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You are mistaken. Here is what the “Freshman Matrix - University of California” says about UCSC: “Choice of major does not affect admission to the campus.”</p>
<p>There are pluses and minuses to each approach, everyone needs to make their own decision. There is something to be said about continuity at a college. People are more open to making new friends when they start as frosh and know few others. It gives more time to get to know some profs (a key for getting good recs for grad school). Just 2 reasons why 4 years in one place is better than 2. </p>
<p>And just to throw it out there, I’ve read posts on this forum by people who start at school X with the intention of transferring in a year or two but who then find they like the school once enrolled, they have friends they don’t want to leave, etc. So if you go to UCR that may happen to you. Indeed, perhaps is likely, if the discussion about how we are bad at predicting our future reactions in the book “Stumbling on Happiness” is any guide.</p>
<p>Note, too, that your 1st 2 years of college will be quite different depending on where you go. Most CC students live at home, which would be much different than going to UCR and becoming part of the student community. You talk about peer pressure, and its a real effect. In college, too. At UCR most of the kids will get a 4-year degree. There are some CC’s with good reputations, but without knowing which one you will attend the overall average isn’t too promising.
When</a> many of the kids around you are unprepared the classes will not have the same rigor as at a UC, and your peers may actively enforce the social norm of low performance. You won’t want to be the kid always raising his hand with the answer. Again, though, this isn’t all CC’s. </p>
<p>And on the flip side many UCs offer the TAG guarantee, including UCI and UCSB. If you have the potential you believe then you would be able to satisfy the conditions and get a promise of junior year admission to a school you prefer.</p>