Hey there! I’m currently attending a community college near my hometown of Seattle, Washington. I attended a small, private university for a year and a half before moving back home and transferring to a community college, which I’ve been attending for the past year. I have enough credits to be a junior at most schools.
I will be transferring back to a 4-year school this fall, and I was wondering, in general, if it’s even worth it to consider transferring to a school out of state. My original plan was to attend a university in Seattle and live at home, which would cut lots of costs for me. However, I would really like to get out of Seattle and the Northwest. I am very tired of the constant darkness, cold, and rain up here, and I’d love to go down to California where the weather is better. However, I’m not sure if it would be worth it to transfer to a school down there this late in my college career, since I’m already more than halfway done. At most, I would probably only be at a school down there for just 2 more years. However, I still think it would be a lot of fun to leave Seattle for awhile. At the same time, I have already looked in detail at the costs of going to a school in California (living expenses, food, transportation, etc.)
In short, I’ve weighed the pros and cons of each situation. If I stay here in Seattle, I get free living expenses, food, and much cheaper tuition by living with my parents, but I’m still stuck in Seattle and the bad weather. If I go to California, there’s nice weather, I’ll have much more freedom, and it may be easier to make friends because I’ll be living on or close to campus, but the downside is that it is a LOT more expensive to go to school down there. Also, I think there is a pretty high chance I will be going on to grad school, so I think it would be smart to save money for that.
If you’re a transfer student or have been in a situation similar to mine, what worked for you. Did you feel more satisfied going to a school at home or going somewhere else far away?