Applying to college after 3 year break- HELP! lol

Applying to College
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<p>Hello ALL! I am a first time poster and came to this site because it seems to be the one with a wealth of information. So here is my story/dilemma:</p>

<p>I graduated from school three years ago. At that time I was living on the East Coast- where I had grown up. When I graduated I was the second in my class (the salutatorian) with a GPA of 3.87 (or something, my transcripts aren't in front of me) and pretty decent SAT scores. I was not too thrilled about college (kind of felt like I wanted to see the world) but I applied to a few schools anyway in a lackluster fashion and got accepted to all of them. Okay, so then it's time to go to college and I get caught up in this political group and decide to travel around with them and see the world. In my time with them I went to Venezuela, NZ, Australia, London, and got to see all 50 states. They asked me to move to California and here I am. A month ago I decided I wanted more stability and money (read: they wanted me to keep moving around and be footloose- and broke-lol)- so I parted ways.
Now I like California so I decided to stay here, (been here going on a year and a half), and now I want to go back to school and get a degree so I have more of a chance at a real career.
My question (after telling my life story-lol) is what are my options in going about applying to schools?
At first I was thinking I needed to go to a city college first for a semester or two get good grades then transfer over to a four-year showing the colleges my HS transcript and my current good grades.
But my question for that is how long would I need to go to a CC before I can transfer over?</p>

<p>THEN, I was thinking maybe I would just apply to a four year directly from scratch. Is there any hope in that?</p>

<p>The four year schools I was looking at are San Francisco State or UCSF.</p>

<p>Thank-you for taking the time to read this. :)</p>

<p>-CKR</p>

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<p>UCSF is a medical/graduate school and offers no undergraduate degrees that I know of. SF State would be a cinch for you to get into. There are many four year schools you could be accepted at. Your three year break doesn't matter... you are still applying as a first time freshman and I think your SAT scores are good for five years. Your only problem MIGHT be if you took the old SAT. Beginning with graduating HS seniors on the class of 2006, most colleges require the new SAT with writing (2400 total score). Be sure to fill out the FAFSA, too. You may qualify for financial aid as well. Go online and get your pin early... you can read up on financial aid in that forum. Good luck with your applications.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much. I think I meant to say USF not UCSF. That info about the new SAT is really helpful. I took the SAT before 2006 so I wonder if that might be a problem. Well, they can't really hold it against me- how was I to know they'd change it after I graduated! lol. Thanks again.</p>

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<p>Many schools have admissions officers who specialize in dealing with "non-traditional" students. Ask to speak with their specialist when you contact the admissions offices. It is quite possible that they will be happy with your old SATscores - especially if have something interesting to say about how spending three years in the workforce has helped you focus on your life goals. </p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>