<p>Yes, a spring semester would be less than a full year of college. I was not suggesting that you apply to a UC, I was giving specific examples of schools that would not consider you a freshman. As long as you have checked the individual policies of the schools to which you would like to apply, you should be fine - but “most” colleges would actually consider a student with a semester of college to be a transfer.</p>
<p>If you do not plan to continue to attend USC, why would you spend $28,000 to attend for a semester? It would seem a much better idea to either take a gap year and reapply (making you a freshman at all potential schools) or attend a community college for a semster at a fraction of the cost while getting units that are more likely to transfer?</p>
<p>Again, USC would not see anything “unethical” about a student transferring out after a semester, so you don’t need to worry about that.</p>