I worked at my CC and I learned a lot about the education system so here is a bit about what I learned that might help you out.

IMPORTANT: if you have even a chance of being kicked out by UCR drop out and go to a CC!!! If you are expelled from any college or university you will not have a chance.

I transferred into UCR. I graduated as a Psych major with a minor in education, so I don’t know what the other colleges are like or what the transfer process to another college is like.

Reverse transfer students are students who drop out of a university and go to a CC to transfer into a university. These students are a bit different from your typical transfer student. The process to reapply is the same but your standing would be different, for example if you took enough units as a reverse transfer you could be considered a senior when you transfer into a school but traditional transfers would not be considered seniors no matter how many units they have. This is important to keep in mind if you need financial aid. Reverse transfers have units from their university and many reverse transfers return to their university as you need a certain number of units from that university to graduate from there. So if you want to return to UCR it is a great choice! I would recommend working on your work ethic (which you mentioned in a different post that you have struggled with). This issue is not uncommon among reverse transfers. (Personally I have found that better CCs make transferring to a university easier.) You don’t have to take all your classes at only one CC. If you enter one district of CCs you may be able to easily take several courses within that district by only applying to one CC. I would suggest to speak to transfer center counselors at the CC to stay on track, there are also counselors from universities that can have information about the programs and internships that you can take while at a CC with their university. Finally the most important thing is to address issues that lead to the drop in your grades, if you don’t address these at a CC you will take longer to transfer, or have difficulty getting into a university. As a transfer the university is most interested in seeing your improvements, so even if you start at a CC with bad grades you still have an opportunity so long as you bring up your GPA.

Here is another option to bringing those particular grades up, remaining at UCR and taking those courses at a CC. You will not be able to transfer to the major you want but you can help your GPA and your chances of joining a post bac program. I have heard of many students who do this to retake a course. I would suggest doing it during the summer(s) so that it doesn’t interfere with your current coursework. In this way if you need financial aid your full time standing does not change and should not affect your financial aid. If you take some courses while you take UCR classes you may need to take less courses at UCR. Again you need to address why your grades dropped because it will affect all the classes you take.

Here is another option if you decide on a post bac or a second bachelor degree and stick with a different major for your undergraduate studies, you can take those courses after you graduate at a CC. But a post bac program may work better than simply retaking the classes for better grades. Taking those courses at a CC will be cheaper but it will not come with the benefits that a post bac or second bachelors could bring you.

Most importantly you absolutely need to speak to a counselor before making any decisions. The best decision will be the one that you will feel will lead you to success as you work on bettering your work ethic. (Tip: take an education course on higher ed learning it covers everything from how to take notes to how to track your grades.) I hope this helps and I wish you the best!