<p>Sorry that my post is so long, but I wanted to make sure I gave enough information so that people have a decent understanding of my thought process.</p>
<p>So, here's my story thus far. After not doing much research in high school about what college I wanted to attend/what I wanted to do, I had put away in my mind to do engineering (with a minor in spanish), and ended up going to the only university I applied to (D2) because I thought that I was for sure on my decision. Granted, I practically have a full-tuition scholarship because of my grades in high school (4.2 GPA and 32 ACT, which actually should have been higher), and I'm living at home. A few weeks into last semester, however, I realized that I did not want to do engineering, nor did I like the hands-on experience/focus of the college. All along I was thinking that I would be able to get a job right after college and not have college debt, but I didn't do any research into what I really enjoyed or what other college options I would have. The real reason why I thought that I was interested in engineering was because I like math and am interested in science (I did calc 2 and 3 at a community college Senior year). So after realizing I didn't want to continue towards an engineering degree I am now pursuing an economics major and math minor/major.</p>
<p>The other side of the story is that I recently gained a huge interest in studying abroad (and later living) in South Korea, and so my current plan is as follows. </p>
<p>Next year (2nd year in college) I will study abroad for the entire year as a visiting student where I will take 38-40 credits because the university I'll go to lets me do so and I can transfer back all of the credits. Then, after just 1 semester back at my home university, I will have completed all of the requirements for my economics major and math minor in terms of quantity of credits needed etc. after just two and a half years.</p>
<p>The reason that I want to do this is because I want to live in South Korea as soon as I graduate, because I want to teach English to elementary students there and the only requirement to teach is a Bachelor's degree. I'm not sure yet afterwards if I want to continue living in South Korea or live in the US. My options would be to either live in South Korea and teach, live and work in the US, or go to grad school for economics. Either way, I'll just decide that when the time comes obviously.</p>
<p>The real reason that I wanted to post however, after explaining the background story of what I wanted to do, is whether I should look to transfer to another university after studying abroad. I think that if I find a university with equivalent courses to those that I'll take while abroad, they should all transfer because I should have the equivalent credit at my host university that I will transfer from. </p>
<p>Basically, the pros of transferring is that I'd be able to possibly graduate from a more prestigious university even though I'd be there for 1-2 years (I wouldn't be able to graduate in just two and half years most likely if I transfer because of certain requirements of extra courses I would need to take). The other thing is that I'd really like to be at a D1 college that has nice weather and more things to do. The main reason for graduating from a more prestigious university is just the job opportunities that I might be able to get if I did graduate from a higher end university.</p>
<p>The cons of transferring is the large debt that I will accumulate after 1-2 years paying out-of-state tuition, room and board, without very much financial aid. Most people would think that it would not be smart to transfer for a couple of years when it will cost so much money and the reasons that I want to transfer are not very beneficial in the long run, but I feel like I'm missing out a little on going to a different college.</p>
<p>I know that there are universities that offer large financial assistance to transfer students, but I'm not sure if these would be possible to me to earn. I'm going to research more about them, but after my first semester in college, I only did mediocre at best in my grades (3.333) because I got a B in my Diff Eq math class, a B in the main English/Writing class at my university, and an A in the 4th semester Spanish class). I know that this happens to a lot of 1st semester students, and the only reason I didn't get all A's was basically because I didn't try very much/study, but it'll have a decent impact on my GPA if I try to transfer/earn scholarships at a college that offers them to transfers.</p>
<p>I'm looking for advice from a different perspective/person, or if there is any other options I'm not thinking of. I still can decide to do practically any degree I want because I don't really have to decide right now. For example, I already know that I can fit a few different combinations of triple majors into 4 years at my current college, etc. but I just don't know what job/career I necessarily want to go into after college or what would be most beneficial to pursue/do in college for my future.</p>
<p>Really, I think that my main interest is living in South Korea, and therefore I don't really need to transfer to a different college and get more debt because I won't be making that much money living in South Korea anyways. South Korea is even more fitting to me anyways because I won't have any college debt when I start right away whereas most college students who might be interested in teaching there wouldn't be able to pay much off towards their college debt if they had a significant amount.</p>