I had a very long post before Firefox crashed and ate it. Long story short: Find out exactly how much debt is 'negligible' before doing anything else.
1) How much can your parents pay per year? I've never known a single foreign student who wasn't able to show ability-to-pay prior to acceptance.
2) Foreign students rarely get financial aid and never get loans without a cosigner. Do you have a US/UK cosigner? Does this mean your parents will be taking out a personal loan (at higher APR) in Hungary to pay for your tuition?
3) What sort of debt burden can they handle if you drop out? What sort of debt burden are you comfortable with if you graduate?
4) What is your contingency if something goes wrong (eg father laid off) for each schooling location?
Example, you mention Bowdoin university as a university you are considering. Bowdoin's total cost in 2009-2010 was $50,485 to out-of-state students. Assuming $2000 in travel expenses a year, and ~$2500 incidentals you end up with 55k a year. Lets say you get a 11% APR[1], because you likely won't be getting US Govt subsidized loans[2] and would require your parents to cosign in Hungary. You're ~8% likely to drop out[3] and it will cost you on average $58k. You're ~92% likely to graduate, and it will cost you on average $261k. That's approximately 201,000 Euros, minus whatever your parents can pay.
If $260k in debt for a US school is 'negligible' I shudder to consider UK costs. (Though, upon research it seems they're actually cheaper than US schools and I'm left wondering how much research you've given to this topic.) Further, the idea that you'd just 'squat' somewhere is simply insane. Such an action would drastically increase your chance of dropping out, which is a ridiculous option versus a comparatively sure thing at home in Hungary, and as noted above, dropping out is expensive too.
In summary: Double check to see if going abroad is feasible and actually calculate the cost before going any further.
[1] I don't know the Hungary rates, but I assume they're similar to US rates.
[2] Subsidized loans are currently 6.8% and would subtract about 15k from the total cost. Plus they have other benefits compared to personal loans (tax deductions, grace periods, etc) that measure in the tens of thousands.
[3] Bowdoin has particularly good graduation rates; some colleges don't (eg, at Purdue only 40% of students graduate within 4 years). Even a small change in graduation rates can drastically increase costs.
Thanks for the heads-up.
In the USA I'll receive full-need financial aid, hopefully, which means that I'll only pay what I can afford, without going into insurmountable debt In the UK I'll take a loan to pay for the tuition, which can be paid back after I start earning a certain salary.
I just graduated from high school and I want to continue my formal education by studying for a bachelor's degree in science.
I can go on to study in: Hungary, England, the USA.
Hungay. I'll graduate debt-free and I will spend little on my cost of living(e.g., accommodation, food). However, I'll earn a useless degree in that the university I would attend is poor in terms of academic performance. So, Hungary's a good choice from a financial standpoint, but horrible when it comes to the value of the education.
USA. I'll graduate with some negligible debt and I will spend a modest sum of money for my cost of living, but overall it's still affordable. The education I will receive is so-so, but still better than the one in Hungary. The USA is somewhere in between England and Hungary in terms of financial matters and education.
England. I'll graduate with the most debt and I won't even afford to pay for accommodation; I'll probably have to squat somewhere. The quality of the education is top-notch.
It seems that every place I could go on to study involves a trade-off—England's best for education, Hungary for money.
Now, another dilemma I've ran into is whether I should study Biology or Medicine. I can study Medicine in Hungary, but not in the USA or in England. I am an introvert and a very private person and I enjoy solitude, so some might argue that Medicine is not the best career path, but I contend that some medical specialties, like Pathology, involve less human contact than others. Biology is also appealing as I think I would thrive on doing pure research. I did some job shadowing at a hospital and I can't tell whether a career in Medicine would make me happy. But I definitely won't be happy being an unemployed biologist or a technician who does the same stuff over and over again.
Since I'm confused and depressed, I come to you asking for advice about: (1) What and how should I decide to study; (2) Where should I study.
Thanks for reading!