Okay I just want to rant for a little bit.
I’m a transfer student and received the news that I didn’t get into UCSB or UCI this fall and I’m pretty devastated. I only got into my safety school CSUCI.
Out of high school I was accepted into CSUF and went there for a year undecided and decided to move back to my hometown in Northern California. I decided that it would probably be smarter to go to a CC for a couple of years while I tried out different majors. I tried out animation, then journalism, and felt like those weren’t for me and landed on computer science. I’m not really passionate about computer science but thought I’d be good at it and it would be easy to find a job after college.
Anyways I did community college in Northern California for 3 years, then decided I wanted to move to SoCal again. Once down here I enrolled in another year of CC and also applied for UCSB, UCI and CSUCI. Choosing those schools because I wanted something close and did not want to move far again.
So now I was only accepted into CSUCI, which I will be going to in the fall, and I’m just really disappointed. I’ve been in school for 5 years now, with at least 2 more to go. I felt like if I got into a UC I wouldn’t feel so stupid about taking 7 years to graduate. And I was really excited to be back on a 4-year’s campus again, but now I’m not looking forward to going back at all.
I know that CSUCI isn’t a bad school but I just felt like I didn’t have to earn my spot there. It just feels like all my hard work in honors classes, AP classes, and my high grades in my CC classes are all for nothing now. Now I feel like I’m just finishing out worse than when I started, and almost wish that I would have just stayed in NorCal and go to Sac State. I’ve just felt so stupid and worthless and would just appreciate some advice.
Is it really advice you’re looking for, or reassurance?
Don’t be so hard on yourself. You should be proud knowing how hard you worked even if the UCs didn’t recognize that. Also, know that comp sci is extremely competitive. I wouldn’t say your hard work was “for nothing” either. You keep up your work ethic and you’ll really be going places (graduating with distinction, a good grad school if you’re interested in that, etc. At some point someone will recognize your efforts.) Doesn’t matter how long it takes, just that you got there. 
You applied to only three schools to transfer to?
What was your college GPA (over all colleges in transferable courses)?
CS is generally a more competitive major at UCs, as you can see at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major .
At this point the only advice I can offer is:
- Stop looking in the rear view mirror. You can’t re-do the past. All of the hard work you have done in HS and CC will benefit your as you move forward.
- Start looking ahead and take full advantage of your opportunities at CSUCI.
The front window of your car is much larger than the rear view mirror for good reason. Focus forward. Look back only for reference.
Yeah the issue is that UCI and UCSB are extremely hard to get into for CS. The “correct” way to have done things was to apply broadly to a large number of the UC and CSU schools.
At this point, you move forward with things. Do really well and you’ll be fine, there’s plenty of demand for CS majors in industry no matter what school you attend.
If you’re really unhappy, do another year of classes at your community college and reapply to UC schools — but this time, apply to ALL of the UC schools, and choose a less competitive major than Computer Science. Computer Science is one of the most competitive majors to transfer into — if your heart is set on graduating from a UC, then pick a less competitive major. Research statistics on acceptance rate for transfer students for different majors, they vary greatly from major to major. All the best to you 
(If you don’t want to take any more community college classes, you could also take a year to work or volunteer while you reapply. Just check assist.org to make sure you have the classes required for different majors for transfer. All the best to you!)
The definition of a safety school includes something about your willingness to attend - thank god you included an ap to CI or you’d have gotten blanked completely. Like most of us, I’m sure there are things you could have done differently, The past doesn’t matter right now. You are where you are and have the opportunity to study what you want at a good school. Go there and do that…
I too muddled about for several years at CC’s and Chico State. My father almost died and I had to drop out of school completely. When I finally got to go back, I had only one unimpressive option (Sonoma State) because it was closest to my home.
It was THE GREATEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED to my college education. I loved it there, in large part, because I committed myself to the process, not the environment. Anywhere is good if you are up to the challenge. Go to CSUCI and GO HARD. It will all work out if YOU work at it.
Best of luck.