Should I apply this year or stay an extra year to get my AS-T and finish my transfer pathway?

I’ve been at CC for 3 years and I’m in no rush to transfer. I want to raise my GPA (currently 3.38) so staying an extra year would be okay with me. Staying an extra year would allow me to get my AS-T, finish my transfer pathway (computer science), and I would complete all my under-division/required courses for my major without paying thousands. I’d also be at home with my parents, boyfriend, and friends. I want to get out of CC already but I don’t know if my GPA is up to par with some of the schools I’m applying to… I don’t care about school rankings so much, I just hope I can get into UCI so I can stay near my loved ones.

(Also the reason why my GPA is so low right now is because for the first couple years I was battling depression/mania due to circumstances that have happened to me. I didn’t get professional treatment until last year and have been getting mostly A’s/couple B’s ever since.)

UCI says

So unlike CSU where an ADT is a guarantee of admission to the system, at UC it is just a factor and doesn't seem that different from simply completing the major prereqs.

Have you looked into TAG, which is an admission guarantee? See https://www.admissions.uci.edu/apply/transfer/guarantee.php You seem so close to qualifying. They require a 3.4 by the end of summer 2020 if you wanted to enter next fall. If your 3.38 includes any non-transferable classes then your GPA may qualify. And if not but you stay another year at the CCC then you could raise it enough to qualify.

Whether to stay or xfer is a personal choice. I’d lean towards staying at the CC since taking online classes means you’d miss out on a lot of the college experience, plus I don’t feel like watching videos is the same as being an actual on-campus student.

UCI does not accept TAG for Computer Science.

Below are the UC Transfer GPA admit ranges by major and campus. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major

For UCI 2019 the admit range 25th-75th percentile for CS was 3.63-3.90. If UCI is your target, definitely stay another year at your CC.