Hi all, I am facing a problem that I have no idea which choice above should I choose on earth. I kept a decent GPA in high school and it was about 3.75 out of 4, the problems went on my ACT test and college essays, consequently, I am only accepted by UCR out of five choices in UC system I applied to.
I’m hesitating over choosing a great, safe, and formal university or going to community college which is risky but I have a better chance to transfer to my dream school like UCSD or UC Davis.
I personally prefer to go to CC, but my parents and my school counselor all kinda disagree with my choice.
I know UC Riverside is actually better than it is ranked, and I’ve heard a portion of people telling me the place is very nice and so are the people.
I don’t have complaints about both while I don’t actually have so much good impression to UCR and the CC I plan to attend(SMC or PCC), My goal is just to transfer to UCSD where I could stick to my friends and a part of my fams.
BTW, my major will be computer science anyways, no matter what.
Overall, CC seems to be a quite safe and doable choice, even if I screw up things I may still end up in UCR. (I might be wrong on this, please tell me if any of my thoughts are nonsense)
I have confidence I will keep my GPA high in CC, but I have no idea if this gonna be the right path.
I hope to get some suggestions from you guys, I saw some similar questions, but they were from a long time ago and I ain’t sure if they are still valid.
ok , one CC can be a good option, esp this year if campus is closed in the fall, Usually you have to do 2 years at CC before you transfer, if you went to UCR you could transfer in one if you wanted, I have no idea how easy it is to transfer to your dream UC from another UC after a year vs a instate CC, others know the UC system better than I and will chime in I am sure. Sometime the issue with CC is it is not challenging enough for some kids vs a 4 year school. Why is UC Davis your dream school vs UC Riverside? do you want to Iive at home for 2 years at CC vs on campus at Riverside? Could you take a gap year and work on your act score and essay and try again? What happens if you do not get into your top choices from CC? I would go to UC riverside and do the best you can, I would think it would be better to transfer from there but I could be wrong. Hey you may come to love Riverside and stay there.
CS is a very marketable major so a degree at UCR vs. UCD or UCSD will not make as much of a difference especially after a couple of years of job experience. You have a direct admit at UCR and there is no guarantee that you will be able to transfer to either UCD or UCSD (although UCD does offer TAG currently for CS but that could change).
If you wish to save some money, then CC to UC transfer makes sense but if you are looking for the “dream school”, then you should get that notation out of your head. Your dream school is that school that wants you which is UCR.
CS will be more competitive than other majors for transfer admission as well as frosh admission.
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major
UCD CS: 3.74-3.96 admit GPA range, 20% admit rate
UCD CSE: 3.50-3.85 admit GPA range, 7% admit rate
UCSD CS: 3.83-4.00 admit GPA range, 20% admit rate
UCR CS: 3.10-3.71 admit GPA range, 42% admit rate