Semester off in Europe

<p>My school is difficult because it is very small and in order to reserve a spot in a major, you have to sign up early. I decided about a month after I declared (we have to declare March of our freshman year) that I wanted to be in another, smaller department. Unfortunately, they were full but they seemed confident that someone would drop out and that I could take their spot.</p>

<p>But over the summer, admissions let in four transfer students and so the spots that would have been mine were filled. I thought that I would be able to get in spring of this year, and so I've been waiting it out in my first major and getting impatient and miserable. But this week I was informed that it wasn't likely that I would get in for next semester. My school is extremely expensive and I don't want to waste my parents money on a major that not only is making me unhappy, but isn't going to go to my degree anyway. Also, I just don't want to wait it out. It's going to drive me insane watching my friends who are in that major being so excited and having so much fun while I can't.</p>

<p>So I'm thinking about possibly going to Europe and getting a job in my field, or even a waitressing job (I speak french well, but not fluently and I'd like to become fluent, and that would really help me.) Basically, I just want to go off on my own so I can grow up and stop relying in my parents so much. However, I do want to find safe housing where I would be living with other students. I need to figure how to do this safely. Any advice?</p>

<p>i would try craig's list. especially since the users of that site are from the states. i would also try to contact local universities to see if their housing department could refer you to somewhere or somehow help you out.</p>

<p>I'd look into how possible it would be to get a job. What kind of work visa would be needed and what kind of extended stay visas and stuff.</p>

<p>maybe it's time to think of plan B, which is transfer to another school. You're going to an expensive school which won't let you major in what you want. Whatever the other attributes of the school you like, surely this is not the only school in the US that can provide them. And at another school you may be able to find a semester-abroad program in which you can have a little more structure and support for spending a few months in Europe than just heading off on your own.</p>