I’m from California but go to college in Georgia. I unestimated how much time, money, and energy it takes to fly and travel across the entire country. If I actually enjoyed my college, I could definitely see how flying across the country is worth it. The colleges I want to transfer into are super ambitious for me and all the colleges that would be safties/targets for me (CSUs, UCs) have deadlines that already passed. I’ve seriously considered going back home and doing community college for a year then transferring from there. If it matters, I got a 2.9GPA in high school and a 3.4GPA in college so far. I’m the president of my freshman class, write for a college blog, and am part of an acapella group. I really need suggestions on what to do.
Okay, it sounds like you are very involved at your school. Do you have friends? Do you like your classes?
The only thing you have pointed to is not liking the travel, but that happens only a few times a year generally.
Is it more that you are homesick or miss your family? Maybe struggling with depression? Both homesickness and depression are common among freshmen and transferring schools will not necessarily eliminate them. But good counseling can help — have you sought counseling? Talked with an advisor?
I think you need to fully flesh out what is underlying your emotions before you can come up with a plan going forward.
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Sorry for your struggles.
See this link. But I’d hate for you to rush and perhaps a Cc Would be the best bet to reset b4 jumping to another school.
CSU east bay, San Marcos, Humboldt, San Fran, maritime, Sonoma and Stanislaus are open
U can apply to UC for Winter/Spring. I don’t see it but others say Merced may be taking apps
Good luck.
for the UCs you need to be a junior by units when you enter UC, so you wouldn’t have been eligible for next year anyway. Going to a CC in CA next year could be a good idea to boost your chances for a UC since they give preference in admissions to xfers from CA CC. Also you could take part in TAG which guarantees admission to some of the UCs (check the TAG site for details). You can see the gpa range for UC admits at Transfers by major | University of California
Most CSU campuses have what they call a local service area and students living in that area get preference in admission, although with a higher gpa you can still get in. Start with https://www.calstate.edu/apply/freshman/Documents/CSULocalAdmission-ServiceAreas.pdf and then you’ll need to spend some time researching the campuses you are interested in to get details.
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To add on what @mikemac has posted, the majority of CSU’s also require Junior level status as a transfer so 60 semester/90 quarter units.
I also agree that attending a California community college and then transferring into a CSU or UC would be a good option but you might want to finish out the rest of this year at your current college and then start this summer at a CC.
UC TAG requires you attend a California CC with the completion of at least 30 semester/45 quarter units by time of transfer however, if applying for Fall 2023, then the TAG application must be submitted September 2023, so getting started at a CA CC sooner than later is an advantage. (Something to consider).
https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/tag-matrix.pdf
Best of luck with your decision.
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The post by @Gumbymom reminded me of one TAG detail. Of all the TAG schools for UC, only Davis requires that you attend a CA CC spring term prior to applying. For all other TAG campuses just attending for your sophomore college year would suffice.
I see you’re from the Bay Area; if you consider the CC-to-UC route and want a strong music program, West Valley could be a good choice. West Valley College Receives National Association of Schools of Music Accreditation | West Valley College
A lot of people find it hard to adjust at first, and it’s quite possible that if you stayed the course at your current school, you might find your groove and be glad you stayed. But then again, if you’re paying for an expensive OOS school only to be unhappy, there’s nothing that says you have to throw good money after bad. If you come home and do well at a CC, you should have excellent transfer options. How do your parents feel about the decision?
I see from your other posts that you’re interested in studying abroad. Rather than campus-hopping, you might consider doing what one of my kids did when she was initially ambivalent about her school. She went to a study abroad orientation early in her first-year spring, and got the ball rolling to study abroad sophomore spring. (Yes, the process takes that long.) By the time she finished sophomore fall, she had found her stride and no longer wanted to transfer. But if she had wanted to transfer, she could have submitted applications for a junior transfer before leaving for her semester abroad, had that experience under the auspices of her first college, and then transferred upon her return. If you did this, you’d only be committing to two more semesters on campus at your current school, and you could table the decision about transferring until the fall, without feeling like you would be stuck for your entire sophomore year.
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