Help! Out of state college (UOI)student wish to transfer to UC system

Hi, I m a international student from university of Iowa(freshman)and I wish I could transfer to UC system. I went to my school counselor for advising but she said I need consulting from UC admission. Given that I have a 4.0 GPA so far and will be around 3.8 before transfer , what is my chance to get into any UC’s ? I was told its extremely difficult for out of state student transfer to UC system ? Is that true? Should I transfer to a California community college then transfer to UC’s ? Is anybody who transfer to UC has similar background like me ? Please help !!!