I am a future international student from Italy. Last year I have been on an exchange to Idaho; after that, I decided to come to the USA for college. I am not sure my decision was well thought out, and now I am freaking out about leaving my home and being so far away. Furthermore, I am afraid that leaving for college will mean leaving forever, and I really need to keep in touch with my family and see them often. I feel like I could miss out on their lives, especially because they are all living at home while I’ll be gone. My parents don’t even like traveling. Also, my father told me that the money that I’m going to spend now for college will be taken away from my inheritance. What should I do?
Well are you actually leaving or are you just planning?
You can still change your mind and study closer to home. There is nothing wrong with that.
Have you applied and been admitted to US colleges? Italian colleges?
If you went to a US college, you could always come back to Italy after a year, just like you did after your exchange year in high school. If you have good choices in the US, living in a residential community can be an extraordinary experience. Just don’t pick commuter schools.
Or you could attend college in Italy and choose the Italian university based on the strength of their US exchanges (Bocconi has some really good ones).
(If you need advice about colleges with deadlines still open, adults here can suggest some, depending on your budget).
All in all, being young and having spent a year abroad, you’ll want to return abroad. Leaving now doesn’t mean leaving forever - but you can go next year, or three years from now.