I need someone's opinion! (Transfer student not sure to transfer in August or in December)

Transfer Students
1

I’m an international student attending a CC in California. I want to finish up my studies this summer (by taking classes for session 1 & 2) so I can get my Associate degree, go home for a couple of months to work and get more money, apply for universities and then hopefully return to the US in Januari.

However after a lot of consideration I am beginning to wonder if I should stay one last semester at CC to take Math 117 and English 111 so I have eligibility to UC and CSU universities in California. I am feeling more and more that I don’t want to live anywhere else but California. If I take my associate degree right now however I will only be able to apply for private and out of state universities and yes there are some great ones out there, but my GPA is only 3.2 (I’d probably raise it to a 3.3+ after this semester though as my grades are looking really good right now) but I don’t really have a big chance for the selective private universities that I really want to get admitted to.

However this is what makes me doubt staying one more semester:

  1. it's incredibly expensive for international students, I wanted to just quickly finish everything this summer to save at least 6500 dollar compared to if I stayed one more semester.
  2. I am extremely bad in Math and I am worrying that I would fail Math 117 anyways, I have worked my butt off this semester just to pass Math 107 (intermediate algebra) and I will probably end up with a C-. So taking Statistics sounds like a disaster to me and getting a low grade from Math 117 could really lower my GPA.
  3. I am sick of being here, I feel lonely being here as all of my closest friends have left a long time ago, all of my American friends are transferring this fall and so I will have no friends and be around kids born 01 (I'm turning 22). My family is also missing me a lot and I really feel I need some time home.
  4. It would be my fifth semester, some universities don't want to admit students that have taken more than four semesters. Also I might end up lowering my GPA because of the Math so have a smaller chance getting admitted to the schools I want to.

This post obviously screams: Then don’t stay one more semester. I just want to hear someone else’s opinion on this. I am super conflicted. It would be nice to save some money, go home for a while and get some more money and prepare for a couple of months of applying to universities without feeling too stressed. On the other hand: adding 6500 extra to my already previous expensive semesters (why not add extra and finish it completely) doesn’t do THAT much difference. I could go home in December and apply for fall 2020 instead of spring 2020 and have more school options (UC & USC). But like I said above: the risk is that the Math 117 will just lower my GPA instead of actually doing my education a favor by taking that class.

Sorry for long post but if someone actually took their time reading this: thank you and please share your opinion or thoughts on this (in the end it’s my own decision of course but it would help to hear opinions from people that I don’t know)

2

If you want to apply in the CA public university system, you have to meet their requirements. So yes, it would make sense to stay for the summer and/or fall in order to finish the missing classes.

If you are applying to public universities in other states, or to private universities, then you might not need these classes. But check the requirements of your targets, and see if that is true.

3

Also, whether you decide to complete the class or wait, you need to be aware that once you finish your studies, you’ll be expected to return home. The universities will educate you, they do not guarantee to immigrate you. Immigration rules are strict and sponsorship is almost non-existent because employers are required to seek US citizens first before even considering a nonresident.