I don't feel ready to apply for CSU/UC transfer.

I’m having a dilemma. I’m about to be a 3rd-year California community college student and my counselor said all my requirements to transfer are done so I can apply for admission for Fall 2019, but I’m starting to have doubts of my chances of being accepted to a CSU/UC, especially UC. I’m starting to have a bad feeling that I won’t get accepted to Berkeley or UCLA or I won’t even get on the waitlist. I know this might be a normal process when applying but the main problem is I don’t think I have a lot to put on my extracurricular activities and my GPA is not so good. The schools I want to attend are very competitive so that also might be a factor in why I’m second-guessing even applying for next year.
I’m a political science major and all that I have is 1 fellowship with a mayor campaign + a letter of rec and another student and I are starting a political science-based club on campus this fall. I also just started to network around my current community college which got me that internship so I’m really just starting to build up that resume. I might be good for my backup schools but I really want to go to Berkeley or UCLA.
My GPA is another issue. I have gone to 3 community colleges for the first three semesters after graduating high school because of personal issues and a moving situation with my family. This tanked my GPA those first two semesters to where I was on academic probation, but I managed to keep a 3.0 and up after my third college and on my third semester since then. My GPA is a 3.1 since I’ve had to make up for the past. I’ve heard what does and what doesn’t get you into these schools but I don’t know. What are your thoughts, that I should continue to work on my resume and GPA and apply next year or am I just overthinking this whole situation?

Here is a link for UC Transfer GPA admit ranges by campus and major and I can tell you if your UC GPA, UCLA and UCB are not in the cards but there are several UC’s (UC Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced) where you do have a chance and could also TAG to for a guaranteed admission as long as you meet all the TAG requirements.

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major

UCB 25th-75th percentile for Transfer UC GPA: 3.60-3.99
UCLA 25th-75th percentile for Transfer UC GPA: 3.73-3.93

Even if you stay another year to bump up your GPA, meeting the 25th percentile for either school (3.6-3.7) is not possible. I would focus on other schools where you have a good chance and complete your education so you can get on with your life.

UC GPA is going to be the most aspect of your transfer application so even if you continue to build upon your work resume, your GPA will stand in the way.

There are many schools that would accept you, so time to change your “dreams” and face reality.

After three years of community college, I think it is important that you move forward and get a BA. You will have a difficult time getting your GPA up very much even with two semesters of 4.0s (though UCs only take Fall term grades into account). So here are my suggestions:

Your GPA is a limiting factor for sure. No amount of experience will get you into UCLA or UCB. It just doesn’t work like that as transferring to both of those schools is extremely competitive.

UCB and UCLA will always be there, you can try for graduate school at one of those institutions if you’d like. But seriously, forget the dream school. You need to find an affordable school where you will be happy to go and you can finish strong at.

Now, for schools I’d suggest besides UCR, UCM, and UCSC as all of those are Matches for you (and I know UCSC and UCR are both really strong for political science. Don’t know about Merced but that’s an option too)

-UC Davis is a low reach for you. The “enroll GPA range” is 3.11-3.46. You will most likely get waitlisted here which is no guarantee of admission, but sometimes people do get lucky. If you want to include a Reach, this one makes the most sense to me.

-Same goes for UCSB, it is a low Reach. The enroll GPA range is 3.04-3.46. It is more competitive every year but they do seem to take many people off the waitlist if you don’t get in the first time around.

In terms of Cal States, for political science I’d look at Sacramento State, San Jose State, Sonoma State, Chico, and maybe Cal Poly Pomona. There are other options out there I’m sure, but those are the ones I’m most familiar with (I was a political science major at one point).

There are private schools that would love to have you as well. I would not apply to UCLA or UCB because you will be still so focused on your “dream” school you will not be happy when acceptances roll in (UCLA and UCB are the last to notify students). You can do what you want obviously, but I think it is important to move on.