<p>collegegrl1, not a shallow question at all. The website says 57% women, 43% men. Sexual orientation not addressed, of course.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any current info on campus visits for accepted students? Outdated info on Chapman website lists only 1/27/12 as a spring orientation date. Whet about accepted students who have not yet come for a visit or are undecided and want a more in depth inside look at Chapman? (Many east coast schools offer such days to accepted students some time in the spring.) Does Chapman have similar opportunities and are they organized group visits or should my student set something up herself?</p>
<p>I’ll double check in a bit, but I recall that an email my son received about a week ago invited him to an ‘accepted students day’ on April 21. He’s very excited!</p>
<p>Does anyone know whether there are any hotels within walking distance of Chapman? We have not yet visited. If there are no super close hotels, what are some good ones people have stayed in? Planning to attend accepted students day with DD and would be flying out from the east coast. Any advice and tips on the area are appreciated.</p>
<p>Check out this link for Ruta’s Old Town Inn:
[url=<a href=“rutasoldtowninnca.com”>rutasoldtowninnca.com]Home[/url</a>]</p>
<p>This is a B & B type inn, in an old crafstman home. Not sure if that’s your cup of tea, but it’s right next to Chapman and near the Old Towne Orange Circle. :)</p>
<p>The French Inn aka the French Estate – [A</a> Personal Welcome | The French Estate](<a href=“http://thefrenchestate.com/a-personal-welcome]A”>http://thefrenchestate.com/a-personal-welcome)
It’s a fancier B & B…reviews: [The</a> French Inn (Orange, CA) - Inn Reviews - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32825-d119376-Reviews-The_French_Inn-Orange_California.html]The”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32825-d119376-Reviews-The_French_Inn-Orange_California.html)</p>
<p>Sky Palm Motel: [Sky</a> Palm Motel (Orange, CA) - Hotel Reviews - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32825-d1860785-Reviews-Sky_Palm_Motel-Orange_California.html]Sky”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32825-d1860785-Reviews-Sky_Palm_Motel-Orange_California.html)</p>
<p>There is also a Best Western Orange Plaza, but not sure how close it is (for walking). You can google it…</p>
<p>All these are nearby, but check their maps to see if they are comfortable distances for you. </p>
<p>Best wishes!</p>
<p>g-bird, Thank you! These are exactly the sorts of places I prefer to stay with my daughter when we go on college visits. I believe you can get a much better feel for the local area and for what the people are like if you can find an arrangement like this. Owners of B&B’s are used to answering all sorts of questions, and always have the inside scoop on what’s going on. When we visit a faraway place, we like to try to get the whole picture. I will certainly check these out!</p>
<p>You are most welcome! Old Town Orange is darling. Our quirky son loves it. I have a link for a walking/food tour of the area, also, but not handy at the moment. Also advise you fly into OC’s John Wayne Airport (not LAX).
How exciting it will be for you to see Dodge and the facilities for the first time. We toured twice and were…dazzled, astonished, DS very excited.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I’m looking for information on the amount of Chapman’s creative writing scholarships. My daughter was accepted and is applying for a creative writing scholarship. I’d love to hear any information someone might have!</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Mary</p>
<p>If I got waitlisted at Dodge does this mean I also got waitlisted at Chapman? How does this work… ?</p>
<p>Well, I think the way it really works is that while only 28% or so of the Chapman population goes Greek, 75% of the really social kids go Greek. But, that being said, the parties are generally open to all so if you don’t have the time to commit to the other aspects of Greek life (philanthropy, leadership, etc) and just want to go to the party you still can and your social life is still intact. You need to get involved in something in order to make Chapman feel like it’s a part of you. it might be Greek, it might be school leadership, it might be a club that you get very involved with- just do something and you’ll be fine!</p>
<p>Um… what… Huh???</p>
<p>As they say, this is all Greek to me…</p>
<p>shakespearefan- I’m a parent of a student at Chapman and I was responding to someone else’s question about Greek life/Social life at Chapman. There are people at every school, Chapman included, who are not involved. Maybe they play XBox all day, maybe they read,maybe they work, maybe they live at home, whatever, but for whatever reason they are not especially social and don’t make an effort to go out an engage and get involved on campus. And there are other kids who are the opposite. They are engaged on campus. Of that population, the majority will go through rush (because it’s fun and social), and then a decent portion of that group will pledge. I don’t know if it’s 75%, but of that population of students its pretty high. All I was saying is that Greek might not be the way to go, but your S/D needs to find someway to get involved on campus so that they feel a part of things. It’s a wonderful school!</p>
<p>Oh – I get it – Optimistictoast’s question from January, right?</p>
<p>Shakespearefan is a sorority girl (Yes, I can be both!) so I certainly get what you’re saying, valletta. Same deal as in high school – get involved. I agree. Seems like there are lots of ways to do that at Chapman. I wonder if they have a very active outdoor club given all the opportunities around there with coasts, mountains, deserts. </p>
<p>Valletta, what would you say have been your S’s most rewarding (non-acadamic) experiences at Chapman? Did he end up going Greek?</p>
<p>No actually someone else’s response from February, but I don’t go on this thread very often. My son did go Greek, and joined several clubs. The Freshman Foundations Program accomplishes what it sets out to do as well and in some way sort of serves as a club in itself. My son loves this school. We are Orange County residents and I really thought he should venture outside of what we call the “orange bubble”, but in retrospect he really knew what was right for him. I know your posts requesting places to stay during accepted students week are older, but I actually would encourage you to think about staying outside of Orange (like the beach which is only 15 minutes away!) so your daughter can really get a feel for the area. I’m not sure about an outdoor club…my son golfs and surfs a lot on weekends. The beach is close, but the closest mountains and the desert are 2 hours away so you need a car to get to them.</p>
<p>We have beautiful rural canyons in OC! Only 20 minutes from Chapman! The gladiatorbird family lives in one. 
We have Cleveland National Forest and the OC Outback: historic Silverado, Modjeska and Trabuco Canyons. All this is a short scenic drive from the University–20 minutes. </p>
<p>If you want outdoors, hike Holy Jim Canyon and see the falls (rated OC’s most beautiful hike and one of SoCal’s top 10): [Holy</a> Jim Falls](<a href=“CA Open Space - Outdoor Gear Reviews and Recommendations”>CA Open Space - Outdoor Gear Reviews and Recommendations)</p>
<p>Or explore Blackstar Canyon, fish at Irvine Lake and do a docent hike at Irvine Ranch Conservancy…then drive magical Live Oak Canyon Road (a CA scenic highway canopied by ancient oaks): <a href=“http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3630726.jpg[/url]”>http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3630726.jpg</a></p>
![http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3630726.jpg[/url]](http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3630726.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>This beautiful road takes you to O’Neill (wilderness) Park and the trail-head to Holy Jim). Stop on the way and walk the Shrine Trail/meditate at the Vedanta Monastery–Aldous Huxley’s preferred retreat and the place he chose to leave his personal library (still on site). [Vedanta</a> Society of Southern California](<a href=“http://www.vedanta.org/vssc/centers/trabuco.html]Vedanta”>http://www.vedanta.org/vssc/centers/trabuco.html)</p>
<p>Stop to dine or have margaritas under the oaks at our local cantina: [Rose</a> Canyon Cantina & Grill - Trabuco Canyon, CA](<a href=“http://www.rosecanyoncantina.com/]Rose”>http://www.rosecanyoncantina.com/)</p>
<p>If you are a cyclist, check out Whiting Regional Park. </p>
<p>This is all 20 minutes from Chapman! You can do the outdoors without driving to the beach or two hours to the mountains/desert. We are <em>not</em> a beach family. We love hiking, horses and falconry–that’s why we live in the rural canyons of OC. Our back-country canyons are called the “hidden OC” for a reason. Even most OC residents don’t really know we’re here. :)</p>
<p>Thanks to both of you for these interesting posts! Nice to learn that the Freshman Foundations Program is a worthwhile thing in reality and not just a fluffy name or a chore for the students. Is there generally a large selection of topics for this? And I love the image of this Orange Bubble! (I’m picturing Glinda the good witch…) Been to the OC beaches a few times already – beautiful spots – and even got to be in little earth quake while out there one time.</p>
<p>I am definitely going to see these canyons and waterfalls! (Kind of hoping we don’t have to make an extra trip to USC while we’re out there…) Maybe I’ll run into some of you OC cowboys back there. (I think I just heard valetta wheel his bike down the driveway…) And real oaks, you say? Wow. I live in a suburban town called Oakton, so named because oaks are what they cut down to build all the houses and roads. That seals it. I am calling the rent a car place today. After all, what’s a suburbanite without a car?</p>
<p>I’ve read that Trabuco is also home to the largest remaining stand of mature Sycamores in the US (or maybe Western US) and we actually experience some fall color–very unusual for SoCal. (Sycamores can be rough for allergy sufferers, though, Shakespearefan.)</p>
<p>E. Chapman Road actually changes names and becomes Santiago Cayon RD, which takes you to the back-county, OC foothills and canyons. 20 minutes from the university to Irvine Lake and Silverado, 10 min further to O’Neill, Live Oak, etc, a few min more to the Holy Jim road. These are fun areas to explore.</p>
<p>gladiatorbird – sounds to me like we’re all staying at YOUR house when we come to visit! ;)</p>