Buddy Program

The student association MBASA has set up a Welcoming Committee to make the arrival and transition of the incoming students easier, by providing them with buddies, who are current students. I have been fortunate enough to be selected as member of the Welcoming Committee for the One Year MBA 2010 group and I would like to share some insights with you.

Why participate?

The buddy program provides a great opportunity to get in touch with current students and have some insight information about the upcoming life in Barcelona. It is much easier and comforting to know somebody already locally than heading blindly overseas. The buddy will be able to provide invaluable information about accomodation, transport, social life, academics, weather, etc.

How it works?

The incoming students receive a welcoming email from ESADE introducing the buddy system. If you are interested in having a buddy, who helps you move to Barcelona and get started, you reply to the MBASA Committee. You simply state the basic facts about you like who you are, where you are from, the languages you speak, professional background, date of arrival etc.

At the same time MBASA Welcoming Committee sends an email to the current students and looks for volunteer-buddies. The current students provie similar information, which the committee then records in the database.

Then these profiles will be matched according to numerous variables such as country of origin, languages, professional backgrounds, etc. The profile of the incoming student will then be forwarded to the current student who needs to confirm the willingness to be matched with that particular incoming student. Once the current student agrees, the incoming student will be put in touch with his/her buddy and off they go.

My experience

My personal experience was great and therefore I was very happy to have taken part in the program. Obviously not everybody shows the same level of committment but you have to make the best of it, as always. I strongly recommend it however there is a likely chance that there are more incoming students requesting buddies than there are buddies available simply because the incoming group is much bigger. Give it a shot and make us work ;)

Relocation to Barcelona

Let’s talk about living and moving to Barcelona.

I have received numerouus enquiries about how and where to find apartments and therefore I would like to highlight a few things.

The people from the current 18month program are not actually leaving in September but in April 2010 same as the students from the 12month program. Therefore the class starting in August 2009 cannot just take over the apartments from them unfortunately. However there are good chances that a few students of the 18months-program are going away for internships or exchange programs so there will potentially be some vacant rooms. I will try to assist in the communication between the incoming and outgoing students as good as I can.

With regards to the locations there are many opinions about where to go and I can only give you my perception. I enjoy living close to the school so that I can walk! If you are not that fortunate and need to commute you should be aware of the following. The metro “Maria Cristina” is further away than you think and most people rely on the bus network, which is excellent!!! Check out locations for your apartments that are along the bus lines 22, 78, 63, 75 and 68 instead of only Metro Line 3! For more information about the public transport check out TMB.

Concerning the relocation company “Olympic“, that has been working with ESADE until now, there will be changes. There is a rumor that the contract will expire and ESADE will not continue to work with them in the future. However some of the current students have found some excellent apartments through Olympic.

There is however a new relocation service provided by an ESADE alumni (as mentioned earlier) that I would like to remind you of. Please find the email that was sent to us hereto below:

Please contact Michael Corcoran, a recent ESADE MBA 2009 graduate, for access to ideal apartments for incoming ESADE students. He is offering customised leases in association with BornLiving, a reputable real estate agent in Barcelona. The relocation package is designed to directly suit the needs of an ESADE MBA. He will be personally managing the process from end to end for the incoming Masters students.

For more details see their site at: http://www.bornliving.com/services/graduate/

Contact him at: graduate@bornliving.com or call me on +34 695 153 968

All the best for you relocation to Barcelona!

Accomodation – ESADE Entrepreneurship

A former ESADE student turned entrepreneur and offers a special relocation service for incoming students. Check it out and make use of this great opportunity to benefit from ESADE entrepreneurship.

Hola OneYear MBA Class of 2010! Bienvenidos a ESADE!

I have just graduated with the ESADE MBA Class of 2009. Recently, I designed a customised relocation package for incoming Masters students, in partnership with BornLiving, a reputable Real Estate agency here in Barcelona. We will be offering apartments in ideal locations with customised/flexible leases for MBAs, and great discounts including a large discount on scooters if you decide to relocate with us. The agency fee is 1 months rent, which is the lowest rate on the market here.

I will be managing this process from end to end, so I promise you a high level of service, good guidance and advice, and a property that will make your lifestyle more enjoyable in Barcelona.

More info at: http://www.bornliving.com/services/graduate/
Or contact me at: graduate@bornliving.com
Facebook: BornLiving Barcelona

I hope to hear from you in the future or perhaps we will cross paths in ESADE soon :)))

Saludos,
Mick