I agree with @DadOfJerseyGirl that finding jobs on campus typically involve positions at the library, campus departments, and cafeteria help. They typically have cafeteria jobs.
If you’re talking off-campus jobs, these will Include more of the same fast food jobs. Startups? Uh no, because these will more likely be a volunteer position. (Ask my son.) Their monies come from investors and they are harder to find. They can’t afford to pay you; it’s for the experience. You will be volunteering your time and not getting paid. Plus, from what I understand, it’s done online so you can do that from Canada.
For California, and the UCs, the large corporations are not really near the vicinity of any particular UCs, so you need a car. (Maybe UCSD or UC Irvine but that’s a heck of a lot of biking.)
Maybe because you haven’t been to California(?) you don’t understand that our public transportation, in most of California, is awful. Buses and transportation don’t go to a lot of places where the businesses are located. Save up for a lot of Uber rides.
With the exception of San Francisco and parts of the Bay Area, you’ll be sitting in a car, in traffic.
Internships are very competitive and visa issues are considered at some of these corporations. As someone said previously, an internship is a “tryout” for the company to see if they may hire you. As a Canadian citizen, you may struggle because of visa issues. A number of companies don’t sponsor international students. You can get an OPT (optical training year) but students usually save that for after graduation.
You’ve made a lot of erroneous assumptions and have created this idealized world about what the UC’s and what California will provide for you, but some of your thoughts don’t coincide with reality.
California is expensive. Maintenance on a car along with the cost of Gasoline is expensive. The UCs are going to run you about $75,000 a year. That’s not including the incidentals for living in California.
You won’t get any funding from California schools since the State of California pays through taxpayer money for their public universities.
It just seems to me that sacrificing your parents financial futures, hoping that things “fall into place” after year two, isn’t a very intelligent way to approach admissions to a US university.
Find a LAC that will fund you. Apply everywhere for financial aid, if you will need it for years 2, 3, and 4.
Don’t forget that you will need to budget yearly for the incidental costs of travel, US medical insurance (not cheap) and dorm/room/apartment supplies.
A number of universities cannot guarantee housing for all four years. This especially includes the UC’s. So you have a lot of things to think about.
Don’t make up idealistic scenarios that you think exist. And whatever you do, don’t use up your parents financial security; it’s just not worth it.