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General Life Sciences

A Guide to Studying General Life Sciences in Europe

Did you know that, as an international student, you can get a degree in General Life Sciences at a top-ranked European university? Best of all, it's taught entirely in English and costs less than 1 year of tuition at a US college.

What are my options?

8
European Bachelor's programs taught entirely in English.
16
European Master's programs taught entirely in English.

About this area of study.

There's no shortage of possible majors in the life sciences: pre-med, microbiology, ecology, and biotechnology to name just a few. However, at least at some European universities, you're also welcome to forgo choosing a specific major. This allows you to mix and match courses as you please, perhaps to prepare yourself for a very specific, niche career.

Two of the primary reasons students are drawn to life sciences are a desire to perform their own groundbreaking research one day, or plans to go into the medical profession in some capacity. An undergraduate degree in life sciences makes both possible.

You'll need a fairly broad foundation to even get started, though. At a minimum, you'll need to know a little mathematics, chemistry, biology, genetics, and physics. After that, which will probably occupy at least your first two or three semesters, you can choose your own path with a general life sciences degree.

Careers options in this area of study.

Some careers a bachelor's degree in life sciences may prepare you for are laboratory technician (doing research or quality control), computational biologist, medical sales representative, biotechnology technician, and wildlife ecologist. The average salary for someone working in the life sciences is $95,500 per year, though this includes many individuals with advanced degrees, years of experience, and perhaps a stack of published research. Entry-level compensation is closer to $50,000 per annum.

Of course, if you design your own degree, you can also incorporate courses from other faculties. You might, for instance, want to combine training in life sciences with computing or sociology, opening up unique and exciting career opportunities for yourself.

Admissions information.

The college admissions process in the US has become a race to the bottom as students compete with their peers for a single spot in a liberal arts college, convinced by parents and guidance counselors that their survival rests on playing a musical instrument or varsity sport. Many smart kids don’t do well on standardized tests. This doesn’t limit them as much when looking outside of the US, as many colleges in Europe do not require standardized tests. Many countries see entry into universities as a right, rather than a privilege, so admission standards are not as stringent.

How to study in Europe.

When you also factor in the many problems with US higher education, it is imprudent not to consider other possibilities. It is true there are many excellent schools in the United States—I don’t think anyone would argue that. There are some that have managed to look at applicants as people, and not just a checklist of achievements. Some even have reasonable tuition rates, and/or professors that actively teach and have highly engaged students. Despite this, I have yet to find a school in the United States that addresses all of these issues: allows students to opt out of the rat race the admissions process has become, have reasonable tuition, AND have positive results around the educational experience and post-graduation outcomes. Not every school in Europe provides all this either, but the schools listed in our database do.

How to find English-taught degrees.

Finding these programs is burdensome, difficult, and confusing, especially with institutional websites in foreign languages... We know that making the decision to study abroad can be difficult, so we want to make it easy for you. We scoured the continent for vetted programs and made them available to thousands of families looking to leave the US and find a better life in Europe. We found over 11,200 degrees, 870 universities, 550 cities, and 32 European countries to choose from. Europe offers an impressive range of educational opportunities!

We have gathered all of the information you need to know about studying in Europe – from the different types of schools available to how to get housing and everything in between. Our database helps you find these programs quickly and easily, helping you contextualize the many benefits and options around higher education in Europe.

You will be able to find programs and courses that suit your interests and needs, taught in English by experienced professors in state-of-the-art facilities. Search our database of English-taught European bachelor's and master's programs and get started on your journey to Europe today.

Travel the world while you get your degree.

Travel opportunities abound when attending college in Europe. For example, Lille, a city in northern France with multiple universities, is close to major cities such as Brussels, London, and Paris via high-speed rail. Air travel, especially with the rise of affordable airlines like Ryanair, EasyJet, and Transavia, can be comparable in price to rail travel, so many more destinations open up for short-term travel.

Feeling overwhelmed?

You shouldn't be! We're here to help in any way we can... and if it means running extensive searches and using our best judgement to lead the way, we're all for that too.

We get that choosing a program feels like committing to a major early on, but in reality it is more of a general direction. A Best Fit List gives you a unique list of 3 to 5 programs tailored to your needs, helping you take the headache – and heartache – out of choosing a program.

Discover all the English-taught European college programs in one place.

Beyond the States provides easy access to 11,600+ European bachelor's and master's programs across 870 universities, 550 cities, and 212 areas of study, plus all the resources you need to get there. No sponsorships. No bias.
3400+
English-taught bachelor's programs in our database.
8200+
English-taught master's programs in our database.
550
Beautiful European cities to choose from.
870
Top-tier universities accepting international students.
332,948
Typical savings against a private university in the US.
60,123
Typical savings against in-state tuition in the US.
All inclusive of tuition, living, food, books, health insurance, travel expenses, as well as hidden fees. Compiled with data from students and the official websites from KU Leuven, UNC, and Duke.

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