Ralea went on to attend the University of Bucharest Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, under Constantin Rădulescu-Motru (who shortlisted and prepared Ralea for academic tenure). He made his debut in publishing during 1916, with an essay in Rădulescu-Motru's "Revista de Filozofie", and with "Convorbiri Literare" articles that he usually signed with the initials "M. R." (an alternative signature he would use for the rest of his career). Ralea was university colleagues with philosophers Tudor Vianu and Nicolae Bagdasar, with whom he remained close friends for the rest of his life. Their studies were interrupted by the Romanian Campaign of World War I, during which time Ralea relocated to Iași. He took his final examination in Law and Letters at the University of Iași, in 1918. His professors included the culture critic Garabet Ibrăileanu, who became Ralea's mentor. Ralea recalled that his first encounter with Ibrăileanu was "my life's greatest intellectual event".