While registration and add/drop at UPF seems complicated, we are here to help you. We always do our absolute best to come up with a solution that will work for you and in the past, students have had success getting what they need during the add/drop period. So don't panic, we're here to help!
The University of Pompeu Fabra's course registration process is, in a word, frustrating. Your patience and persistence will be tested, but also rewarded. A few points to keep in mind:
Getting into your first choice classes is rare. We do our best to register you as quickly as possible and in the classes you chose, but it is very rare that you will get into all of your first picks. Have patience: during add/drop we will work with you to try to get your first choice classes whenever possible.
Be flexible. UPF is a public institution and we can't control who gets into what class, so you should have a few back-up courses approved by your home university to take. If you come with only four specific classes you need to take, it will be very difficult to get into all of them!
You are responsible for checking with your home school/university that you will get the credit you need for the courses you are taking. See below for info on credit hours.
BaPIS classes are available with 2 different programs:
BaPIS (alone)
Students will earn 12-15 credits total and will have the option to take all electives, or to take Intensive Spanish (6 credits) along with 2 or 3 other courses (you must keep all elective courses within the BaPIS school at UPF).
BaPIS elective courses and syllabi can be found here.
Spanish Language course information can be found here.
SIS + UPF BaPIS (combined)
Students will earn 12 credits total – 6 credits at the Barcelona School for International Studies (SIS) and 6 credits at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). Students will take 6 credits at SIS and can choose from a variety of elective and Spanish courses. They can then choose from any Barcelona Program for Interdisciplinary Studies (BaPIS) courses.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Students are not permitted to take 9 credits at UPF and 3 credits at SIS, or vice versa. Students must take 6 credits at SIS and 6 credits at UPF – no exceptions.
ESCI classes are only available within 1 program, which is our SIS+UPF program. SIS+UPF ESCI students will earn 12 credits total - 6 credits at the Barcelona School for International Studies (SIS) and 6 credits at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) with the following breakdown:
Two of the following ESCI International Business Program courses (make sure the ECTS column shows "6"):
Consumer Behavior
Corporate Finance
Cross Cultural Management and Intercultural Communication
Doing Business in Europe
Economic Global Order
Financial Risk Management
International Finance
International Economics
International Management
New Trends in International Marketing
Strategic Brand Management
Two courses at The School for International Studies SIS
IMPORTANT NOTE: Students are not permitted to take 9 credits at UPF and 3 credits at SIS, or vice versa. Students must take 6 credits at SIS and 6 credits at UPF – no exceptions.
Please note that it may take a week or more for your actual courses to appear on Sigma.
It's not uncommon for some extra courses to be shown on your schedule, even if you are not currently enrolled on those. The schedule will be updated 1-2 weeks after the classes start.
If you have trouble with your ESCI login, please go to the ESCI building and when you get to the lobby ask for the IT office. They will be able to help you with that information.
The UPF doesn't accept add-drop requests. What you are registered for before the semester begins is your course schedule.
In very extreme cases (overlapping courses, etc) you can contact academics@barcelonasae.com and we will address your request to the UPF.
If any change was to be made, your courses could take up to one week to show up on Aula Global and Aula ESCI.
Keep in mind:
IMPORTANT: Note that it is the student's responsibility to make sure that all courses added are approved by their home institutions for transferable credit.
The UPF will only allow changes for academic purposes, and changes can only be made when there is availability.
If you need a change because a specific class won't be transferred, the UPF will ask for a document or an email from your home university advisor. Please send that document or forward that email to Academics alongside with the add-drop request.
How to Check your Schedule: Once in Barcelona, you can check your schedule by logging into your UPF Campus Global Profile (UPF’s online platform). This information will show you the courses you are currently enrolled in.
When transferring credits from Spanish universities to American institutions, the equivalence is normally as follows:
1 U.S. Credit = 15 contact hours
1 U.S. Credit = 2 ECTS (European Credits)
1 ECTS = 7.5 contact hours
Most courses in Barcelona are worth 3 U.S. credits, which is 45 contact hours and equivalent to 6 ECTS (European credits). This equivalence varies in the case of ESCI and is not always the case. Courses at ESCI are typically worth 4 or 6 ECTS, depending on the contact hours and on the working hours, meaning that students are expected to work outside the class for a specific amount of time. As a consequence, credit equivalences at ESCI are based on the total number of hours that the student will invest in the course:
1 ECTS = 25 working hours
4 ECTS = 100 working hours (31.5 of which will be contact hours, so students are expected to work outside the class for almost 70 hours)
6 ECTS = 150 working hours (45 of which will be contact hours, so students are expected to work outside the class for 105 hours approximately)
As the equivalent works differently at ESCI, it is up to the U.S. institutions that partner with UPF to consider whether the usual equivalence applies or not for courses at ESCI. In the past, many American universities transfer 6 ECTS courses as 4 U.S. Credits, and the 4 ECTS courses as 3 U.S. credits.
This is something that students should take into account before listing the courses they would like to take, since UPF considers that a student taking at least 4 courses at UPF is already a full-time student, but for American institutions full time enrollment is based on credits.