I need some advice / guidance on transferring.

So, right now I am a sophomore at a CSU. And after my first year, I realized it was not the best place for me. I decided to stick it out another year just so I was not jumping to conclusion, and now I can confirm that I no longer want to attend this university. I did apply to 6 universities (should have applied to more), and of course being from a CSU it is incredibly difficult to transfer. I have already been denied from the 4 CSU’s I applied to with a gpa of 3.8 but I am sure that is because all my units did not transfer over. Now I am waiting on two more decisions to come out but I can already tell I am not getting into one of those.
Now here is where I need some advice on, should I stick it out two more years at this CSU but be miserable in a place I don’t want to live if I get denied from all universities? Or should I go ahead and go to community college for about a year and then hopefully transfer to the university I want?
I am the type that NEEDS to plan, so even though I haven’t heard from two universities, I need to ensure a back plan. I am also concerned with how financial aid will play out as well.

How many units do you have right now? Are they semester or quarter units.

@philbegas 64 semester units.

Which CSU is it / what is it you hate about it?

@philbegas Humboldt State. The professors are great, the people are nice but I really feel like the school isn’t for me. I definitely jumped the gun when choosing colleges my 12th grade year, but I was excited to try something different because I am originally from SoCal. I do not necessarily hate the school, I do think it is a good school for people who are locals and those who are majoring in environmental science, forestry, oceanography, etc. because we literally live right in the redwood forest.

But one thing I do not like about the school is the lack of variety of classes. The lack of events and clubs. And how the school is very secret about where the money WE are giving them goes. Another thing that i do not like is the surrounding area, theres literally nothing to do. So I feel like I’m wasting my youth up here.

You could suck it up for two years to maintain your financial aid.

Have you talked to a community college advisor yet?

I don’t know what the max in units is for transfer to another UC.

Plus, you need to check how your financial aid will be affected with a transfer.
You may want to go back to your community, live at home and commute to the local CSU. If they take spring admits, do walkins and speak to an academic advisor directly on campus.

@“aunt bea” Two years doesn’t sound very long but it feels very long. And I have not talked to a community college advisor yet, I am not sure which CC I would go to. I want to be closer to home, but not actually live at home or in my city. I think the max is 64 units but I honestly do not think all my units transfer over anyways. Assist.org doesn’t help and when I go to the advisors here, they just try and get me to stay. Which is understandable because HSU has a high drop out rate.

I am not sure where you applied but, something isn’t adding up. A 3.8 and 64 units makes you a competitive applicant for most programs at most CSUs and UCs. I suppose it doesn’t matter but, i am curious where you applied and why they indicated they rejected you.

http://www.csumentor.edu/Filing_Status/Default.asp
it looks like Monterey is still accepting transfer aps for next year - so contact them ASAP if that work for you.

I think @auntbea is right, you should probably suck it up. With 64 units now, i bet you could graduate a semester early if you really work it. (you could probably even do summer school at another CSU in So Cal. so you don’t have to stay in Arcata past the end May) That’s probably less than 13 months more you’d need to be up there.

If you you head to a CC, you’ll kind of be burning a year as you wait for the next application cycle - and it sounds like you’ll lose financial aid which is a bad idea. It is easy for me to say but, if you were my kid, I’d send you back to Arcata.

@NCalRent But if your kid was living in a place they weren’t happy at, would you still send them there? And even with a 3.8 and 64 units, I do not think all of them were accepted. Trust me, the easiest and best route for me is to stay here because I already have the next two years planned out.
Thanks for the advice everyone but at this point I am just going to wait to hear back from UCI and USC and see what happens. If I get rejected from both, then i’ll figure out something on my own. I honestly cannot see myself coming back up here and I really hate the thought of “sucking it up” when it would cost me to be incredibly unhappy.

I am not suggesting you stick it out until you become unstable but, sometimes in life you have to endure some crap to accomplish goal. You are more than half way to a huge accomplishment and you have performed admirably with a 3.8 GPA. I would hate to see that derailed. Your best course depends on your family’s means but, if you are going to lose financial aid, that should be a big factor. It may require you to delay or stop college altogether - that’s a far worse outcome. Killing a year at some random CC seems like a silly detour - especially if it costs you your aid package. Do what you can to accelerate your graduation - I am confident you could graduate a semester early.

Good luck