I only see one person being rude in the posts above and it isn’t @AgentXJP. The B&G plan does offer more aid, but in many cases it’s still cheaper to go to a CSU. AgentXJP simply stated that fact and asked if you had considered it.
Thats said…I don’t quite understand your situation. You were a CC student that transferred into SJSU in the Fall of 2016? How are you transferring to UC Merced for the Spring of 2017?
Since 2015, spring admits at the UCs (other than Berkeley) are usually reserve for approved appeals and special case admissions (usually involving missing prerequisites / last minute CoA breaches at other UC campuses). SIRing to SJSU conflicts with those conditions so I don’t quite understand if your even eligible to be a Spring admit.
Generally though:
- You currently don't qualify for the "CCC transfer" admissions boost since your last college attended is SJSU (and not a CCC). The only way to re-establish that label is by dropping out of SJSU and spending another semester at a CCC.
- Your GPA is likely below the 25th percentile of all admitted students at UCSC which gives you a very chance of getting admitted as a non-CCC transfer. Even if you return to a CCC...your GPA isn't likely to increase to the average GPA for language studies at UCSC (around 3.20) within one semester. [Take a look at this link to see the group-wide stats of the 51 language studies admits last year.](https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/transfers-major)
- You also have to worry about being labeled a high unit junior since you are (likely) taking upper division courses at SJSU as a junior transfer. Admission rates drop significantly once you reach this stage and you should meet with a UC admissions counselor to verify if it's even possible to transfer given your current coursework. [Take a look at this PDF for the specific unit limitations.](http://ccctransfer.org/sites/default/files/documents/toolboxes/UC%20Toolbox/UC-Toolbox-Updates-2015-16/uc-transfer-maximum-limitation-policy-chart-1.pdf)
- The degree requirements at UCSC and SJSU are very different. I'm not familiar with SJSU's placement policies but UCSC requires you to take Ling 50 & 53 before you can even get into the language studies major at their campus. A quick comparison between the [SJSU major map](http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/roadmaps/Major_roadmaps_2016_17/world_lang_literature/BA_Japanese_roadmap1617.pdf) and the [UCSC major advising worksheet](http://linguistics.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/files/LS%20major%20worksheet%202015%20V3-11-15.pdf) shows that UCSC will require more classes after transfer. The [elective requirements at UCSC](http://linguistics.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/ling/requirements/electives.html) are also very generalized and seemingly are less helpful with a JET placement than their SJSU counterparts.