Applying with two college transcripts?

this is going to be a little bit vague, but im a current freshman at a top70 public school that isn’t happy with his/her program. i want to transfer, but i waited too long and won’t be able to competitively apply anywhere (didn’t make a conscious effort to get to know professors for rec letters, class sizes 100+ students and lines during office hours).

i finished first semester with a 3.75, and plan on doing as well if not better for the next semester. the colleges i’m interested in transferring are expensive, but good enough for me to be ok with taking out small loans for (vanderbilt, cornell, boston college, etc).

would i be at a disadvantage if i spent my sophomore year maintaining my grades at CC to save money when applying to top schools for junior year? i know little about this process and if my situation occurs often. thank you!

can someone help me?

There is no specific problem with spending your sophomore year at a CC. There also is no reason why you can’t ask your profs from last semester for an LOR. Just go visit. Remind them that you got a 4 in their class. Ask them if they can write a letter for you. Some probably will be perfectly willing to do that.