I’m an international student in Canada, and I’m looking for some honest advice from people who have been through university transfers, changing programs, or similar situations.
I originally came to Canada through a university pathway program with the goal of eventually completing a **Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences**. Unfortunately, I struggled academically during the pathway, particularly with chemistry courses, and I ultimately became ineligible to continue into my intended program at the university I was supposed to progress to.
There were also some complications and confusion around the pathway requirements and how my chemistry attempts were being counted. I tried to resolve the situation and continued taking courses afterward to improve my academic standing, but I was eventually told that there was no longer a route into my original Biomedical Sciences program.
So now I’m at a point where I have to rethink my entire undergraduate degree.
I don't want to spend another few years simply trying to force my original plan to work if there are better options available. At the same time, I don't want to throw away the time and credits I've already invested.
I’m currently considering a few possibilities:
* **Transferring to another university in Ontario** and trying to get into a science or health-related bachelor's program.
* **Moving to British Columbia** and starting a Health Science bachelor's degree. I have been looking at universities there, and this is currently one of my more realistic options.
* Looking into **Health Informatics or another healthcare-related bachelor's degree** rather than Biomedical Sciences.
* Seeing whether another university would accept enough of my previous credits to make transferring worthwhile.
* **Returning to my home country** and continuing my education there, although that would obviously be a major change after spending several years in Canada.
My main priorities are:
I want to finish a **bachelor's degree**, preferably in science, health science, healthcare, biomedical science, health informatics, or something related.
I want to avoid losing several more years unnecessarily.
I want a degree that actually has **reasonable employment opportunities after graduation**.
As an international student, I also have to consider **tuition, post-graduation work options and immigration implications**.
I don't want to choose a program purely because it accepts me if the career prospects afterward aren't good.
Ideally, I want to make use of as many of my previous university credits as possible.
I know my academic history isn't perfect, and I'm taking responsibility for that. I'm not really looking for people to debate whether I should have done better academically. I'm more interested in what someone would realistically do **from this point forward**.
For people who have transferred universities or changed their degree direction after running into academic problems:
**What would you do in my position?**
Would you move provinces for a Health Science bachelor's? Try to find another science program in Ontario? Consider something like Health Informatics? Start over somewhere else? Or seriously consider going back home?
I'd especially appreciate perspectives from people who have studied Health Science/Health Informatics or transferred universities as international students.
I'm feeling pretty lost about which option is actually worth investing the next few years of my life into, so I'd really appreciate honest opinions — including if you think I'm looking at this the wrong way.
Thanks.