I attend a pretty good research university (just look through old posts if you’d like to see where), but I am very far away from home. Recently, a close family friend died, and that has caused me to reevaluate my situation. Although I know things pass, I now feel that it would be very beneficial to be closer to home, as I want to make sure family members are more accessible in these situations (a few other family members are in bad health, as well. It is much harder to fly than it is to drive for a few hours, at least conventional wisdom would tell me so). Anyway, things are even more complicated because I actually transferred here this year, so this would be my second time. If I do decide to later on in the semester/year, would it be possible for me to attend a very-renowned school that is closer to home? I don’t want to regress in terms of academics and prestige, but I feel that being near home would be beneficial, especially if I feel like I do now in 6 months or so. Of course, I think it will be hard to convince ADCOMS that I’m not simply a waffler. There are other reasons why I would possibly contemplate leaving, but this is currently the most pressing issue. Going to Cornell would very great, but that is obviously easier said than done.
Issues to consider: likelihood of getting accepted as a junior transfer, financial implications of transferring again, academic progress towards your degree, likelihood of your feelings at the present time changing by the time next fall rolls around.
You may want to consider some short term solutions, regardless of what you end up doing about transferring again. You might want to reach out to a counselor on campus to talk about your recent loss. You may want to plan your next trip home, so that you have something to look forward to.
@siliconvalleymom thanks a lot for your response.