More than often if a foreign student is not selected under H1-B quota or did not have a relative to back their stay in United States one of the few wrong routes they take is switching between visas often to maintain stay in USA. Students who transfer between Visa’s end up working for cash doing petty jobs in gas stations, 7-eleven’s etc. to be able to afford their stay. This is a vicious cycle

The foreign student will never get a job because they had stayed student for a long time with no credible experience and the secondary universities they switch to usually are not credible or recognized schools but sweat shop universities that extract money from foreign students to provide them a F1- Visa and merely teach classes of little to no value. The student loses subject matter expertise in the field he has studied and just end up doing petty jobs.

These students could have very well gone back to their home country in the interim and gain more experience. They had already had an international education and will be more equipped to apply for a H1B visa the following year but instead they lose their valuable time and money just to leap from one status to other
Also, even if they pass through skipping the loops and land a H1B sponsorship after a year or two, the Green Card process is vigilant and there is a possibility USCIS will notice the history of frequent change of status as a risk. That depends on what university you the student transferred to maintain status. There were a lot of universities that came under USCIS scrutiny and if you were associated with one of those universities it’s a red flag.

The best possible solution if you are desperate to remain in USA is to talk to the same university you got your initial F1- visa and check if they have a short-term program that can help you continue as a student. Also, chose a course that’s relevant and adds value to your professional career, in this way you have better chances of getting a job and it makes more sense for the immigration officials handling you papers in future.