In respect for my tradition to disappear from the blogosphere once in a while, I have limited posting to exactly 0 during the last month or so. I am proud of myself.

Anyway, I would like to go abroad to universities in Singapore (NUS, NTU), London (UCL) or Troy, New York (RPI) during my master’s degree studies which I expected to begin next September. I would like to go abroad in my 2nd semester of the master – spring of 2010. To be allowed to go abroad, DTU requires me to have completed 20 ECTS points of my master (which is a little less than a full semester).

The thing is, though, that I have not taken the ECTS points that I need to finish my bachelor’s degree in July (as it was otherwise expected). And due to a rule I just found out about today, I am unable to start my master before my bachelor degree is fully completed. I am not even able to take any ECTS points other than what I need to complete my bachelor in the fall next year, if I continue on this track.

All of this leaves me with a choice:

  1. I sharpen up, and do whatever is necessary to complete my bachelor’s degree in July. This will probably include working (a lot) less, making me more stressed and possibly obtaining worse results in courses than I had expected. The upside to this is that I will be able to go abroad in the spring of 2010.
  2. I slack an equal amount to what I have done this semester. This means that my bachelor’s degree will be completed in the fall of 2009. I will have more or less the same amount of time to work, and I will be able to concentrate quite a lot on my bachelor’s project. I will not be able to go abroad in the spring of 2010. However, I may be able to complete my bachelor with ECTS points obtained at another university (allowing me to spend the fall of 2009 abroad – this will not make it impossible for me to also go abroad during my master’s degree studies).

What to do? I am quite split about what to do – both choices leave me with downsides, and both also has advantages to them. Any advice?