<p>My DDs are interested in touring Scripps this summer. We would like to add another LA school or two to the list. I am looking for suggestions of schools that pull from a broader geographical area. My girls are the type more likely to be on a horse or curled up with a book than at a mall and right or wrong they are refusing to give serious consideration to schools that seem like they may be largely populated with kids who are more into fashion trends. Any suggestions? They are looking for strong biological science programs, active intramural, outdoor rec and Newman clubs/Catholic worship options. They are interested in Mudd too but their Math SAT scores are currently quite a bit south of the Mudd middle 50% Plus the Mudd focus seems to be more on engineering, physics and math than on bio.</p>
<p>Occidental.</p>
<p>The Claremont Schools (Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Scripps, Mudd, and Pitzer) are all right next to each other but are each very different. By visiting a few of these your daughters could get a better idea of the atmosphere they like.</p>
<p>I second Occidental. It's a small LAC, and while it will have the access to other things that comes from being situated in the city of LA, when you're on campus it feels relaxed, self-containted, green, and is quite pretty. It's selective enough that it has a great reputation and real smart students, but not so much that a couple dings in a student's stats will keep them out.</p>
<p>Another vote for Occidental here. If your D would consider a school a bit farther south, try the University of San Diego -- beautiful new Biological Science building there.</p>
<p>I don't know if you're interested in the UCs but UCSD ranks very highly in bio sciences and is in a very nice area.</p>
<p>Thanks all! I guess I should suggest that they take a look at Occidental. I kind of had put it on a back burner because a friend's son (w/ very strong stats) wasn't offered enough aid there for him to seriously consider it. This friends EFC is lower than ours and since his boy was an overall sronger candidate I assumed it would be out of reach financially for us. Any thoughts on that?? For the record I am aware that the CMC schools have the potential to be financially out of reach as well but since they are on the girls' radar already and the above mentioned friends son did get an extremely attractive package from Pomona we are still planning to visit there.</p>
<p>I encouraged UCD but they decided that it was too "Southern California" whatever that means. Same for UCLA and UCSD. They are both applying to UCD but really are looking at what smaller schools have to offer them. Thanks all for the input. Please keep it coming!</p>
<p>The financial aid at Pomona (all needs-based) is usually great, it's true, but it's a super hard school to get accepted to. Definitely worth applying, but like most of the very selective and very generous schools, you can't count on being accepted.</p>
<p>Occidental doesn't have the same ability to grant aid -- Pomona's endowment is immense -- and I have also heard of students not being able to afford it. On the other hand, Oxy does have some merit aid available which can help. It's probably like most places, you have to apply and see what they offer you. Anyway, it's worth a visit. My son loved it. He applied ED elsewhere and got in, so we never went through the admissions process and finaid offer there, but it's a very interesting school. He would have applied in the regular decision round had his ED app not worked out. I don't know if we would have been able to swing it financially... but you never know really until you actually see an offer.</p>
<p>Enjoy your visit to Pomona, too. That was a school my son really fell in love with. For reasons related to his sport he decided to apply elsewhere, but it was a bit of a regret to let go of that dream for him. He is now absolutely thrilled to pieces to be going to another dreamy school, but I remember Pomona was his "first love" when we started the college visiting process in his junior year.</p>
<p>Oh... and by the way, my son said after visiting colleges from the spring of junior year through the fall of senior year, that Occidental had, hands down, the prettiest girls. ;)</p>
<p>And here I was thinking about academics... silly me.</p>
<p>(I should add, that his criteria for pretty isn't fancy clothes, tans, or excessive displays of skin... although I did some skin on both genders in that beautiful CA fall weather.)</p>
<p>'rent thanks. Sorry to have lacked clarity. By "there" I meant mostly Scripps as neither girl is seriously considering Pomona. Frankly it is out of their league. I have no doubt that if accepted they would rise to the occaision but getting in would be unlikely. No, they were drawn to Scripps because of the all female living within a larger co-ed college context and Mudd because thier brochure was very clever and it sounded like there would be lots and lots of very funny, very smart, very science orriented people there. One of my girls attended an info session for all the CMC schools except Pomona and Scripps and Mudd were the two she felt the biggest draw towards. </p>
<p>I didn't think about the endowments being so different but that makes sense.</p>
<p>Your son sounds like he bases his assessment of "beauty" on things that matter. Good job!</p>
<p>"Oh... and by the way, my son said after visiting colleges from the spring of junior year through the fall of senior year, that Occidental had, hands down, the prettiest girls"</p>
<p>DH & DS took a college visit road trip this Spring. Stanford to USC, with some UCs thrown in. DS had the "hot chick" factor in his rating criteria. UCSB won. (At least I hope it was the S not the H rating the "chicks" ...)</p>
<p>If you're going to look at UC-Davis, then you should take a look at University of the Pacific in Stockton as well. This is a good under-the-radar type college (though its "known" enough to be profiled in the Fiske Guide.) </p>
<p>Spend some time on the website and you'll see that it has a lot to offer academically. A lot going on in the arts too. Haven't visited with S2 yet, but the campus is supposed to have a very attractive red-brick New Englandy feel. There's an active Newman club and Catholic services are held in the college chapel. Stockton is not a high-fashion kinda place, so I assume the student body will be pretty low key in that area. From the pix, they seem very down to earth. And there happens to be a Pacific Horsemanship Club. </p>
<p>General</a> Information - University of the Pacific</p>
<p>Maybe you should look at Loyola Marymount University in L.A. as well. Pretty campus, nice kids. (Might also be too "So Cal" though.)</p>
<p>About</a> LMU</p>
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<blockquote> <p>My girls are the type more likely to be on a horse or curled up with a book than at a mall....<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>In that case UC Davis should be ideal. I'm a UCD alumnus, and that school is about as horsey and non-mallish as a school can get.</p>
<p>Another horsey school they should consider: Cal Poly Pomona, aka "The Broncos" (and not to be confused with Pomona College - although they are located not far from each other).</p>
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<p>I am guessing that she meant USD, University of San Diego.</p>
<p>Loyola Marymount is another good choice. So my 2 cents are Occidental and LMU.</p>
<p>Some others to consider, besides Occidental, that might be worth it for the options of good financial aid since they would probably have some merit options:
University of Redlands and University of San Diego. While they are in a different league (athletically and by the standard statistics)--they have some excellent programs and have made some excellent students I know very happy. Looking at some schools on the margin of your "zone" often helps kids get much clearer on what they are most looking for--and that helps them interview well wherever they go....And be glad your's want to look. My junior is still in the "won't think about it yet" phase and the summer will go very fast....</p>
<p>D has a close friend who just finished first year at Oxy. Loved it. I agree with the idea to add LMU to the tour. Gives a different type of school in the same general area and size. It might help you D's to figure out what makes a school "too SoCal".</p>
<p>courer...Denise is right. I mistyped, I meant that I had tried to get them to thing about USD not UCD, oooops they are very interested in UCD and Cal Poly/ Thanks for the positive reviews.</p>
<p>I suggest that you look at Pepperdine. It has a strong biological science program.</p>
<p>Of the 5 C schools, they might want to consider Pitzer along with Scripps.</p>
<p>Good luck, historymom. CA seems like a great place to attend school.</p>
<p>Just wanted to say I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one w/a son who mentions the "hot chick" (!) factor in school preferences..!! (Son has eliminated Geo Tech from consideration purely because of the 70/30 male/female ratio.)</p>