The most important thing is not to panic. There are very few mistakes that honest, well-intentioned people can make that are unrecoverable. However, remaining calm is extremely difficult when facing certain college problems, and requires a great deal of faith and self-confidence. The more college problems you circumnavigate, the easier this becomes. Think of this “unrecoverable dead end” instead as a new “imposing obstacle”, a challenge to be met and overcome. When you say something can't be done, you are right. If you say something can be done, you are also right.

Have someone you trust look at the problem and see if they can see a way out. When I applied to universities in Europe, I found out that I had taken a math class that is not recognized in Europe or at most US universities.

Because of that math class, I could not apply anywhere in Europe. I panicked. I was incensed. I was unspeakably mad at the people who had recommended that math class to me. I went on a run to try and burn through some of my fury. By the time I got back, still in a terrible mood, my parents had found a way to circumnavigate the problem and apply a different way. A fresh pair of eyes can work wonders.

College is more difficult than high school. And being an international student is an order of magnitude harder than it is for native students. So if you had great grades in high school (like me) and expected to end up at the top of your class (like I did), and then you fail two thirds of your university classes (like me), it hurts a lot. It got worse in my case, because the classes I failed were the easiest we had to take, and everyone passes them (as a local friend of mine was so nice to remind me...). Remember that you really cannot compare yourself to local students. If you need to compare yourself with someone, look at other international students. If you thought being an international student was going to be easy, you are in for a rude awakening – so be prepared for things to be tough.