Correct that D23 is not interested in the UCs, great schools but not for D23. The only one we might tour is UCLA and that wouldn’t be to check out the school as a possible application but only to see it as its own thing; a piece of sightseeing if you will.
D23 did consider Pepperdine and it was on her list for a while but it recently dropped off. Cost constraint on that one; it was hard to see how it would come in at the budget we have determined. We decided not to tour it, why set up the chance to fall in love with the campus if it isn’t going to work out money wise?
As for all the cautions regarding our San Francisco portion of the trip, first thank you to everyone who has commented on that. I greatly appreciate the kindness of those who want to make sure we aren’t setting ourselves up for disappointment or disbelief when it comes to the distance of the schools from SF. I did have a fairly good idea of that issue before we started (hence my saying it was a generous description of being SF area in my original post) but all the conversation has been very helpful in getting a better understanding of distance, traffic and expectations.
I think we might end up staying in Oakland for the SF portion of the trip after all. While the hotel options aren’t perfect, there is a lot to like about the central location, the vibe of Oakland and the walkability of the areas near both the 12th St and 19th St BART stations. Thank you to everyone who brought up Oakland as a possibility, D23 excited to stay there.
So right now, as it stands it looks like:
Flying into San Jose
Staying in Oakland for northern California portion of the trip
D23 trying to decide whether to visit UoP or USF - will come down to the time of the campus tours once those two schools release their March schedule.
Driving down from northern California into LA area
Staying in Santa Monica (ht to @Twoin18 for the amazing B&B suggestion)
D23 still on fence about Occidental, again will make determination when campus tour schedules release
Driving down to San Diego
Staying in La Jolla while visiting USD
Flying out from San Diego
Also, thank you for the weather/water temperature heads up. None of us were thinking/planning on swimming in the Pacific while we were there; I always find the Pacific to be cold and not exactly swimming friendly for the thin skinned. We were all more excited for beach walking/biking/watching but again I do appreciate the kindness of the information being shared on this thread. And I am sure D23 will be pushing for those thick sweatshirts at the college bookstores, she would be even if we were going in the height of summer.
Now that we have our main stay locations,
Oakland (near 12th & 19th St BART)
Santa Monica (north of Santa Monica pier)
La Jolla (La Jolla village area)
If anyone has specific restaurant recommendations, sights to see, etc please share them so I can put them on our plans. Thanks again, everyone has been so helpful!
Also, if there are any suggestions of restaurants, sights, stores, etc near any of the colleges themselves, again we would love to hear about those too!