Community college/TAG, SJSU or go to UC Merced then transfer over to another UC

I applied to all colleges for computer science, except SJSU (undeclared), which I have a feeling I’m going to regret because of its heavily impacted and I’m not anywhere near 100% locked on this career path. I’m asking more specifically which one will give me a better chance to transfer to the more competitive UCs like UCSB or UCB. I know TAG shouldn’t be too complicated as long as I fulfill the contract, but does UCM carry more weight, over CCCs and SJSU, in the admission process for other UCs because it’s in the UC system?

I can’t speak to UC Merced’s transfer feasibility, but if you join one of the CC honors programs and fulfill the TAG, you won’t need to wonder… and you’d save a ton of money along the way. On the other hand, you might end up really enjoying UCM, and get to spend all your college years on one campus, if that is attractive to you. Choosing UCM would give you that, with the option to apply to transfer.

What other colleges were you accepted as a CS major? If you transfer, will you continue with CS?
CC to UC transfers have priority over UC to UC and CSU to UC as transfers.
Also note if you decide to continue as a CS major, only UCM, UCR, UCSC and UCD will allow TAG for the major. UCI and UCSB do not offer TAG for CS.

SJS has more Silicon Valley hires than the other state schools, including UCs is what I have heard. So, you aren’t losing anything going there. Though you should see how flexible they are in getting into CS, or getting CS courses if you are not in the program.

But SJSJ undoubtedly has very tough weed-out courses that take ten times the amount of hours outside of class in the lab. Why not UCM, a fledgling university, a bit softer grading curve, etc? CS there won’t be easy; the profs might be exceedingly tough and will try to stretch your mind, but I don’t think they’ll flunk you out. And if you hang there, you’ll be rewarded.

when it comes to UC transfers first priority is given to CC students.

that said, if you got into UCM as a CS major and it won’t break the bank, I’d go there and see how it goes. Maybe you hate CS but love UCM … maybe the reverse will be true. You’ll have more flexibility with major changes at UCM and will retain the right to apply to transfer to another UC.

Entering SJSU undeclared, with hopes of going into CS, seems like the loser among these options. IMHO you’d have a better chance of getting into SJSU CS as a transfer from UCM CS, where at least you know you could get into the lower-division classes, than by trying to fight your way upstream among the many SJSU undeclared students trying to do the same thing. So I don’t see starting out at SJSU without direct-admit to CS as a win, vs. either UCM or CC.

If UCM is affordable, then I would agree with @firmament2x that it’s the best way to explore your options, both major-wise and transfer-wise. You can pursue CS but have good options if you change your mind. (Merced also has a Cognitive Science program that is a good interdisciplinary alternative that would still allow you to acquire a CS skill-set, but with more breadth, if subjects like psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, and philosophy are also of interest.) You can pursue transfer apps if you want to but you can also stay, if you are happy where you are, and earn a UC degree without the stress and disruption of transferring. This seems like the best-of-all-worlds option to me, unless your financial circumstances make CC a more compelling option from that standpoint.

It is exactly the opposite. Preference for transfers is given to CCC students.

You can see a graph at https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfer-admissions-summary showing the admit rate is higher for CCC students.