Actually, @Rarebear makes a good point that if you wind up npt being able to get into your first pick of colleges, going to JC, or even a college that is not your first choice and tranferring, can get you where you want to be, but with a detour to get there. Butm I still recommend doing your best to improve things now, because your option will be that much better, and sometimes students feel rooted and then don’t transfer when they should because they have made friends and becke accustomespd to the college they are at. Also, going out of state to a college that does not attract a lot of out of staters can be easier to get in to. My GPA wasn’t great in high school, but my junior college grades were very good and i was accepted to Michigan State University, which does ot have a very large out of state student population. From what I understand they reserve spaces for out of staters, we pay a lot more for tuition, and I guess we are figured into the budget. Oh, and if you find yourself having to go to a junior college, or college of second choice, don’t feel like you have to get an AA or finish two years, apply to transfer as soon as possible. I transferred as a Sophomore, and so did many of my friends. Make sure whatever college you go to, if you might want to transfer, that you will be able to transfer all of your classes easily. Some schools will only take credits from certain schools.
But, again, I recommend doing better now, and making it easier on yourself later. College is so much fun. I highly recommend living in the dorms. Junior College you might lose some of that experience.