<p>Hi everyone, I am an international student who is currently a first-semester freshman at a U.S. university (4-year college, full-time student). However, I really hate this school (location, social scene, etc) and feel depressed every day. I still want to study in the United States after going home for a few months. This is the dilemma: I want to reapply as a freshman again next year, but many schools will NOT accept my application because I have already enrolled a university, though some will do, like Clark, Cornell, etc. My grades at my current school is not very good (OK though, about 3.0). It was good in the beginning, but has dropped down since I found I don't like the school. Many schools will ask me to apply as a transfer student and send my first-semester college transcript and I'm not sure if my college grades will have positive, neutral or even negative effects on me. If I drop out now, right by the end of this semester, I will not have any grades on it and as I said, I can apply to many schools as a freshman again instead of a transfer. But if I finish this semester, almost no schools will accept me as a freshman applicant. This is really a tough decision, please help me on this! Thank you!</p>
<p>Sorry - I have no experience in this area. Is there a career counselor or do you have an advisor at the school that you can talk to?</p>
<p>If you drop out now, you will still need to send the transcript from your current school, and it will look a lot better if it is full of B grades rather than Fs or Ws.</p>
<p>Go to the counseling center, and get some advice on pulling yourself together so you can finish this semester as well as possible. Ask about taking an Incomplete in any classes that you think you will do better in if you have a bit more time. Then finish up that work as soon as you can.</p>
<p>Lots of students are miserable their first semester. It is a big change for everyone, and even a bigger change for international students. Next time around, go to all those goofy sounding orientation meetings offered by the international student office so you have a better chance to catch your depression before it gets out of hand.</p>
<p>Under no circumstances do you just want to quit. A 3.0 at a school you are miserable at is transferable, a 0.0 is not. You aren’t going to be able to apply again as a freshman, no matter what you do, so don’t make it worse by committing academic suicide.</p>
<p>And seriously head down to the counseling center right now. It’ll be helpful to learn that you are not the only person this has ever happened to, and they are equipped to deal with it.</p>
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<p>Unless you are at one of the very rare schools (Brown is one) where you can drop a class at any time without getting a W on your transcript, this is a very bad idea. If you drop now, you will either have Fs, Ws or Is on your transcript. And yes, colleges will know you attended college by searching here:</p>
<p>[National</a> Student Clearinghouse](<a href=“http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/]National”>http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/)</p>