Incoming students

In order to welcome all exchange students, San Jorge University organises a series of Welcome Sessions at the beginning of each semester, before classes begin.

These sessions, which take place over several days, offer a first encounter with the Spanish language, a tour of the campus is organised and the various services available to students are presented. Also the necessary information on the different exchange programmes is provided and the most relevant academic information is explained. We will also help you out with any paperwork you have to complete and the USJ Student Association will be available to help you find accommodation if necessary.

Detailed information about the Welcome Sessions will be provided by the International Office once the student is accepted as an exchange student at San Jorge University.

We recommend that you learn Spanish during your stay in Spain and to help you do this, San Jorge University offers free Spanish courses for international students. The aim is to make the incorporation of students from other countries easier and provide a service so they can fully enjoy their time and enrich their experience. The courses are taught throughout the semester by the Institute of Modern Languages, which evaluates the student's level of Spanish to adapt the classes depending on the knowledge of each student.

If you attend 80% of the classes and pass the corresponding assessment tests, you will be eligible for ECTS credits.

Information on Spanish courses will be provided during the Welcome Sessions and can also be found here.

During your stay at USJ you can take part in different sports competitions, events and categories in unparalleled sports facilities and installations through the Sports Service.

Our Sports Campus has a modern and wide variety of sports facilities: soccer fields, tennis and paddle tennis courts, beach volleyball, indoor and outdoor swimming pool, gym facilities, gym classes, a pavilion and a pelota court. In addition, it boasts spa services and an extensive range of group fitness activities.

If you prefer to use the facilities participating in a specific sports category, along with a group of university athletes, you can join any sport offered by SAD. Visit our website and check out the timetables, a representative from each sport will assist you and explain all the services and activities of the category.

We also try to broaden your sports knowledge with practical workshops so that you can try out new sport disciplines through our training area.

In addition, the Sports Service organises different sporting events during the year, such as Orienteering races, Aquathlon and San Silvestre 5k, Laser Combat, Hiking, Three-Point Contest, Karting, etc. Each year, SAD publishes the different events organised for the university community. These are specific events enabling you to try out new sports and activities in the best possible university environment.

Sports competitions are an essential part of university life. The USJ Internal Tournament is a regulated competition that has its own web platform and APP (Sports USJ). More than 300 athletes participate in 7-a-side Football, Indoor Football, 3x3 Basketball, Tennis, Paddle and Badminton under a competitive structure and in the spirit of fair play. The competition is organised by League Phases and Final Phases and lasts more than five months, thus taking up a large part of the year.

The Aragón Championships and Spanish University Championships are the official competitions where USJ takes part with its top athletes. Each year the university forms its teams and organises trips to participate primarily in the different sports categories that take place on the university campuses of Aragón, and the different venues for the Spanish Championships. USJ is one of the Spanish universities with the highest number of teams and athletes in official competitions in relation to its total number of students. In recent years, we have participated in M/F Basketball, M/F Handball, M/F Rugby Sevens, Male Indoor Soccer, Cross Country, Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Triathlon, Orienteering, Swimming, 10km, Paddle, etc.

To find out about all our activities and keep up-to-date with the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@deportesUSJ), visit our website (www.usj.es/deportes) or drop us a mail at deportes@usj.es.

Studying abroad poses, in its own right, a personal challenge and consequently a stressful situation. There are several specific factors that can turn an enriching and positive experience into complicated situations. The Counselling Service - SOAP at USJ wants to help you to prevent this and in the case of any difficulty be able to provide you with the necessary guidance to overcome it.

Stressful factors may include:

• Linguistic barriers: any situation or academic requirement that forces us to express ourselves in a language that is not our own adds stress to the task itself. Initially, not having the capability to communicate emotions, difficulties, etc can be an added difficulty that aggravates the problems we are experiencing.
• Culture shock: depending on our culture of origin, this may represent more or less conflict with the customs and traditions in the destination culture. It can be a good opportunity to work on our prejudices in a global world but these new customs and traditions can also be a barrier where the feeling of strangeness hinders our social development.
• Unreal expectations: What have I come to Spain to do? Why did I choose this destination? Is it how I imagined? These and other similar questions reflect our expectations of what our personal project will be like in the coming months. Many times our mind has created expectations that do not coincide with the reality that we find and this can create a great level of frustration.
• Crisis at home: You will spend time away from home and life will continue go on there. Hopefully the changes that occur will be those of the passage of time, but things can happen that alter your peace of mind such as illnesses among your relatives, deaths, family crisis, etc.
• Illness: all the changes that are taking place may affect your health, not only physical but also emotional. Mood or anxiety may interfere with your academic life or your ability to adapt during your time abroad.

If at any time you are affected by any of these factors do not hesitate to contact the Counselling Service (soap@usj.es). We are here to help you and we want to make your time in our university community as rewarding and satisfying as possible. Do not forget that you have come to learn, but you have also come to continue developing as a person, and this requires a great deal of effort.

SAENE is the service in charge of providing advice and support to students with special needs, such as dyslexia, learning or physical disabilities that may require tailored assistance to guarantee the adequate resources related to the academic studies and the integration into the university community.

Should you need advice or support, please feel free to contact the Special Needs Service (saene@usj.es).

All USJ students have access to a personal tutor who is always available to provide help and support with personal, professional and academic issues. International students are also assigned a tutor and we make sure that these tutors have experience in dealing with specific situations and issues that might affect international students. International students who don't speak any Spanish when they arrive in Zaragoza are also always assigned to tutors who speak good English.

You will be introduced to you tutor during the Welcome Sessions and they will let you know their contact details and availability.