After a jam packed trip to California, I wanted to come back and give our impressions and thoughts. All the advice and tips were incredibly helpful, thank you again!!
We ended up staying at the Marriott City Center in Oakland for the San Francisco part of our touring. it was perfect for our needs, easy access from the BART yellow line from SFO, and gave us great access to San Francisco during our stay. We checked out a couple of restaurants in Oakland Chinatown (super close to Marriott) as well as several in San Francisco proper. The 12th St/Oakland BART station was clean and for us who are use to the Chicago EL, incredibly fancy lol.
Restaurant/Food Highlights
Shan Dong - the hand pulled/cut noodles were excellent. The beef noodle soup was incredible; the broth a revelation.
Lush Gelato - best gelato we’ve had in the states. Their mint gelato was out of this world amazing.
We ended up not checking out Santa Clara while we were there, but we did hooked up with D23’s friend who attends Santa Clara (she came into San Francisco to have dinner with us one night). I don’t think we missed out by not checking out Santa Clara - though her friend loves it.
University of San Francisco
Pros - Gorgeous campus, compact but compelling. Obviously a lot of money has poured into that campus. Acceptable athletic facilities. Fantastic tour guide -enthusiastic, knowledgable and fun. School’s presentation definitely pushed the ability to get internships and experience in San Francisco and that getting a job would be easy after graduation. Huge push on Study abroad and great program to make it affordable to all students. Great facilities for her area of interest. Really good food options on campus as well as in the surrounding area. Loved the diversity on campus, felt like she very much fit in.
Cons - D23 didn’t enjoy public transportation all that much (we used only public transportation while we were in Oakland/San Fran because that is what she would be using if she chose USFCA). She also didn’t like how far away the athletic facilities were from the freshman dorms (all uphill on an admittedly hilly campus - though she joked she wouldn’t need to warm up the she got to the gym, the walk would do it for her). Housing only guaranteed for the freshman & sophomore years…so some uncertainty about how expensive housing would be the last two years of college. Dorms definitely on the older side, no inside tour. Still really didn’t like the school colors - didn’t want a t-shirt from campus bookstore as she didn’t like the styles/color of the offerings.
Overall - Great school, great campus, loved San Francisco. Not sure she wants to live in or go to college in San Francisco.
St. Mary’s College of California
Pros - She really like the campus. Thought it was pretty, felt more like a ‘college campus’ as she imagined. It is located in a box canyon, so fairly flat but has great hiking options, including to an observatory which she thought sounded awesome. Her initial impression of the school - “warmer, cleaner and safer” than University of San Francisco. Excellent athletic facilities. Very sporty, pretty good diversity. She really liked the idea of the four seminar classes that are part of St. Mary’s core, as well as the 4-1-4 semester system.
Cons - A little isolated, but the school subsidizes bus passes so that students can go into neighboring areas for greater food choices/go into San Francisco (food choice on campus limited). Didn’t like the styles of school spirit apparel in campus bookstore. Dorms are the least appealing part of the campus, pretty old.
Overall - She liked St. Mary’s, loved the location and the proximity to San Francisco/Oakland without having to live in either one. Stays on her list, strong potential to apply.
We did end up driving from Northern California down to Southern California. We did the I-5 drive, and notwithstanding the doomsday predictions - it took exactly 5hrs 47min to get from Moraga, CA to Santa Monica. Maybe we just got incredibly lucky with the drive, but it was totally doable and not a big deal at all. We didn’t hit really any traffic at all until San Fernando, and even then it was only a 15 minute slowdown.
We stayed at the Channel Road Inn - excellent recommendation from @Twoin18. Lovely rooms, excellent breakfast, as well as a lovely cheese/wine afternoon snack and less than 1000 feet from the ocean. Quiet residential neighborhood, great food options in walking distance. Made the drives to the campuses we looked at easy (our planning paid off and we hit almost no traffic with how we plotted out campus tours).
Whittier College
Pros: Another big winner on the look of the campus. Had the most tree shade of any of the schools we looked at through Cali. Good athletic facilities, friendly students, liked the library. Also liked the proximity of Uptown Whittier to the campus, thought it was really cute and very walkable. Dorms again on the older side (and didn’t get a view of the inside). Really liked the academic support described for students interested in pre-physical therapy program.
Cons: Pretty removed from a lot of stuff without access to a car. Limited food options on campus. Not terribly close to anything she enjoyed while in LA. Not a terribly compelling mascot.
Loyola Marymount University
This was the big winner of the trip.
Pros: Loved, loved, loved the campus. Gorgeous setting, incredible facilities, beautiful views. Great location, close to so much. Really felt like the campus fit well, and as she put it, “I’m seeing people who look like me in sweats and people who look like me put together”. Good food options, good athletic facilities, campus felt expansive but not overwhelming. Very dense (in a good way). Again, no tours of the inside of dorms but good overview. She also really like the closed campus sensibility (only two entrances onto campus and need to provide proof you are supposed to be there). Loved the school colors and mascot, really liked the bookstore apparel. Go Lions! 
Cons: She didn’t see any, but we were a bit taken aback during the information session to hear how much of it sold the school as ‘great ROI’. That isn’t our main priority, but seemed like one the school felt was most important.
Cal Lutheran/Pepperdine
Combo-ing these two reviews as both fell off the radar completely after brief visits.
Cal:
Pros: Absolutely incredibly athletic facilities, so much money poured into them.
Cons: Campus felt disjointed and cut in half by major roads. Tour guide extremely pre-professional and while passionate about the school, not at all what D23 is looking for. Way too commuter-like for her.
Pepperdine:
Pros: Gorgeous location, beautiful campus. Kind people.
Cons: Felt too far away from where she wants to be. Campus too expansive.
Did enjoy the drive between the two campuses immensely, and the drive back to LA along the coastal highway - picturesque. Great restaurants out that way as well - two recommendations I would give anyone visiting around that area:
Moody Rooster: Smoke trout toast was excellent, as was the barramundi. Great salads. Everything super fresh.
Malibu Farm: Good food, great location for sunset.
Other restaurants enjoyed while in LA were Caffe Delfini (near the B&B), as well as Tsujita LA Ramen. Loved Sawtelle, had a lot of fun wandering the area, and got great boba.
We ended the trip in San Diego. Stayed in La Jolla which was the right call for us, right on Coastal Blvd and across the street from the beaches. The sunsets and the seals were a very special part of our trip. D23 loved La Jolla immensely and the food choices were again outstanding.
The Taco Stand - Sooooo good. Every taco tried was delicious and the fresh made churros were perfection.
Duke’s Hawaiian - We went for the views more than the food, but the food was great and good adult mocktails as well. Wonderful waitress who recommended we check out SDSU as well as USD. She was so passionate about the school, we ended up adding to the itinerary.
University of San Diego
Pros: Beautiful campus. Incredible food choices; they are not overselling how good the options are. Friendly campus, felt like she fit in. Good athletic facilities, liked the emphasis on service. Did start to feel like a ROTC Navy promo after a while - there is a very strong ROTC program at the school, very impressive.
Cons: A (not so) small thing. Having to pay for parking while visiting the campus. Yes, it probably sounds silly to be put off by the $8 paid, but we were just shaking our heads like, “Really?!”. No other campus we visited makes college visitors pay for parking but USD. The campus is also the only one without a clear program preparing for a DPT. She could put one together there but not sure she liked it enough to want to do that when she had so many other options that have programs already designed to get you ready for grad school in PT. Also didn’t like the school apparel available in the bookstore.
San Diego State University
Pros: Pretty campus. Incredible athletic facilities and she really felt like she fit in. Was given tour by a student in the Kinesiology program - he was fantastic and really explained the entire program/process to her, super supportive and clear eyed on school. Great transportation system on campus, easy to get to San Diego and the airport. The price really can’t be beat. Diversity excellent.
Cons: It is huge, and while there are ways to have it feel smaller there is no mistaking it is a BIG school. Kinesiology an impacted program at SDSU, highly competitive to get accepted. Not sure she likes the idea of having to apply to a specific program as part of the application process.
The very late addition of SDSU to the itinerary was unplanned yet very helpful. I can see why so many sing its praises, she really liked the school.
Overall, San Diego and LaJolla were worth visiting…gave us plenty to think about. We also checked out Coronado Beach and Liberty Public Market. Really enjoyed San Diego and didn’t get to see even 1/10th of what is available/offered.
Thank you again for all the helpful information and suggestions, it was a great trip! We all learned a lot about what D23 is looking for, what spoke to her and how we can continue looking for other schools that may well work. 