@amtc I have to disagree somewhat with your recommendations of Pitzer and Scripps for the OP and your description of how the Claremont consortium works. You say:
Pitzer and Scripps adcoms are alert to applicants who are trying to use them to get into another one of the 5C’s. The Pitzer mission statement emphasizes: " social justice, intercultural understanding and environmental sensitivity." It’s true that Pitzer is test optional but they do look for fit and I don’t see anything in the OP’s description of her situation that suggests she’s a fit for PItzer other than a desire to go to college on the West Coast.
Scripps College says: "The mission of Scripps College is ‘to educate women to develop their intellects and talents through active participation in a community of scholars, so that as graduates they may contribute to society through public and private lives of leadership, service, integrity, and creativity.’ ” Scripps students, for example, all take the Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities.
I’m sure you know all this @amtc since you have a Pitzer student so I’m saying it for the benefit of other readers including the OP.
As for the OP’s proposal to attend community college in CA with a goal of transferring, OP might want to post that question on the California Colleges forum. There is a guaranteed transfer program from California community colleges to UC’s but I don’t know much about it, and there would still be out of state tuition to figure into the equation.