How should one choose the research interest as an international student at current university?

How should one choose the research interest as an international student at current university?

I am currently a sophomore engineering international student at a relatively well-regarded university in Asia. I am planning to do an undergraduate research with a professor whose research area aligns with my interest. However, I was having quite a hard time deciding which research group I might go about. The following is my thought, in sequential order, after thinking about many factors: So I noticed that a lot of EE research groups Im interested in most are in traditional EE fields have no international students in the lab. Even some lab websites do not have an English page, and for other labs, Im afraid the environment wouldnt be friendly and that I wouldnt be learning a lot. Yes, Ive surveyed some of those labs. And I also agree that we should be able to conduct the research independently, but learning from professor and colleagues is one thing to consider. So my final goal would be to study Master degree at other university, not here. The best plan now would be to graduate from here and apply Master degree somewhere else, especially in EuropeU.S. where the environment is more international. But Im aware that my record is not outstanding to get accepted by a well-regarded or maybe second tier university in EuropeU.S., as I get two Bs and one B0 in EE courses, quite a few Bs in humanity courses we are required to take 8, and the rest are mixed of As. So this means that I have to do something to compensate for my bad-looking transcript, and I would go about doing research. As most EE labs Im interested in has no international students, I try to look for other EE labs that Im less interested or even neutral, which has more international students. Usually these are fields in modern EE, data analytics, robotics, and machine learning, and professors tend to completed his degree from top universities from U.S., and was told to be supportive to international students. In short term, if I choose this modern EE field, I might be able to do research in a supportive environment and might finally get a good letter of recommendation to apply for Master degree at a university in U.S. This is not the field that I was aiming at first, it is just a way that I might escape, knowing that if I were to continue Master degree here, in the field that Im originally interested, I would be suffering through a bad time. In long term, Im not sure for this path, as machine learning, data analytics and robotics havent been my interest in the past. Just it is a field that a lot of EE students are now moving into and there are supportive professors. So Im in the midst of choosing research area, weighting between the field that Im interested but no international community and kind of inactive I could be wrong at my current university, and the field that I have less or neutral interest but has more international community and supportive professors which may finally give me a chance to pursue Master degree somewhere else. Summary: How would one go about choosing research area as an international student at current university, if there is a conflict between your interest and other factors The field you are interested in but lack of supportive environment, such as no international students in the lab or not very welcome, and the field that you are less interested but has more supportive environment for international students What other factors would you consider