Find the new you! (Part 1)

Europe has everything from the best language academies to business schools and music colleges, so why not combine your studies with a whole new experience? Mike Peake reports. Illustration by Henry Obasi.

When grouchy, ungrateful children are told that they are in the midst of the best years of their lives, they look up, confused, with a hot dog in one hand and the word “Rubbish!” tumbling glibly from their lips. They’re right – kids can’t drive, kids can’t drink and they definitely can’t go out clubbing. The best years of your life are those three years you have at university. As a young adult, with a massive overdraft that your government swears you have 20 years to pay back, life as a student simply couldn’t be sweeter.

A smart way to get your degree is to study for it overseas, something thousands do already as part of Erasmus, whereby you can do a chunk of your education abroad. Bolder are the relative few who immerse themselves completely, choosing to do all of their studies in a strange land. They emerge not just fluent in a new language and with an appreciation of an entirely new culture, but with a strange and eclectic wardrobe that they can never really wear again. Just think – that bohemian bedsit in Madrid at a fraction of the price of a London pad! The eat-it-with-your-hands student specials in Prague instead of Pizza Hut’s soul-sapping all-you-can-eat buffets!

You can also take your MBA abroad with tutors who hold classes in English, and Europe has some of the finest business schools in the world – not to mention medical and technology schools, too. And don’t get us started on music academies. Mozart, Beethoven, that Vivaldi bloke – all European, you know.

FRANCE
Why go?
There is nowhere in the world more visited than France, the most popular holiday destination on the planet. Part of the country’s draw is its easy access to and from most of Europe, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that France has so much to offer. Jaw-dropping mountains, spectacular valleys and châteaux, and some of the world’s coolest beaches make just the words “I’m studying in France” the kind of boast that could set you up for life.

Where to study
In the latest round-up of Europe’s best business schools, HEC Paris (www.hec.edu) ranked number one, while Insead Fontainebleau (www.insead.edu), also near Paris, came third. HEC was named number one for the third year running, which perhaps explains how it can comfortably charge €42,000 for its gold-plated, 16-month MBA programme. Its campus is on a magical 121ha woodland set-up, 20km south of the city centre.

Another big hitter is Paris’s Essec Business School (www.essec.edu), with campuses in the city centre and surrounding area, while in Lyon the tagline of the acclaimed Emlyon Business School (www.em-lyon.com) is “Educating entrepreneurs for the world”. Nearby is the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique et Danse de Lyon (www.cnsmdlyon.fr), one of the country’s most happening music and dance schools. France is also home to some excellent universities, such as Paris’s Ecole Normale Supérieure (www.ens.fr).

ITALY
Why go?
You can still find unspoilt fishing villages in Italy – and that’s not to mention mountains, volcanoes, magnificent food and some of the best historic sites in Europe. Throw the words wine, football and fashion into the mix, and student life in Italy is never going to be anything less than unforgettable.

Where to study
John Cabot University in Rome (www.johncabot.edu) is a sort of soft landing for English speakers who want to study overseas. On the one hand, you’re in Rome, surrounded by all those really old, cool places you read about in Dan Brown novels – but you’re also among a largely American student body. It describes itself as a “liberal arts” university, which means stuff like history, English literature and marketing, and not nude dancing, say. Italy’s top business school is the SDA Bocconi in Milan (www.sdabocconi.it/en), whose MBA programme, in English, is crammed into 12 eventful months. If you want to learn Italian, there’s International House World (www.ihworld.com), and we can’t think of a better place to study than in Florence or Lake Como. Courses last as little as one week – or as long as the time it takes to start talking like Valentino Rossi.

UK
Why go?
Ignore the rubbish you read in the press: England is as green and leafy a land as it was 30 years ago, and draws more foreign students than almost any other nation. Country lanes, bustling cities, and a good old English pint – what could be better for a student from Calcutta, Cologne or Coventry?

Where to study
Oxford (www.ox.ac.uk) and Cambridge (www.cam.ac.uk) are no clichés, and these hallowed spots always feature on global top 10 rankings. In a recent survey in The Times, however, students at University of Exeter (www.exeter.ac.uk) rated their institute just as highly as the students from Oxford did. And not far behind were Leicester (www.le.ac.uk) and Loughborough (www.lboro.ac.uk), the latter named The Sunday Times’ 2008 University of the Year. Highest climber in the top 20 of The Guardian’s league table was University of Sussex (www.sussex.ac.uk), which shot up 15 places to number 18 this year. For music lovers, there is an abundance of acclaimed schools, none more so than the Royal Academy of Music in London (www.ram.ac.uk), founded in 1822. It even has “English for musicians” classes for students from abroad.

SPAIN
Why go?
For the straw donkeys, obviously. Ageing stereotypes aside, Spain is fast dragging itself into the 21st century, and its cool young populace will make you feel right at home, too. It also has some of the best countryside in Europe and, without a doubt, some of the most picturesque beaches.

Where to study
Enforex (www.enforex.com) is one of the best-known language schools in Spain, founded 20 years ago and with colleges across the country. Choose from Pamplona, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Tenerife, Malaga, Granada, Marbella, Cadiz, Seville or Salamanca near the west coast. Prices are reasonable, too: 10 weeks of intensive Spanish cost from €1,250, although a private apartment booked via the school will add around €10,000 to the fee. Share an apartment and the price tumbles to around €100 a week. You could also take a look at CSA International’s (www.centerforstudyabroad.com) range of programmes, such as a four-week language and culture programme at University of Alicante for just under €1,450. Spain’s most acclaimed business school is IESE Barcelona (www. iese.edu/en), ranked 12th best in the world last year.

SWITZERLAND
Why go?
It’s small (just 7.5 million people), eye-poppingly beautiful and has a quality of life that’s hard to beat. Its people – stylish, upmarket and infused with class – are said to be a likeable bunch if you can penetrate their rather cold exterior, which should be a doddle if you’re a student and know where the bar is.

Where to study
Frequently named as one of the best schools in the world, the International School of Geneva (www.ecolint.ch) is where rich people send their children. The school has a distinctly bilingual environment (in English and French), and if Timmy can impress the principal and you can afford the €10,000-plus fees a year, you’re in. If you’re looking for free state education, however, and don’t mind reindeer, just relocate to Finland – universally regarded as the best schooling system in the world. But in Switzerland, as well as posh schools for the nippers, grownups can fatten their brains at IMD Lausanne (www.imd.ch), ranked the fourth-best business school in Europe. ETH Zurich (www.ethz.ch), meanwhile, also known as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, is officially the 24th-best university on the planet.