Hey everyone, I’m currently preparing to go back to school after dropping out in 2022 due to doubts about what I should do with my career as well as mental health issues that forced me to withdraw from classes my third semester (I attended college for a total of four semesters). Given my status as a dual citizen of Germany and the United States, I have a fairly major choice to make (that I did not consider properly when I went to school originally): Do I continue my studies here or in the EU?
The obvious upside to studying in Germany is that it would be virtually free, allowing me to put more financial resources toward EA causes. However, the fact that I could presumably have a much larger impact on the issues I care about (primarily animal welfare and AI safety) in the US than I could in the EU1 gives credence to the idea that I should study here in order to build connections in the country I expect to work in for most of my career. Based on my past academic performance, I also feel somewhat worried about studying in an environment that is, from my understanding, much stricter and more hands-off than in the US.2
What are your thoughts on this?
1I do not have evidence to support this claim. It seems obviously true to me, but please do let me know if I’m mistaken.
2 While I feel confident that I’ll fare a lot better in school now that I’m not as depressed as I was before, it’s hard to estimate exactly how large the difference in my performance will be. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t be able to succeed in a harsher environment, just that I don’t have enough information to predict whether or not I would.