So I’m currently in the 2nd year of medical school in Europe (English university in Italy) and its been miserable lol. After repeating a year and still not getting any more optimistic I have to convince myself that it’s not what I want. I am deeply considering letting go and pursuing philosophy or something which I enjoy and find myself better at (as opposed to the sciences) and continuing with politics at a postgraduate level. It’s painful that I did in fact get accepted to my dream school (UCLA) as well as a couple others for neuroscience (which I could have switched once there I suppose) though due to costs and my Parents disapproval it was a dream cut short. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what direction I should be taking? Im willing to redo the SATs and do a couple more SAT IIs in order to make this work, even do sports and other stuff that may help. Sometimes I feel really pessimistic about this, especially considering the financial costs for an international student (a scholarship would help which I did attain for another University of California school). I’m sorry this is so long but here are my qualifications:
A Levels: ABBB (Music, Chem, Math, Bio)
SAT: 2050 (this must have expired or something by now)
SAT II: Chem and Math were around 650 if i remember correctly
Some university credit
Gonna start writing a novel if that counts for anything
Maxed ABRSM piano (grade 8)
My science grades were not great since it was in order to do medicine for my Parents and weren’t naturally strong subjects for me. If anybody has any suggestions outside the US please tell me. Looking at U.K. universities only a handful seem serious about philosophy and I don’t want a useless bachelors degree which may English students end up with.
I’d encourage you to examine what you really want out of life (you only get one!) and don’t spend your time being miserable at a school you hate. I got into a lot of great 4-year universities in high school, but I turned them down for community college because I knew I didn’t want to waste my time and money at a school I didn’t want to attend. You should consider transferring because college is a unique experience, like a portal between childhood schooling and adult careers, so use that time wisely! The financial situation, unless it’s dire, should honestly come secondary, especially since UCLA loves international students and would gladly bring you into their diverse population (and maybe throw a little financial aid your way too)!
The first thing to sort out is how much your family can pay. What limits have they given you? Will they only pay for certain majors?
As you already know, there is not a lot of good financial aid for international applicants. There also is not a lot of good aid for transfers. This means that it is unlikely that you will be offered any aid as an international transfer - especially with that year of bad grades from your current program.
Your best option might be to complete your undergraduate degree in philosophy in your own country, and then pursue graduate studies elsewhere. If you want to spend some time in the US, look for a university near you that offers a semester or year abroad. Usually students pay the cost of their home university for that exchange year instead of the cost of the university that they visit.