dropping out of private school for CC

Hi! I just finished my freshman year at a 4- year private school. Although I love the area and the campus, I had a very difficult time adjusting socially and therefore never really felt like I belonged.
I am now heavily considering attending community college my sophomore year and trying to transfer to a UC my junior year.
I am unsure of how to see how credits from my four year and high school will transfer to the cc and how those transfer to the UC.
Also, I am technically an English major although I have intended to switch to Business from the beginning and have therefore only taken Business and GE classes. Do I need to officially change my major before transferring to CC?
Honestly, I am scared to drop out of school and attend CC, as this is something I have only been considering for a short time.
Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated!

College Confidential recently covered this topic in general that might help you answer some of your questions. Read more here: https://insights.collegeconfidential.com/thoughts-on-transferring

at a CC your major will be whatever you declare it to be when you enroll. No need to change it at your 4-year first. For that matter, your major at a CC doesn’t matter (with exceptions below). Colleges are just going to look at what classes you have taken and if you satisfied the xfer requirements with them. There is a CCC major “Associate Degree for Transfer” that is an exception; this guarantees acceptance into a CSU campus although not necessarily your first choice.

HS is water under the bridge unless you have AP credit; HS classes themselves will not xfer credit at all. As for the credits from your current college, there are 2 completely independent events here. Your CC chooses what classes to give you credit for. But this almost doesn’t matter. You don’t need to graduate from a CC to xfer to a UC, and plenty of people xfer after earning enough units to enter a CC without bothering to get their CC diploma. This way they avoid classes the CC requires that either won’t count at a UC or aren’t needed for xfer. Independently the UC school will decide what to give you credit for. They don’t care what the CC allowed, they make their own decision. They won’t evaluate your units in advance, but you can look on the UC website to see what classes they typically give credit for.

Also be sure to look into the TAG program which gives guaranteed admission at some UCs, and TAP that gives preference for UCLA.

BTW I’m assuming you’re a CA resident and graduated from a CA HS

CC transfers get priority for the UC’s and CSU’s so it will be more affordable and a slightly easier process to transfer from a CA CC than from the 4 year university.

As mentioned above, if you attend a CA CC, you could be eligible for TAG (Transfer Admission Guarantee) that will give you a guaranteed admission to 6 of the 9 UC’s that participate if you meet the GPA and course requirements. Since the UC’s accept Junior level transfers, HS grades/courses (unless they are dual enrollment or AP credit courses) are not considered.

Here is more information about TAG: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requirements/transfer-requirements/transfer-admission-guarantee-tag.html

^^^ The OP won’t be eligible for Davis. Alone among UCs with TAG, they require attendance at a CCC the spring of frosh year as well as soph year.

https://www.ucdavis.edu/admissions/undergraduate/transfer/transfer-admission-guarantee/criteria

@mikemac does a student need to be full-time (12+ credits) at CCC in the Spring semester of first year in order to TAG Davis, or do they just need to take 1 class at the CCC in that first year Spring semester in order to tag Davis?
Thanks! This will impact my S20’s course planning next year.

I do not want to derail this discussion with the specifics of UCD’s Tag requirements but
@diegodavis: I sent a pm but the link @mikemac states:

[quote]
Full-time enrollment is strongly recommended to be best prepared for the rigors of UC Davis. Students who are enrolled part-time for any of the above terms should provide additional insight in the Additional Comments section of the TAG application.