Hi everyone. I am currently a freshman at a small LAC in the Northeast and feel as if I made the wrong decision on which school I enrolled in. When I was a senior in high school, I applied very broadly – from schools in the Northeast to the Midwest, Texas, and California. After a few weeks at my current college, I was considering transferring after my sophomore year (as a Junior applicant) to a top college in California, such as USC, Cal, UCLA, or UCSD, but would love to transfer even sooner!
The vibe at my current college is terrible. The students are snobbish, obsessed with drinking and smoking, smart but somewhat careless about academics, and outright uninspiring. My high school classes seemed harder than the courses I am currently taking. I have a lot of friends, but I am not entirely happy with them. Most of them are extremely judgmental, so I have to act ‘fake’ most of the time…
So yeah, I am not entirely thrilled with my choice so far. Would it be a smarter idea to transfer after one year or after two years? Below are my stats from high school (in case I should transfer after a year):
High School GPA: 3.51
SAT: 1970 (CR: 590 M: 720 W: 660)
Current College GPA: Either a 3.86 or 3.94 (4 A’s and 1 A-/B+)
Even if I do well this year, I do not think I could successfully transfer to a top UC or another top, private college in CA, because I’ve heard they primarily look at high school grades for sophomore transfer students. Pitzer College (one of the Claremonts) rejected me as a freshman applicant.
Since I really want to attend school in CA, would it be wise to apply to some lower-tier schools, such as CSUs and others, then transfer as a Junior applicant to top schools in CA, or should I just wait to apply as a Junior applicant?
I definitely will not have 30 credits by the end of this year 
So I may just focus on applying as a Junior Applicant. I would probably be paying only slightly more at my current Top 30 LAC than one of the CSUs