CSULB Theatre (as Freshman) vs UC Irvine Drama (as Junior)

D wants to study theatre. She was admitted to CSULB and waitlisted at UCI. If she gets off the waitlist at UCI, she’ll take it.

She had always intended to go off to school this fall, for the usual four-year college experience.

However, she has about 40 college credits (from high school) and a high enough GPA that if she doesn’t get off the UCI waitlist this year, she can take one year of California Community College and get into UCI with TAG (Transfer Admission Guarantee). However, she’d be entering as a junior at age 18 next year, and only getting two years of the typical college experience.

I’m really interested to hear from others, either your thoughts about those two programs in particular and how they compare, pros and cons, or about the value of starting as a freshman versus transferring in as a junior, and the pros and cons of that.

It’s kind of a hard decision. Thanks in advance for your thoughts on any aspect of this!

Just found your post and am curious about her decision. My D22 has similar number of college credits.