Should I change Universities?

Hi.

I'm a freshman at NOVA School Of Business And Economics - Bsc Economics.
It is the best school in Portugal and one of the best in both Europe and the world (16th best in the world according to the Financial Times Ranking).

So, even though it's a really good school, it isn't an LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, Ivy league, etc.

Here in Portugal the only thing that matters for enrollment in university is your GPA combined with the national exams.

I was one of the top students in the country. I got an admission application grade of 19.5/20 (97.5%).

So, you see, I'd like to go to a 'better' university. I didn't apply to any of the colleges mentioned above because of money. My family lacks money and, because of COVID-19, finding a job in the uk is not easy. More than that, student finance will stop being available to EU citizens from 2021.

All costs considered, I would be REALLY indebted (if I even was able to find the money).

But I had such good grades that I just don't want to give up trying to go to a really prestigious college.

University in Portugal is almost free (around 700 € per year) by the way so no student loan debt for me :smile:

My plan was to go to one of the top schools in my masters (when covid is done and I probably have more money and can afford to live abroad and pay for tuition).

I'm just so divided. I know I don't have money to go abroad so I don't even want to apply to Oxbridge or other colleges because if I do and get accepted, I'll be miserable knowing I just can't accept the offer. On the other hand, if I don't apply, then I'll think I just wasted a life-changing experience.

What should I do?

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 1

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

In all honesty I think you should stick where you are.

Many uni’s/courses won’t consider transfers into year 2 so you would be applying for year 1 entry with no guarantee of an offer even with outstanding grades. If you get an offer you’ll potentially need to cover three years or international fees, circa 100,000 EUR and that’s before accommodation and other costs.

Your original plan to go abroad for your Masters seems sensible.

Reply 2

gangtinag

Hi

I am looking at applying to Nova SBE to study Management, would you recommend the university? I am from UK.

What is the workload like, do you know the acceptance rate and are the people sociable? ( I have read a few reviews saying because of the competitive environment it has been hard for people to make friends)

Thank you!

Reply 3

David 21

That's true, because of competitive environment it is hard to make friend or sustain any friends , so toxic environment.