Third year at CC, switched majors, rejected from every UC program, what now?
Looking for any input from people who've been through something similar.
I'm a third-year California community college student who started CC in 2023. Began as a business major because I didn't know what I wanted to do. After a year and a half I switched to Mechanical Engineering, which meant another year of CC to complete the prereqs.
Just got my Fall 2026 transfer decisions. Rejected from UC Berkeley ME, UC Davis ME, UC Irvine ME, and Cal Poly SLO ME. Waitlisted at UCSD MAE. Admitted to UC Santa Cruz, but for Computer Engineering, since they don't have an ME program.
My stats:
- 3.74 cumulative GPA (STEM GPA noticeably higher, cumulative dragged down by old business major courses)
- Full math sequence with A's (Calc I through III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations)
- B in calc-based physics mechanics, B in general chemistry. Fall 2025 was a rough semester (heavy load, accommodations transition across multiple CCs, health stuff)
- Currently completing E&M and modern physics, statics, materials, and an upper-division engineering course at a UC through cross-enrollment, all on track for A's this semester
- Activities: founder and president of an engineering org at my CC, research role at an aerospace lab, NASA scholars program alum, part-time role in marketing and content production at a university program
- Multi-CC academic history, courses spread across several CCs to access prereqs on the timeline I needed
I genuinely thought my application was competitive. Real engineering project work, leadership, strong prereq progression, prep almost done. The rejections hit hard.
Where I'm at now, trying to figure out what to do:
- Take UCSC Computer Engineering even though it's not my major
- Spring 2027 transfer to a CSU (SJSU ME has been suggested)
- Stay at CC another year and reapply for Fall 2027 with a stronger file
- Some hybrid
I've spoken with counselors. Not sure if there was a specific prereq issue I missed somewhere, or if it was more about the cumulative GPA and competitive pool. The multi-CC pattern might have hurt readability of my file too.
If anyone has been in a similar situation, got rejected from your top schools after a long path, had to pivot, took a gap year and reapplied, or went somewhere unexpected and it worked out, I'd genuinely appreciate hearing how you thought through it. Especially if you were a major-changer or had a non-traditional CC timeline.
Also open to honest feedback on the realistic path forward. I know I'm too close to this to see clearly right now.
Thanks for reading.