I am a top student in a competitive field where I come from (lots of graduates, few jobs mostly). Entering my 3rd year (out of four), I have an opportunity to study a semester abroad at a well-known and reputable university with possibilities of making great connections and experiencing a different academic environment.
However, my semester abroad won’t be acknowledged by my university - any classes that I take will be ‘supplemental exams passed’ and I’ll have to take all of the semester’s exams at home once I come back from abroad. Which sucks and could delay my graduation or ruin my GPA.
I have another option - not to do the study abroad, but stay at my home university and spend the semester learning a few very useful skills in the field (mostly on my own). Plus, I would use that time to prepare for my eventual departure to another country (doing the language test) where I’ll be continuing my studies in a field very closely related to the aforementioned skills.
I feel anxious about the study abroad semester because I feel I’ll be losing precious time which could be used for preparations for the after-graduation period, my language certifications, the skills I mentioned and similar. The biggest problem is that my university promotes this study abroad opportunity but effectively does not recognize it at all - I’ll have to take my home institution’s exams from the missed semester, by studying on my own since I won’t be physically present during the semester.
My question is actually a plead for help - what is the better thing to do? I need third-person input because I am seriosly experiencing analysis paralysis and don’t know what to do!