Second thoughts about transferring (UC Irvine CS)

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

So Fall semester at my CC starts next Monday. Until recently, I thought I had made up my mind to go to UCI but I’m having second thoughts about transferring.

I’m a Computer Science major, and grinding Leetcode in the past month has made me realize basically that I suck at coding. Summer 2020 internships (the worthwhile Silicon Valley companies) finish recruiting October-November and start interviewing in December, and in that time frame I don’t think I can improve my skill to pass the technical interviews, assuming I even get a response. I’m quite happy with Irvine (location, curriculum, etc.) otherwise, but this is my main concern. Graduating without a Summer internship would be pretty much a nightmare scenario that I’d like to avoid at whatever costs possible. I’ve already signed a housing lease at UCI but if I withdraw my SIR the lease will also be cancelled with the deposit as a fee, so it’s not too late for me to change my mind.

If I spend another year at CC, I would be able to finish missing prerequisites for Berkeley and UCSD, as well as practice algorithms and work on personal projects in my free time. My stats are relatively high (3.82 at CC, 3.76 at 4 year) and I have decent EC’s (volunteer work, CS tutor, leadership part time job) so I think I’m in a decent position academically. However I am concerned with the opportunity cost of another year at community college and delaying my bachelors. Berkeley is basically the only school I’d pick over Irvine, and if I get rejected or I’m unable to declare Computer Science (3.3+ GPA at Cal), I’ll have essentially wasted a year of my life, not to mention the opportunity cost of a year’s worth of salary from graduating earlier (100,000-200,000$). Also, with TAG gone, I wouldn’t even be guaranteed acceptance to Irvine next year either.

It’s a pretty rough dilemma, not sure what I should do and would appreciate advice.

TL;DR too stupid for CS, don’t think I’m ready for 4 year/internship

2

The 3.3 GPA L&S CS cutoff gauntlet for Berkeley in itself is not overly difficult yet at the same time around 50% who attempt either give up or don’t make it through. And chances are if you didnt make the 3.3 cutoff you wouldn’t do that great in the upper division classes. But there are many other allied majors which would serve you well even if you didn’t make it.

3

I don’t have a crystal ball to see into your future, but I’m not convinced the opportunity cost is what you say. If, as you say, you aren’t ready to qualify for a summer internship then your job prospects on graduation will be diminished. Employers like to see it, and if you do a good job it usually leads to a job offer from the summer employer. The poing is that by staying an extra year at the CC the difference in lifetime earnings may more than make up for the cost of one more year of college (and that $100-200K is not guaranteed anyway).

Even though UCI won’t offer TAG for CS anymore, you can check with admissions or the dept to see what the admit gpa range was for non-TAG student