Hi guys 
I’m sorry it’s going to be long.
I am currently a first-year student studying Industrial Engineering with a technical specialization in Electrical Engineering (i.e. a mix of Electrical Engineering and Business Administration) in Germany. I wasn’t sure if that is what I really wanted to do from the day I applied for that degree program, but now I am realizing that it is very difficult for me to follow the lectures or do the homework. I also didn’t have Physics in school in the last two years. To be honest, I do not understand a single thing in the Electrical Engineering lecture anymore and I can’t solve a single homework task without help from a tutor or other students. Also, I don’t understand much from the Higher Mathematics lecture, but I may pass the exam even without understanding everything, if I only focus on learning the things that aren’t too difficult.
The Electrical Engineering Department, the professors and the whole university don’t seem to care about the students. We do not have any advisers at college, but as far as I know all public universities in Germany are like this. And this is even though my university is ranked #3.
The problems I have in Electrical Engineering did really kill my motivation to continue that major, so I am asking myself whether I should change or not. I am really interested in the business classes I take; they’re easy for me and I nearly don’t have any problems with the homework we get. But then I’d “only” be studying business, which is something everybody does. The other degree program that interests me is Medicine, which is a six-year program, which you enter directly without a Bachelor degree, here. Sadly, my GPA is too low to be offered direct admission for that program, but I have the chance to take a test in May and if my score is among the best 7% (scoring is similiar to the SAT scoring), I may be admitted. I know that it is very unlikely, but at least there is a small chance.
I have an offer to change my major to Business for the “summer semester” (which begins in April over here); otherwise I’d have to complete the year and start in the “winter semester” (October) again, so the question is “continue and loose one year or change and loose one semester”. I would have to start from the beginning, they may only transfer one or two business classes, there is nothing like general education over here.
If I’d change now and be offered admission for medicine in the winter semester, it is possible that I would be uneligible for receiving any financial aid anymore in my country, because it is allowed to change one time for no reason; for the second time I’d have to explain that and it is not guaranteed they will accept the explanation.
So I have to accept or decline (and pay the fees) my offer to study Business until Friday next week.
I also did apply to a university in Scotland to which I could change to, but they didn’t reply yet. I would be studying the same I am studying here. Some people say it is much easier there and that staff is much better in explaining stuff than here.
My questions:
- Would you say I should change?
- Should I change now or is it better to wait, even though I may loose a complete year?
Forgot to say, Industrial Engineering and Business Administration are only 3-year programs, so in comparison to other countries I’d have studied 4-years.
Many thanks in advance!