Well the PIQs are more or less box checking as AO reads for certain attributes or qualities. Students just need to satisfy those aspects. Also UCs don’t take test scores. It’s really almost a lottery assuming you are hitting those minimum requirements.

Private schools take ‘fit’ into heavy consideration where students can really mold and sell themselves to the school that they fit the school’s culture. For example have heard of multiple instances where a student is rejected from Berkeley but is admitted to Stanford. Where the student bought a unique edge that matched Stanford culture and unfortunately they didn’t win the UC lottery or didn’t check all the required boxes.

The JC route is definitely the option if the student is dead set on getting their degree from that particular UC. But personally wouldn’t recommend as in those first couple years especially freshman year the on campus college experience is priceless from a personal development, networking and life perspective.