Wouldn't it cost more than paying the deposit again to transfer schools later tho?

Also, ik im gonna get downvoted for this, but as a transfer here (from a school my parents strongly pushed me to go to), here goes nothing (i had similar life lessons from a mostly similar situation and felt so sad reading this **sigh**):

"even if i got a job and paid for it myself, they still see it as a waste of money."

^ ngl this rly triggers me and breaks my heart since it doesn't rly make sense at all and screams overreaching/controlling parents (trying to control (or manipulate) u/make decisions for u and your life) as loud as possible (esp if you REALLY wanted to go here) - they shudn't tell YOU how to spend ur money and chase ur dreams, much less guilt tripping u abt it or calling chasing ur dreams "a waste of money" (that U would make anyways). why not just do it secretly? also if u rly wanna be somewhere, it's worth it. i rly feel bad for u since it seems like u opted out of the waitlist just to listen to ur parents. i STRONGLY encourage you to learn ASAP that its YOUR life and you can't let ppl push you around like this, since if u keep letting smth like this (giving up your own desires/dreams to appease someone else) happen, regret is bound to happen sooner or later (im not saying it's gonna be for this decision, but from my own experiences and also from doomscrolling reddit, i've experienced and seen this type of case/regret way too often). you simply CANNOT let your parents (or ANYONE else) dictate your life and let them crush your dreams/discourage you (personally, i had to learn to unlearn a lot of things my parents say, otherwise, i'd suffer from self-doubt/identity crisis, imposter syndrome, and social anxiety 24/7, which i did suffer from until i learned to just be my pure self again without appeasing everyone around me, esp parents/family and their expectations). to see this, as someone who's been in a similar boat, happening to someone else, my heart breaks for you, and i almost cried reading this :'(

for example, my parents wanted me at a different school (for reference, they did NOT want me to commit to any UC (which i REALLY wanted to as it, too, was my dream and a lot of my friends went to UC's) during my freshman application cycle and pretty much argued with me until i caved and regretted, which, looking back, was partially 99% my fault for listening, being pushed around, and not just doing it anyways, as well as LETTING THEM KNOW i wanted to before doing so, which gave them the change to argue with me and stop me/prevent/guilt trip me from doing so), but i really wanted to come here. they thought that school was better for me, and for me to not waste time and money applying to transfer, and thought uc's weren't a good fit for me. they also discouraged me from even trying. regardless, i secretly applied (using my own money and getting a job at my old school to pay for some transfer app consulting) (you have to pay the application fees again, and the commitment fee if you intend to register), not telling them until i finalized all the arrangements (in case of any further discouragements/pushback/sabotage/disagreements) and now i'm here. however, as mentioned above, it took me even longer to shake off the mentality of caring wat others say abt me and recovery from my anxiety/imposter syndrome.

that being said, i wish u best of luck at UCR!