<p>Funnily enough, I was faced with a situation much like your own a few years ago.</p>
<p>I was a pretty bad student in high school and didn’t do much work. Consequently I had low grades but high test scores and I ended up being waitlisted at UCSC and UC Davis. I was so lazy I didn’t even send them supplemental essays to stay on the waitlist and was obviously rejected. UCR was the only one, alongside UC Merced, to accept me out of highschool. Now you have to understand, I was pretty lazy academically and I was pretty idealistic so I had no problem going to UCR and was excited to be getting away from home and seeing the world for myself. Unfortunately I was rescinded from UCR after I got a D in A.P Calculus senior year. I was then forced to attend to my local community college because I really had nothing else available. </p>
<p>Today, I have been admitted to UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSC, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, and UCD. I never really knew what it meant to study until I got to community college; in high school I would pay attention in class and if I understood the material I would understand it and if I didn’t I wouldn’t even bother to try and learn it or study. I know that seems childish and immature and I absolutely think it was. I also never knew what it meant to have a goal and stick through with it. When my CC didn’t have a class I needed and I didn’t have a car (which I still dont…) I would take the bus to another CC to take it. I feel like I grew a lot going to CC. I worked while I was in school and made some money. I learned how to balance spending time with friends, taking care of classes, and going to my job. Plus I got into all these great schools and saved 2 years of tuition/rent/fees at a UC and actually made quite a bit of money through working/saving at my CC. </p>
<p>So I think, even though the choice was made for me, that it all worked out in the end. Who knows what would have happened if I went to UCR? Maybe I would have remained a lackluster student and passed my classes with C-'s. Maybe I would have blossomed and grown into my own, aced all my classes, and found myself. I don’t know and I don’t care now that I think about it. I am making the most of things now and that’s all that matters.</p>
<p>By the way, in regards to what your peers think or say, I would just ignore them. They might seem important now and you might want to impress them but trust me you are going to quickly learn how erroneous that is. In a month or 2 you are not going to be communicating with these people. DO NOT make an important life decision based on your relationship with high school peers because 1 day you might wake up in UCR, hating your situation and wondering why on earth you decided to make such a major choice based on the opinions of other people.</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents.</p>