@finallyfree, I’d say pretty good. EE at UofI isn’t nearly as hard to get in to as CS.
@julliet well, if you got rejected from harvard of stanford as a ftf, then i think you would know that you just arent stanford/harvard material. depending on what state OP is from, i think he has chances of gettting into good in state schools from CC. he seems to be smart, and most people do better in CC than in high school because they learn from thier mistakes. if OP is from idaho, then yes… just take purdue, cause transfer admissions are going to be tough. i guess i was speaking from my own circumstance (im from california, and there are plenty of UC’s that give top priority to CC’s, and a lot of times its much easier to get into UC’s and USC from CC then it is from high school). it all depends on ur circumstances i guess.
@finallyfree
In addition to the fact that the best scholarships are for first time freshman, there are downsides to CCs. They only offer lower level courses. A student who completed a lot of APs will have limited offerings to choose from at a CC. Even with articulation agreements, transferring does not mean you will have courses counted as in major credits vs. elective credit by the 4 yr university. You have to investigate very closely.
I know students who thought that transfering from a CC to a university would save them money, but it ended up costing them more and required longer to complete their degree bc of the way courses transferred in. Communication between CCs and universities is often lacking. Students need to do their own confirming on both ends and not rely on something that someone else told them.
In addition, students who transfer in during the equivalent of their jr yr may be at a disadvantage in terms of LOR and on-campus research bc they don’t have professors who know them well-enough to recommend them. If a student wants to coop, participate in REUs, or on campus research, the big picture needs to be well-thought through.
@finallyfree I hope you do not have to settle for Purdue. If for some unfortunate reason it is your only choice be assured that you will likely not be among lesser students. Purdue has more engineering undergraduate students than CWRU has undergraduates and is known as a school which has had 0 grade inflation over the past several decades. I am quite sure you will be challenged and Purdue will afford you plenty of opportunities (possibly more than “higher ranked” schools) if you choose to avail yourself of them. To the OP, I wish you the best. The only suggestions I would have is for others who will apply next year. Consider the schools you apply to carefully. Like your safeties and don’t consider schools that are good matches for you safeties. Public universities serve their instate constituents first and out of state and internationals second. Be aware that standards for the latter will be stricter.
Long time ago Purdue engineering grad here: No dissing allowed!!! Purdue is a great school. Thanks @lvvcsf and @juillet! 
@annwank @lvvcsf yeah, i know purdue is a very difficult and good engineering school. i just don’t want to go there becuase im not too sure if i want to do engineering for the rest of my life and if i end up changing my major, purdue really isnt too good for other programs. (i would change to being a math or statistics major and intend on becoming an actuary and purdue doesnt really have too great a math/stats program) thanks for the info.
Purdue is great for other programs besides engineering. First of all, undergraduate majors other than pre-professional ones like engineering and business aren’t ranked - because it’s the totality of the undergraduate experience that is important otherwise. You have to look at the overall undergrad reputation of the school, and Purdue is a great one.
But besides that, it’s simply untrue that Purdue doesn’t have a good math program. It’s (graduate) math department is ranked in the top 30 in the country. Its statistics program is in the top 10-15 programs. And in case you think about computer science, that program is in the top 20 as well. Their physics program is in the top 25. Both the National Research Council and U.S. News puts Purdue in these high positions for their graduate programs in these fields.
^well said!!