SLU-Madrid's Student Life team and campus ambassadors are ready to help you adjust to your new life as a Billikeño.
Our orientation activities are designed to help you make new friends and learn about our campus and Madrid.
Our Office of Student Life team has organized orientation, but everyone on campus ensures it's a valuable experience. This includes our campus ambassadors: upperclassmen who guide you through orientation and are always available to answer questions you might have from them — a fellow student — versus our staff. You can't miss the campus ambassadors — they wear bright orange!
Fall 2024
Check out the details below to find out what to expect during your orientation.
Optional move-in day for host families
Student Life and the Campus Ambassadors will host optional walking tours in the morning and afternoon to help you get a SIM card for your phone, get a metro card and explore the city. We will send sign-up links in early August, so check your email.
Again, Student Life and the Campus Ambassadors will host optional walking tours in the morning and afternoon to help you get a SIM card for your phone, get a metro card and explore the city. We will send sign-up links in early August, so check your email.
Students from Northeastern University and the University of Delaware should contact their respective programs about what events might take place on this day after your arrival in Madrid.
Orientation begins for SLU-Madrid first-year and transfer students. We will send the schedule later this summer, but save this whole day for orientation programming. This includes time for optional programming during the evening to meet other new students.
During orientation, you'll learn more about the people and offices here to support you and you'll receive your student ID and Sanitas insurance card. Don't forget to upload a photo of yourself to your Billiken Gateway (or email it to studentid-madrid@slu.edu)! Orientation is super important, so don't miss it!
We will also host parent orientation on this day. The time is to be determined, but expect it to be the early afternoon on the SLU-Madrid campus. We will keep this website, and your student, updated.
There is no dedicated programming on this day for study abroad students. Please take the opportunity to explore your new city!
Student Life will continue with optional trips to get SIM cards, metro cards and to explore the city for SLU-Madrid first-year and transfer students.
At 4 p.m., we will host our annual convocation ceremony. See your professors in their academic robes as they formally welcome you to SLU-Madrid.
After the event, students and their families are invited to a welcome reception for refreshments and to meet your professors. Keep an eye out on your email for more information about the location of these events.
Orientation begins for study abroad students. We will send the schedule later this summer, but save this day for orientation programming.
During orientation, you'll learn more about what offices are here to support you, how SLU-Madrid might be different than your home institution and you'll receive your student ID and Sanitas insurance card. Don't forget to upload a photo of yourself to your Billiken Gateway (or email it to studentid-madrid@slu.edu)! Orientation is super important so don't miss it!
Join us for an optional day trip to the historic, medieval city of Toledo. Toledo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site just outside of Madrid. It is known as the "city of the three cultures" because Christians, Arabs and Jews lived together in this city for centuries. Behind its walls, Toledo preserves an artistic and cultural legacy in the form of churches, palaces, fortresses, mosques and synagogues.
The trip will cost 50 euros per student. Watch your email for the sign-up link.
Join us for an optional day trip to Monasterio de Piedra. We'll send out a sign-up link later this summer, but we highly recommend this must-see national park.
The Monasterio de Piedra was founded in 1194 when Alonso II granted an Arab castle to the monks of Poblet to build a monastery in the hopes of consolidating Christianity in the area. Legend says that this monastery is where the first chocolate candy was made. The natural park of Monasterio de Piedra offers an unbelievable experience, with a two-and-a-half hour walk through a lush parkland with waterfalls and grottos hidden in one of the driest areas of the region of Aragón.
The trip will cost 50 euros per student. Keep an eye out on your email for the sign-up link!
If you have any questions about orientation, email us at studentlife-madrid@slu.edu.