<p>A friend called who is trying to see 8 schools in Southern California next week (Monday-Friday) and it seems like an ambitious list. It's been a long time since I visited most of these schools and couldn't really offer an plan for visiting. She is driving from Northern California on Sunday so she will have five full days to see the following:</p>
<p>She will drive home Saturday. I thought it might be best to the Claremont colleges first and spend one day but then not sure which order to do the rest of the schools in order to finish on Friday with LMU and Pepperdine.
She would drive back on Saturday. Any ideas of order of schools would be appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>I suppose it depends on what “see these colleges” means. DD and I visited these (minus Chapman plus Cal Tech) in just three days. But that did not include any formal campus tours, faculty interviews, etc. She decided against The Claremont Colleges early on, which saved us considerable time. Nothing wrong with 'em … they just didn’t feel right to her. We did The Claremont Colleges first, then Occidental, Pepperdine, USC, LMU and Cal Tech. That was the approximate order she thought she’d prefer the schools. I don’t think the order really matter much. JMHO.</p>
<p>I concur with Bovertine, but caution that you plan in advance of your drive times to try and avoid the extended rush hours in this region … especially if rain is in the forecast, as it is today.</p>
<p>We saw 3 in one day–toured CalTech (close to where we were staying), drove AROUND the USC campus (driver wouldn’t stop), toured LMU, then went out for dinner. Had really wanted to tour USC, but friend wasn’t interested & she was driving. If we had toured that school as well, may not have made it to LMU (which kids refused to apply to anyway).</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that when you go to too many schools, it can be overwhelming (at least it was for my kids, who shut down & refused to consider any of this after the 3rd school). Both ended up at USC, which they hadn’t set foot on until S showed up for move-in day. He did tour several schools but didn’t apply to many of those.</p>
<p>Have not been to the other schools on your list, so don’t know.</p>
<p>Good point, didn’t think about the weather but that would be a factor. I think the plan is to do formal tours at one or two of the Claremont Colleges and then a tour at all the others except USC.
Any freeways that should be avoided because of traffic, even during the day?
I remember being stuck for three hours one time when the GPS indicated thirty minutes.</p>
<p>Just curious why you don’t plan on touring USC? I believe they do have a nice tour, great food and gorgeous grounds (especially the new cinema school & engineering as well). I really wanted a tour but my friend refused and we didn’t want to get her upset.</p>
<p>It’s a reasonable plan. I would do it southern most college first – i.e. Chapman, then the Claremont Colleges, then USC, and then UCLA and LMU, and Pepperdine last. Plan on 1/2 day at each college; go for first morning tour or first afternoon tour. Be aware of rush hour traffic. I would would leave 1 day to return to the college she likes best, and do a casual tour of the campus.</p>
<p>It’s nice to try to eat a meal/snack on campus too, if you can manage it, particularly schools that the student is most interested in. More likely to be able to chat with & see students & get more of a feel for the campus.</p>
<p>If USC might be a real consideration, I’d suggest taking the tour. It appears to be the only large university and only truly “urban” campus on the list and it would allow the student to get a real feel for such a different experience. </p>
<p>My suggestion:</p>
<p>Mon: Claremont schools in one day (official tour one or two top choices, walk around the others). Have dinner in Claremont (miss traffic) and drive to L.A. that evening.</p>
<p>Tues: Occidental in a.m., lunch at The Oinkster or Senor Fish in Eagle Rock neighborhood near Oxy, and tour USC in afternoon. (Fight on!)</p>
<p>Weds: drive to Orange County and see Chapman in a.m. – Go antiquing in Orange or to Disneyland in p.m. if not too tired.</p>
<p>Thurs: LMU in a.m., visit Santa Monica beach or 3rd Street Prominade in afternoon</p>
<p>Friday: Brunch in Malibu, Pepperdine in afternoon</p>
<p>If she’s going to all the trouble to spend a week looking at colleges it seems that the effort could be more worthwhile if she takes some of the tours. They don’t last that long.</p>
<p>where is your friend planning to stay? That will make a difference regarding drive times/traffic. I would suggest starting in Claremont (staying there Sunday night would be easiest) then heading to Chapman, Oxy, USC, LMU and ending at Pepperdine and staying in the Ventura/Santa Barbara area Friday night.</p>
<p>Wow. Madbean should be a college tour travel agent. I’m 53 years old and my kid is not looking at colleges but I am still interested in taking that 5 day trip MB described.</p>
<p>"Any freeways that should be avoided because of traffic, even during the day? "</p>
<p>I don’t know if there’s a way to avoid mind-blowing (to any one not from So.Cal) “traffic”. Unless it’s pretty late in the evening. I’m stressing out just remembering it.</p>
<p>We’ve done the Claremonts, Pepperdine, and Oxy. Senor Fish was great!</p>
<p>If you do Claremont – Occidental – Chapman – LMU – Malibu, then you will be backtracking somewhat (driving from Claremont east to Occidental and then out to Orange County, and then back to LMU, etc.). As others have pointed out, Chapman, to Claremont to Oxy to LMU/Pepperdine,. may be the more logical route. Having said that, Madbean’s itinerary is pretty good.</p>
<p>It didn’t rain today after all. </p>
<p>Traffic is pretty good at 6 in the morning. But it also matters which direction you are going on the freeways during rush hour; eastbound one way may be flowing, while westbound is crawling. Some freeways are miserable during rush hour no matter which way you go.</p>
<p>If you have an internet connection, check sigalert.com for traffic flow.</p>
<p>I would also start out at Chapman. Get up on Monday and tour the campus. Have lunch and drive up to Claremont. Get checked into a motel and have dinner and walk around the town.
On Tuesday, get up and tour CMC and Pitzer in the am, have lunch at CMC and then see Pomona in the afternoon. (check to see tour times and plan accordingly). Have dinner, and spend the night in Claremont.
On Wednesday, drive out to Occi and take a tour. Have lunch on campus, and drive up to USC. Have dinner around USC, and spend the night.
On Thursday, drive LMU, take a tour, and drive up to Pepperdine.
Have lunch and tour Pepperdine. Spend the night in Malibu.
On Friday, relax a bit, go to the beach, or go back and see anything she might want to see again.</p>
But it also matters which direction you are going on the freeways during rush hour; eastbound one way may be flowing, while westbound is crawling. Some freeways are miserable during rush hour no matter which way you go.</p>