Moved up:
CSU Channel Islands: We had heard of the school, but had never been there. D applied as a safety and was somewhat interested in attending, but we never made it up there to tour. For S, we had the time to tour and we were very impressed. First off the campus is very pretty, quiet and well-kept. Most of the buildings on campus are in the Spanish mission style (painted white with red tile roofs) that us Californians are very familiar with. I personally love that style of architecture. It reminded me of a winery that H and I visited once. I love the fact that it’s a public school, but it’s not too big. The tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and was a big booster for the school. It’s nice to have a guide who you can tell really loves the school and really wants to be there.
It’s a great value school, it’s small and if you live in California, you can’t beat the in-state price. It seems like a hidden gem and I think it would be the perfect school for a lot of kids.
The only downside is that the campus is somewhat isolated, it’s surrounded by hills and growing fields. You would need a car to get into Camarillo and Oxnard.
Whittier: moved up for both D and S. Both of them originally dismissed Whittier and wouldn’t look at it. Keep in mind, despite the fact that we live about 20 mins away, neither one of kids had really been to Whittier. They’d just driven by it on the freeway. We went to tour and we were very impressed. The campus was nicer then we thought it would be, though a bit old. For D, we were the only people on the tour, so we essentially had a private experience. The tour and info were informative and everyone we met was friendly and eager to answer our questions. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and when she didn’t know the answer to a question I asked, she asked around and found the answer for me. D ended up applying, but didn’t attend as she wanted a larger school. That said, there were a lot of things she liked about it and it was a good fit finance wise as they were quite generous with financial aid. Oh well, she found a school she really liked, but Whittier was definitely a strong contender!
S liked Whittier, but didn’t like it as much as D did. He definitely liked it more after touring it. He didn’t end up attending, but I think touring it made him consider it as an option.
Stayed the same/neutral:
St. Mary’s College of California: The campus is very pretty and very well kept. The only issue is that it’s a bit isolated, students would need a car to get into the nearby town or to get elsewhere, even the BART station. The other issue was that our tour guide, focused only on what the campus social life was like and seemed uninterested. Oh well. My D applied but it wasn’t her top choice. S didn’t apply.