When most high school seniors think about college, they picture four years at a university like UCLA, USC, or UC Berkeley. What they don’t picture is two years at a community college, but maybe they should.
In a time when college tuition continues to skyrocket and acceptance rates at top schools are getting lower every year, transferring from a community college like Santa Monica College (SMC) to a university is becoming one of the smartest decisions a student can make.
Take UCLA for example. If you apply straight from high school, your chances of getting in are incredibly slim (only about 8–12%). But if you attend Santa Monica College and follow the right transfer path, your chances of getting into UCLA jump to over 80%. That’s a massive difference.
Why? UC schools have guaranteed transfer pathways and agreements with community colleges, especially ones like SMC, which has a nationally recognized transfer program. In fact, SMC is consistently the #1 transfer school to UCLA in the entire country.
But it’s not just about increasing your odds, it’s also about saving money.
Community college is significantly cheaper. At SMC, students pay little to no money for attending classes, compared to $13,000+ per year at a UC for in-state students, and that doesn’t even include housing or other costs. Starting at a community college means you can knock out your general education classes for barely any money and still end up with the same degree from a top university.
I know this because a lot of my siblings’ friends did this same pathway and ended up with the same results. They ended up going to SMC for 2 years, didn’t have to pay any money and all of them managed to get into all the UC’s that they applied for with the addition of being 2 years ahead of everyone in their original class grade. They landed in little to no debt along with a high GPA when applying to graduate school because of SMC’s easy going classes and involved professors.
Of course, there is one tradeoff. When you start at a university as a freshman, you get the full “college experience,” which includes living in the dorms, going to football games, and making lifelong friends during those early years. At a community college, however, that social aspect can feel more limited. Many students commute, work jobs, or live at home, and the campus culture isn’t quite the same.
Still, for students who are focused on their future, care about saving money, and want a real shot at schools like UCLA, community college is a smart, strategic move. You get the same prestigious degree in the end, just without the crushing debt and pressure of trying to be the perfect high school applicant.
