<p>We are finally in the process of planning our CA college visits. We'll be flying into San Diego (relatives there) and will go from there. So far on our list of places to tour...U of San Diego (the main purpose for the trip), and Chapman University. These are based on DDs views of the websites. She would like to go to Santa Clara U too, but we think that would be just a little too far to drive (but as suggested by someone, we'll look into airline shuttles for a day trip). We liked what U of Redlands presented and may actually take DD (although we did that with U of Richmond and NOTHING was going to change her mind). She has read about Loyola Marymount (no), and Pepperdine (doesn't like the politics of the current president). SO....CC folks...any more suggestions? DD currently has a 3.75 weighted GPA (but that will go up as she now is only taking honors and AP courses which her school doesn't offer until Jr. year). She currently has all A's in her jr classes. She is ranked in the top 6% of her class (12/195). My guess is that her SAT scores will be combined about 1800 or so (based on her PSAT data). Very strong commitment to ECs in music (both in and out of school), and is on the swim team too (will be a 4 year member). No idea about major, but does want to continue to play and study oboe as a non-major in music. We will be in CA for a week...flying in on a Saturday night and leaving the following Saturday night in April.</p>
<p>Thumper1--Having done the CA visit twice (the last was last April), I'd recommend flying between SoCal and the Bay area. S and friends drove from UCLA to Santa Clara U to visit a buddy and that took several hours. When we looked in LA and San Diego with him four years ago, we did drive down to SD--it seemed long enough, so we opted to fly into LA and leave from SFO the second time around (flying between the two). If you're interested, I can PM you the "itinerary" we used.</p>
<p>As for other schools to visit, how about Occidental or the Claremonts in the LA area?</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I can PM you the "itinerary" we used.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>We already have reservations to fly in and out of San Diego. BUT I've looked into shuttles between LA (which would be doable because we're going there anyway to see Chapman at least) for a day trip to Santa Cruz. But we'd also have to rent a car, etc...don't know if that's worth it.</p>
<p>The Claremonts are on the short list, but judging from what I read on CC, those might be more of a reach for DD. She is applying to only one reach school and right now that is Davidson. I'd love to see your itinerary...you can email to me too or PM. Thanks for offering your help.</p>
<p>Sometimes you can change your ticket to return from another city for $50 each; might be worth it. You could fly in to SD, drive as far north as LA or even drive all the way north visiting UCSB, UCSC on the way to SF. Then Fly home from SF. </p>
<p>Otherwise, fly Southwest airlines from LA or Burbank to Oakland or SF for the cheapest So/No flight option; then retuen LA/SD and fly out of SD as planned.</p>
<p>To drive up coast figure (liberally) LA-Santa Barbara = 1.5-2 hours; Santa Barbara- Santa Cruz = 5-6 hours, Santa Cruz-SF = 1.5-2 hours (you go through San Jose), & SF-East bay = 1 hour.</p>
<p>Sounds like she wants small LACs (Santa Clara & U of San Diego).</p>
<p>So Calif: Oxy is a great idea, maybe Pitzer, Whittier</p>
<p>Northern Calif: St Mary's, Mills, USF, U of Pacific, Sonoma State</p>
<p>Lots of Christian LACs too if those interest you.</p>
<p>Good Luck :)</p>
<p>Should you decide to fly north to visit SCU, definitely fly into San Jose Airport (SJC) which is only 4 miles from the SCU campus. You can also visit Stanford (17 miles from SCU) just for fun and/or go sightseeing in San Francisco (50 miles) while you're in the area.</p>
<p>Or drive up to coast from L.A. to SCU and visit Santa Barbara, Hearst Castle, Solvang, Carmel and Santa Cruz along the way. </p>
<p>A drive straight through from San Diego to Silicon Valley is 8 hrs. min. and is not very exciting. L.A. to Silicon Valley is 5 hrs. give-or-take. Stay away from I-5 and Hwy. 99 which is the quickest, but extremely boring route!</p>
<p>And right down the street from Stanford, on El Camino Real, is a very small school called Menlo College.</p>
<p>Son and I Made the drive to Los Angeles down I-5 from the SF Bay Area and drove back via Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and you could stop at Santa Clara, Stanford and hit Berkeley. I love the 101 route up or down the coast. An amazing area. Highway 5 is reasonably fast and you don't really want to do it. My son was game so I gave him the keys and rode shotgun. Hear, hear, gsp!</p>
<p>Some of the Claremonts may well within her reach: Pitzer and Scripps maybe. Whittier College is not far from Chapman, so you could hit both of those on the day or even same half-day.</p>
<p>Is she considering state schools at all? San Diego State, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside, Cal State LA are all excellent schools that should be doable. Cal Poly Pomona, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara might be reaches but worth considering. If you care to consider some of the smaller or out of the way Cal States, there are Cal States San Marcos, Bakersfield, Northridge, Sonoma, and many more besides.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Is she considering state schools at all?>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Not in CA. She may be wrong, but her impression (from what she has read about the Cal State schools) is that they are more commuter schools. She wants a residential campus.</p>
<p>I've been a Bay Area driver for decades, living in the center of the Bay Area & driving South, West, & East very, very regularly.<br>
S.F. - Santa Cruz is not 1.5 - 2 hrs. unless you don't know the best routes, or are deliberately going during rush hour, etc.
S.F. to East Bay is only "1 hour" during the absolute peak of the commute, & when there are other factors, such as backups from stalls/accidents. People who know what they're doing can connect S.F to East Bay in 25-30 minutes, legally.
Anyone who needs more info on the above can PM me. </p>
<p>(We do East Bay to Santa Cruz in 50-60 min. flat.)</p>
<p>if you do skip the LA schools, you could also fly to the Bay Area on Southwest Airlines from John Wayne Airport (in "The OC") which is close to Chapman, or Ontario (~6 miles from Claremont schools) and close to Redlands. Anytime you can avoid LAX you are better off. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the view from Pepperdine is awesome, IMO, and worth a look-see if you get up that way.</p>
<p>epiphany- I was allowing for non-local drivers and traffic because you don't want to underestimate and wind up late for the tour, etc.</p>
<p>Thumper1 - a friend's D is very happy at Master's College in Santa Clarita. We visited and liked it, but my D's major isn't offered there. No swimming, but a strong music program I hear.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I was allowing for non-local drivers >></p> </blockquote>
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<p>This made me chuckle. DH lived in Cupertino many years ago. My guess is that he views himself as a "local driver". God help us!!</p>
<p>SBMom, Yes, but I think the more imp. aspect to consider is to avoid peak times altogether. Locals & non-locals are equally impacted during heavy commutes. A surprise like an accident ahead, or getting lost, can destroy your schedule. It would be better to drive to college tour destinations in non-peak times, & where sane drive-times (such as my earlier post) can be predicted, even if it means staying overnight locally.</p>
<p>We have an annual event in Santa Clara that we go to, requiring a very early a.m. rise. Though we're locals, we actually book a hotel in S.Clara, so that we can be there on time.</p>
<p>This would be my advice to anyone college-touring in the SF Bay Area. The Silicon Valley area (freeways, expressways, highways, & even city streets) are extremely heavy on weekday mornings. Do not attempt a college visit from a commute vantage point if you're meeting a schedule. Similarly for anyone visiting UC Berkeley, as I-80 is equal to the D.C. corridor -- tying with them for the greatest 2 nightmare commutes in the U.S. -- for the umpteenth year in a row in '04.</p>
<p>I agree with blue bayou, if you can skip LAX it is worth it, the traffic can be nuts, the Ontario airport is so easy to get in/out of. Redlands is a good school to peek at and they give great merit awards, usually at least 13,000 for your D's stats.</p>
<p>Last April my daughter and I made the trip to USD and Loyola Marymount from New England. If you have any specific questions I will try to answer. We had narrowed our list based on size (4000-10000) and proximity to a major airport. On first impression I think she preferred the LMU campus - but as time passed, USD rose to her first choice. Maybe not the best reason for picking a college, but I think she found USD to be "friendlier". She just sent her deposit to USD this past week, even before getting a response from LMU. We had also done a "drive-by" of Pepperdine on an earlier trip, and though it is beautiful, it is very remote and the religious overtones gave us pause. We had ruled out the state schools due to size, and the uncertainty of the state budget and what that would mean to out-of-state students. The Claremont Colleges were smaller than what my daughter was looking for - we did drive by on our way to Palm Springs and she felt they were farther away from LA than she would have expected. The two schools that seem to be missing from your list are Oxidental (my daughter didn't like the name - I know, but I just couldn't convince her it was still worth a look) and USC. They may be worth a look for your daughter. I have heard good things about Santa Clara and wish we had added that to our list. Enjoy your trip!</p>
<p>UCSB is not a commuter school in the least. Kids live on campus or in Isla Vista, which is a college town adjacent to campus. The campus is absolutely gorgeous and worth a visit. But if driving from LA to SB, I would give yourself 3 hours if its during the daytime. The 101 through Oxnard, Ventura and La Conchita (where the big mudslide took 11 lives last month) is stop and go during the daytime. North of SB, the 101 opens up nicely and the drive to SF along the 101 takes about 5 hours. </p>
<p>The other state school to see along that route, is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the crown jewel of the Cal State system. Definitely not commuter. Loved by many kids and their parents.</p>
<p>A gifted trumpet player from our area chose Cal Poly, I remember--he is a sophomore now I think. So their music program may bear looking into. They are D1 for sports. A good suggestion--also a great small town.</p>
<p>thumper - as a former Californian (also did the Ca tour ly) Strongly recommend either the day trip to San Jose (much better airport to use for your purposes than SFO; but SFO or Oakland ok if that's the best arrangement you can make) or re-do your itinerary so that you triangle Home-SD-SJ/SFO/Oakland to home. If you fear that Claremonts are too reach-y, I really recommend considering Santa Clara. Real shame to go all the way to California and not see those possibles. The UC's I know well (UC Berkeley, UCLA,UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis) are emphatically not "commuter" schools. However, v. difficult to get into and I don't know how a non-Ca. resident would fare at these. I'm sure other posters will.</p>
<p>I never hear anyone speak of USF anymore (Jesuit school ala Santa Clara and USD). Is that a possible? Anyone?</p>