<p>University of Redlands is in both the Fiske and Princeton books, but strangely absent from these forums. I thought I'd open it up to anyone hanging back. If you want to be truly charmed by a place, look at the youtube sequence of videos celebrating their 100th anniversary. This school seems to really care about its students. We haven't visited the campus yet, but how bad could 160 acres in the LA area be? I have a feeling this is an overlooked gem of a school.</p>
<p>Yay, I’m glad you did this.
Redlands is one of my top colleges to apply to next year.</p>
<p>I’m glad you did this too! As with Redlands, my son is absent from these forums- but I (his mom) am here and always checking to see if anybody has anything to say about Redlands! My son was accepted and we are planning to visit if it ever stops raining!</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Redlands and is having an excellent experience so far. His professors have been very good, he’s made many friends, and he’s participated in intramural sports and Outdoor Program trips. He only has a couple of minor complaints: the post office is chaotic at the start of the semester, and the weekend dinners in the cafeteria aren’t as good as the dinners during the week. He also had some difficulty getting the courses he wanted, but everything has worked out ok and should be better once he has sophomore standing.</p>
<p>The campus is very nice and well-maintained, the dorms are basic but ok, and there are apartments for upperclassmen. The admissions office was one of the best we’d dealt with as far as being organized, responsive and informative. Redlands also offers generous merit aid.</p>
<p>Redlands was high on my daughter’s list, probably her second choice. The campus is lovely. I do wish there was more “life” around it. Even our tour guide said either you’ll bring a car or you’ll make friends with someone who has one. They did offer tons of merit aid, but there have been ongoing and very interesting discussions about the financial condition of the school. The prof we met in the Creative Writing department was very encouraging about their substantial CW program and it would have been an excellent choice in that regard.</p>
<p>Really?
I was unaware that their CW program was as substantial as you say.
That definitely increases my interest in Redlands as although I have no idea what I want to do, I probably would end up doing something related to creative writing and if not…there’s always the Johnson Center.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman in the Johnston Center and loves the entire Living-Learning Community that surrounds the program. She does not have a car and almost all of her social activities and friends come from the Johnston Center - they have events almost every weekend “on complex”. If anyone has specific questions regarding the program feel free to ask or send me a PM.</p>
<p>missemily516, I’d love to hear more about the Johnston Center–what the vibe is, if there is a particular kind of student you think would fit in there or not fit in there, that sort of thing. I really admire the university for offering this program, and sticking with it in these recessionary times. For the right student, I think it would be just an amazing way to experience college. On the more worrying side, digdig, I wonder if you’d be willing to explain your comments about the school’s financial condition. You don’t say whether it looks good or bad, but I am curious because I did note that in the Sparksnotes guide, the endowment figure they list is quite a bit lower than some similar schools.</p>
<p>Actually I think I answered my own question. I did some research online and found out that the university had some layoffs in 2009, had a large budget shortfall in 2010, considered laying off 30 faculty members in arts and sciences, creating a controversy that caused president (Dorsey) to resign and former president of many years, Appleton to retake the post for an interim period. His new plan is to not renew some contracts, eliminate the Japanese dept, put the debate team on hold and look for outside funding, and eliminate computer science as a major (still a minor). It sounds like there was quite an upheaval. Interestingly, there was also student protest over a plan in early 2010 to recruit attractive students for a new video tour that ultimately ended up in the filming of their current video tour “My tour”. I was really captivated by that video–really piqued my interest in the school. I loved that they would use a student video as their official video and found it really quirky, funny and well-done. Not so great is the parody on youtube called “party like a bulldog.”</p>
<p>I just wanted to add that I am still very interested in learning more about Redlands–and have read lots of good things about it since my last posting. Most colleges are dealing with the economy, and many have shake-ups in administration. I threw that info out there in case the earlier poster had anything more ominous to report.</p>
<p>tealeaves
I just posted a reply to you about Willamette and noticed you are also interested in Redlands. We (DD3 and I) also visited here and it is a really lovely campus. The kids seemed happy and the facilities were good. Like many small LACs the town is “just fine” but maybe not very exciting for college kids. My daughter was interested in the Johnson Center. In the end, she didn’t apply because, She said,“I think the weather is too good”!? Really, that was her complaint. I do know they have spent some time “righting their financial ship” but I believe they have taken all the steps from what I was able to dig up.</p>
<p>My older daughter is a second-year student at Redlands and is in the Johnston Center. She LOVES Redlands and Johnston. Please send me a PM if you’d like to know more.</p>
<p>Redlands is really a hidden gem. D was interested in it back when she was applying and we were pleasantly surprise at what a lovely campus it was. When people from here asked where it was, we told them “on I 10 heading west, right about where the traffic starts to back up.” 
When we visited there were two tables set up side by side outside the dining room selling tickets, one for the transvestite ball and one for a Christian event. :o FA was pretty great. D ended up going elsewhere because she felt at 10 hours away she wasn’t going very far out of her comfort zone.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, for your helpful postings. I’d love to hear more about the Johnston center, what kind of student it is right for.</p>
<p>Johnston Center is VERY alternative. It is full of “free-thinkers”. In no way do I wish to discredit it at all, but please be fully aware of what it is before committing. My son is a sophomore at Redlands, but not Johnston, and is very happy. </p>
<p>Just do your homework on Johnston Center and make sure you visit in person before making any commitment. Might be just what you are looking for or might not be!</p>
<p>My S is a junior at Redlands and very happy there. The Fiske college guide had a quiz in the beginning that asked the student to rate various phrases from 1-10 (10 being most interest). Those responses led my son to Redlands: Wanting to have relationships with professors, not being particularly interested in being close to a city, wanting a spacious campus, etc. After the admit letters came in, he narrowed it to Occidental and Redlands. My son felt Occidental had a Type A vibe, and the campus felt closed-in to him. At Redlands we walked around and people smiled at us. He sat in on a sophomore level Bio class and liked the atmosphere. Now, two and a half years later he has enjoyed being able to talk with teachers, enjoys the intramural sports, and has made great friends. This isn’t a school for kids who want big crowds, hook-ups, a big down-town drinking scene. Redlands provides a beautiful campus with good teachers, a lot of on-campus activities and top-notch Div. III sports (D-I calibre athletes quite often). More and more people nod that they’ve heard of it. </p>
<p>Redlands isn’t the right school for everyone, but it’s a great school for many.</p>
<p>My son is a Freshman at Redlands, in the Johnston Center, and absolutely loves it! He was accepted to several colleges, but was immediately drawn to the vibe at Redlands, which I would characterize (having visited twice with him and then for the parent orientation) as “authentic” and full of down to earth kids. Lots of school spirit on the campus.
The school was recommended to him because of its strength in Creative Writing. He’s taking his second Poetry Workshop now, along with Film Studies, Philosophy … a liberal arts smorgasbord for him—he is very smart, creative and strategic thinker, so Johnston is a great fit. Plus, as parents, we are thrilled at how well the college takes care of the students. Very nurturing.</p>
<p>Initially my husband and I were not sure about the idea of Johnston Center, assuming the students were of certain type (whatever that means). We were totally wrong! On one of the campus visits we were invited to sit in on a Johnston senior’s presentation to the faculty: his work in Mathematics research - apparently he chose REdlands Johnston Center over Berklely or some other high powered UC school because of the flexibility he’d have to structure his own research. </p>
<p>My daughter is seriously considering Redlands. It would be a great fit for her for different reasons (the small classes, lots of school spirit, friendly campus), though probably not Johnston. By the way, the campus is absolutely beautiful!</p>
<p>Regarding the financial situation, we inquired about that directly and felt comfortable that they, like other small LAC, were hit by the economy and were appropriately getting their act together. My son received a merit scholarship plus a grant, so this is still a good economic decision.
Please feel free to email me if you’d like other information.</p>
<p>I agree with benel that the vibe of the Johnston program is “authentic”. The students all appear to be very high acheivers who want to have control over what classes they take and don’t want to be restricted by having to take specific classes to fulfill requirements. In return they are willing to do extra work to really personalize their education. The program requires that students take a breadth of subjects, and depth in their chosen field. My daughter is also swimming in a smorgasbord of liberal arts classes this semester, taking a 300 level history class on the civil war, along with classes in literature, politics, writing, and martial arts. She has had the opportunity to participate in everything she has wanted to try, and has already been invited on and went to a free leadership retreat run by the college.</p>
<p>It’s hard to say what student would find it a good fit. I would say that a student would need to be open minded, and someone who wants to participate, as the Living Learning Community of Johnston requires attendance at weekly meetings where most everything about the two dorms and the program are open for negotiation (for example, on my daughter’s floor they decided to have co-ed bathrooms this year. Other floors decided to have single-sex bathrooms). Also, there is extra work in contracting classes that you have to do in order to be a Johnston student and many of your classes may be taken for a written evaluation instead of a grade.</p>
<p>My daughter is finishing up her freshman year at Redlands. She LOVES it. Students stay on campus during the weekends–it is not a commuter school. The weather is perfect, except at the beginning of the school year when the weather is HOT and dry (but she had a room with air conditioning–not all residential halls have a/c). Redlands has a music program, and she met lots of her friends through concert band. Redlands offers the kind of speakers that make the college circuit–including Jane Goodall. Redlands is very close to the recreation areas in the local mountains (skiing/hiking) and is only about 30 minutes west of Palm Springs. Redlands is about 80 minutes east of downtown Los Angeles.</p>
<p>How difficult is it to get into the Johnston Center? Is the process difficult as well? I haven’t heard much about how to get in.</p>