanish.

It appeared quite daunting at first applying to a European University, and required a lot of research. Mark Huntington, gave us confidence that we weren’t unique! Others had gone before, and were doing well. It was of great benefit using the services of someone with the inside track, and who could offer advice on the application process, knew the individuals involved, the processes I would need to go through and the likely outcomes given my UK predicted grades.

There seems like a lot of administration and paper work in the first instance, and then validating A level (the system I was in) was a further worry, but Mark recommended the services of an experienced Spanish student services who liaised with the university on our behalf.

The University was very helpful on arrival to halls of residences, and Orientation was quite thorough. I felt quite prepared when arriving to start the course, but this was mainly due to the fact we visited the campus before hand and spoke to the relevant people and set up a Spanish bank account and got a Spanish Sim card for my phone. Also, the university held an open day in London, which we went along to and met the UEM contacts, which gave us further confidence, that the course would meet my expectations.

The course is rigorous and challenging, which is what I expected. There is a lot of work from the outset and regular testing. The teaching style is direct and the English tuition is good, as are the facilities, library and e-learning aids. It has been very interesting interacting with other International students, many of which are from Europe. We enjoy a few nights out in Madrid every now and then which is great fun.

All international students have to be proficient to roughly AS level Spanish in Year 4 of the course, so Spanish is taught for the first 3 months. As English is the universal language its really important to use Spanish as often as possible. I am hoping to improve my Spanish by living out of Halls next year.

I would recommend this course to anyone thinking of applying for Dentistry in the UK and would recommend you visit the University, attend the open days, ask lots of questions, and above all be prepared to work hard and absorb the Spanish culture and language.