r/studyAbroad

I (30F) always wanted to study abroad, but due to changing my major and packing my schedule during undergrad, it just didn’t happen. I’m currently located in the United States, my dream before college was to become a therapist. I managed to get pressured by family to study nursing, hated it, switched to psychology, which was what I originally wanted to do, and loved it. I interned at an outpatient mental health clinic, and worked at a behavioral health research lab at my university. I was interested in the research aspect, but I always thought the prospect of being a student and being completely responsible for your research and your time was terrifying. I got two jobs working in social services and realized quickly that I would not have the comforts I could have in a corporate role, and it would take YEARS to get to where I wanted.

Now, I’m in a corporate job managing clinical trials. I love it some days, but other days I really feel overwhelmed by pointless bureaucratic corporate tasks and pressures, and the pay was good, but now it barely covers my cost of living. So I can’t shake the urge to leave this career behind, leave my daily life behind, go back to school, study abroad, and put myself on a new path. I’ve always considered it, but would think, that’s such a waste of time…. But I’m just not content anymore. I don’t feel fulfilled like I did before. I want a career that contributes to society, and I want to experience something outside of the east coast of the United States. I love my family, but they’re not the most healthy (hence the obsession with therapy and wanting to fix everyone’s problems) so distance from them would actually be good for me.

Anyone else been in this predicament? Is it too late for me?

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to apply for a Master’s degree in France from India, preferably at a public university.

I’d like to know from students who have already gone through the process:

- Is it better to apply by yourself or through an education consultant?

- How difficult is the application process, including Études en France / Campus France?

- Are consultants actually useful, or can everything be managed independently?

- What are the main mistakes to avoid when applying on your own?

- Any recommendations for reliable consultants in India, if you think using one is worthwhile?

Any advice who from who have recently applied to France would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

So my dream was so to study in UK for my Bachlores degree and I was crazy about it and I am taking a gap year so that I will earn money and moveout. But now I am realising my parents can't afford it and if I stay in this house I will be really fucked up. Like really fucked up I cannot live here for my Bachlores

PLS SOMEONE SUGGEST ME, I am thinking if I will start earning really good, 1,1.5 lakhs, SHOULD I MOVE TO ISLAMABAD? BUT THE PROBLEM I DON'T KNOW ABOUT SAFETY THERE, I want to study external law(UK law ) and it is expensive ok . Should I move to Islamabad? Is it safe there? Will studying external law be okay? Like from tmuc or other institutions. I live in LHR rn

My mental health is really fucked up bcz I have quited my dream to study abroad I just want to get out of this house . But I will do everything to be financial independent and just moveout

Pls someone suggest me is Islamabad save and is external law ok

PLSSS I JUST WANT TO MOVEOUT I WILL GO ANYWHERE JUST FAR AWAY FROM HERE

Hello, im a moroccan student who just got through 9th grade and i’m looking to study abroad preferably in the US, my english level is B2-C1. I don’t play any sports but im looking for a club to play in. I’m wondering about the requirements and maybe some things i can do that can give me a higher chance of getting accepted into prestigious schools

Hi everyone. I’m writing this with a very confused and heavy heart. I really don’t want to give up, but honestly, I feel like I can’t seem to find a way forward anymore.

I recently completed my Bachelor of Science in Psychology. I have a pretty good CGPA and what I believe are decent academic credentials overall.

For the past 9–10 months, I’ve been researching universities, scholarships, and opportunities abroad almost constantly. So far, I’ve applied to two French universities and one German university, was rejected by all 3 . I also applied for three different scholarships and unfortunately didn’t receive any of them.

I did receive an offer from a university in the UK, but the tuition fees are simply far beyond what I can afford, and I wasn’t able to secure a scholarship for it either.

The biggest problem is that I don’t have family financial support available for studying abroad. I can only make this happen if I receive a some type of scholarship or something very close to it.

At this point, I’m honestly exhausted and completely dumbfounded. I’ve spent months researching, preparing applications, writing statements, looking for scholarships, and trying again after every rejection. I don’t know if I’m approaching this completely wrong or if I’m simply looking in the wrong places.

Studying abroad has always been a dream of mine. More than that, I desperately want the opportunity to build a different life for myself. I’ve been living in a very difficult and toxic environment for as long as I can remember, and getting out and studying abroad feels like one of the few things I genuinely want to fight for.

So, to anyone who has been in a similar situation, especially international students who had little or no financial support from their families:

What would you do in my position?

Are there countries, scholarships, universities, or less obvious routes that I should be looking into? Should I change my approach completely? Is it realistic for someone with my background to secure full funding for a Master’s?

I’m willing to put in the work. I just genuinely need some direction because right now I feel completely lost.

Any advice, personal experiences, resources, or even a reality check would mean a lot to me. Thank you.

Hi,

I'll have the opportunity to study abroad in either country for the winter semester. I had a few questions before I make my decision, and I'm hoping people with experience can answer them:

1. How does the nightlife compare? I would most likely be going out every weekend, and I was wondering which one would give me a better nightlife.

2. Which schools/places have more to do/explore? What about the food scene?

3. Which school is more social? I understand that both schools are top schools, but I want to make sure that the students there are also sociable; it would be pretty bad if I study abroad and the other students are way too focused on schoolwork to go out.

Any other tips/informations not given in the answers to the questions would still be appreciated. Thank you!

Hello, I am an international student who was accepted to two universities, one in UK and one in Netherlands, Utrecht. I know that studies in NL are quite cheap, I managed to find an accommodation, and in UK I got into UCL with a full tuition scholarship, so I'm in a very deep inner debate. Personally, I would probably choose UK for the prestige, but I hear a lot of people complain about quality of life in there, how it is expensive and unsafe (especially in London). Netherlands is the safe option, but with little social life and maybe less opportunities. Thus, I wanted to ask people who live in these cities, how do you feel there? Is the fear and complains about UK based? Maybe someone has recent experience with both lifestyles?

It's an honest advice, specially if you don't have sufficient amount of money to finance your whole studies with no stress. I came to study abroad when I was 19/20 to study engineering after working like a rat in my home country and toxic household, I also had a ldr relationship and I thought huh I will just study abroad, get my degree come back and get a good job, sounds straightforward right? No, during my first year abroad, I experienced severe psychosis and anger towards my past and the loneliness physically hurt not just mentally to the point there were some days I couldn't get out of bed to go uni from the physical pain and stress I was experiencing. The thing that affected me the most was my ldr, and being 20, young, and naive got the worst out of me.

Nowadays, I'm nearly 24 and I'm just empty and emotionless, severe ahedonia and while I don't have outbursts of anger, I just don't have interest for anything anymore. My sincere advice, is to really sit down and evaluate your situation wether it's actually worth it, specially if you don't know if it's short term or long term.

Im 17 yo and about to finish high school. Id like to go to university abroad (in Europe) but im still not sure where. I want to study IR and get a good career in geopolitics. What i also care for is a good quality of life. What places do you reccomend? Do you think i should study in a city and move to live in another city in Europe?

So I'm confused....if someone is like me who just wants to go abroad... originally I wanted mbbs abroad but if I get an option to study their language in their country of a scholarship then I would gladly go...so is there any country like this????

What level of US universities would make it worth coming to the US to do an MS from the UK? I know the situation in the US seems to be criticised quite often in terms of safety and job prospects for internationals but are there universities that are good enough to significantly mitigate the risk?

Good afternoon,

Is there any way someone can study abroad on a 2.386 GPA?

I'm wanting to get out of the US but studying abroad seems to be my only option. It's been about four years since I graduated, and I've gotten a job working as a logistics admin for a company in the US.

I graduated with 21 credits instead of the original 22 that I was supposed to have. Dropped out of an Art class that I originally was super excited to take, but the teacher ended up harassing me and screamed at me, which ultimately led to me dropping from the class due to severe anxiety and inability to function around her properly. School blamed my anxiety around the teacher on my ADHD when my mom got involved and I acually got diagnosed with autism maybe a year ago.

That's what really screwed up my GPA beyond just genuinely crappy grades. Which also sucks because I'd change so much about how I handled school if I could go back in time, but I was never fully in it after all the moving around my family did. (At least ten different schools my entire lifetime; most in elementary and then two separate ones in highschool).

Doesn't change the fact that my GPA is extremely low, though.

Has anyone else successfully gotten into a university abroad on a GPA below 2.5?

And would anyone have any suggestions for me?

I also have a service dog/assistance dog prospect that is eventually going through an ADI accredited program to get recognized in the EU as one as well.

A bit of a multifaceted question- and starting by saying this is day one of my research into this process, so bear with me! But-

I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts / input / advice on any or all of the three things I'm looking into:

1. International Education Masters programs in Europe. I'm fairly open to program variations and locations, and have basic comprehension in French (strongest), Italian, and Spanish (and English is my first language.)

2. I'm thinking of exploring programs anywhere from one semester to two years long (depending on financial status.)

3. I will want to bring my dog with me (45 lbs, well behaved, used to living in apartments and cities.) I know he'll probably be a bigger piece of the puzzle, but I'm not willing to leave him.

I feel a little lost on where to start the search (locations, programs, dog friendly cities, financial aid, etc.) so if anyone has tips on a good starting point as well, I'd appreciate it!

Hi all ,my friend is going to study at university of Rennes and no accommodation is finalised yet any advise how to book or which is the best way ? TIA

i’m currently studying bachelors degree (textiles degree, i know very useless), graduating on spring, wanted to go continue my studies somewhere abroad (preferably east asia, since i traveled there), but it seems like the options are pretty limited when it comes to english programs. i used to study both mandarin and korean, so i’m thinking of enrolling to language school in either of these countries just to gain a new skill, but honestly don’t know which one to choose.. i’ve been to china before and honestly mandarin flows better for me, but hesitant to go due to political stuff. my korean, however is not that strong.. did any of you study there just for this reason? please share your experiences and opinions..

my_qualifications: I’m a 3rd-year CSE student from India. I want to study abroad, get an AI/ML job, and eventually get PR. I’m considering Germany, Canada, and Japan and I’m willing to learn German or Japanese.

What country would be better for AI/ML? How does the job market, cost of studying/living, and PR pathway compare? What should I do now to prepare? I’d like to hear from people who have experience studying or working in these countries. Did you choose one of them, and how did it work out for you?

Me and my brothers come from the UAE and might be going to China for studying, so I have a few questions:

1. How do you receive money from outside while staying there? Do you have to first make a new bank account or is it unnecessary?
2. Do you just have to use a VPN 24/7 when you want to access the "normal" internet? Can you get in trouble for using one?
3. Is there anything else I should know in relation to the firewall? Like anything I should prepare for?

I would appreciate insight from students who traveled to China. Sorry if this is a stupid question.

hi everybody! i'm an 18-year-old guy living in the middle east, and i've done my high school diploma from an Atlanta-based school online, and I've graduated with a 3.9 GPA and honors. I chose the more advanced courses, so it was all preparation for college from the beginning, because I was initially planning on moving to the US with my family, but tuition is soo expensive there that I can't anymore. I haven't taken the SAT yet, although I would've a few months ago if I was still on track for US/CA applications, but I'm open to taking it if I need to. I also passed all the exams of ACCA's Foundations in Accounting diploma except one which I was about to do before they cancelled all exams due to the war. But I've still done & passed 6/7 exams and I have the transcripts and stuff to prove that. My extracurriculars are not that bad, I'd like to say I have pretty fine EC's, but it's not VERY good, but I doubt that matters as much as it does in the States. I'm also a native English and Urdu speaker, and I learnt Arabic all on my own during the time I've lived here in the ME!

Now, again, for some more backstory I tried out the University of Auckland in New Zealand and an admissions officer told me I had a very good chance of getting in, but after putting in my application I found out that I'd need to pay the first year of tuition upfront for the visa which is a lot of money, so that was scrapped too. I have a lottt of friends in the EU and England, and they recommended that I search in EU countries and I did come across some universities in Italy which I'm particularly interested in. As I mentioned in the title, I have a really tight budget because I've had a lot of financial problems recently and according to the research I did, the EU is my cheapest bet.

I've come across universities in Italy for like 1500 euros a year (tuition) and that fits my budget, tbh. But ideally, anything less is even better. I know living costs will be more, and I'm ready to look through which cities will be the best in that case and I'll make a decision then. But I'm also not against living in a small city, I'll take that over paying 20k euros a year in just rent... I will try my best to work part-time and I want to, but of course I'm not immediately going to get a job as soon as I land, and for that reason I might be borrowing some money from my family for relocation costs, etc. I would very much appreciate any fee waivers/scholarships/stipends I can get, the more the merrier.

For my degree, I would ideally want to study Business &/or Finance, in English obviously because I can't study an entire language in such little time. I think that degrees in the EU are three years so that's better because I've wasted a lot of time because of my own personal problems. Preferably a good university in rankings for employability, because after all that's the main reason for getting a degree and academically manageable so I could work and do other things without having to sacrifice my social life... please.

I don't want to live in some metropolis or big city just yet tbh, but I still want something interesting and not boring. I want to live somewhere safe and that's the main concern, I don't drink or anything, I do smoke sometimes though, idk if I should mention that or not. I would also like a good international community, even if little so I can have some friends and a group to hang out with. I'm also Muslim, so halal/kosher food is a must, but I guess that's not much of a problem nowadays? Also, my music is something I seriously want to pursue alongside my degree, so I'd like a city where I can realistically build that part of my life.

Now, for my long-term goals, I want to actually settle down somewhere for once, my whole life I've been moving around, because my Dad used to be a contractor. So it'd be nice if the study period could count towards long-term residency after employment or anything.

I'm particularly interested in Italy, but I'm very much open to other affordable EU countries too. I'd love recommendations for specific universities/programs rather than just country names, please. Based on my academic performance that I mentioned above, I'd like to know which universities are realistic for me, whether my online diploma will be a problem (it was for Germany), how difficult the degree is, how much it'll cost me altogether, and what I could do there long-term. I had a few Italian universities on mind like Sapienza in Rome and the University of Padua, but please, help me out. I'm sorry if I'm asking too much, it's just that I'm really scared :/ I will appreciate literally anything, tysm!

Hi,

I'm currently in my final year of my bachelor's degree. By the end of my degree, I might be able to push it to 2.8, idk.

I've done some internships during my degree and have a habit of participating in hackathons, even though I haven't won.

Do I have a chance of getting into a master's in Europe, maybe with a scholarship? I know fully funded is impossible, but just asking.

And in either case, any recommendations, like which country and uni would be best for someone like me? I plan on trying for data science or AI. Still deciding on that.

BTW, I didn't fail any course, but did poorly in some, which affected the overall thing.

Hey everyone! I’m currently a high school student in the U.S. on an H-4 dependent visa, and I’m trying to figure out what path makes the most sense for me long-term.

I’m really interested in medicine/healthcare and STEM, but being on H-4 makes planning a career in the U.S. a little complicated. I could potentially go the F-1 route for college and eventually try to build a career in the U.S., but I’m worried about how much my future would depend on visas, OPT, H-1B, sponsorship, etc.

The other option I’m seriously considering is studying medicine in Europe, particularly an affordable English-taught medical program in places like Italy, Poland, Hungary, etc. Ideally, I’d want a degree that gives me the flexibility to work in different European countries later and potentially move to a country with better physician salaries/working conditions.

For anyone who has been in a similar situation, what would you choose? Is studying medicine in Europe actually a smarter option for someone in my immigration situation, or am I overestimating the visa difficulties of building a career in the U.S.?

I’d especially love to hear from international students, doctors, or anyone who has had to make a similar decision. I’m looking for honest advice about long-term career prospects, immigration, cost, residency opportunities, and quality of life — not just which option sounds better on paper.

Thanks!!