<p>Lp75, I can see why LMU offered her their honors program.</p>
<p>LMU would give her the most individual attention and they are trying to snag her from higher ranked schools. As you describe your D, I see pros and cons for every school you mention: Yale (my fave) and Northwestern will be difficult for someone who doesn't always work hard. The "speed of the pitching" is a lot faster than most kids are used to and nearly 90 percent won't be in the top 10 percent for the first time in their lives and 50 percent will actually be below average.</p>
<p>She would fit in well in some respects at USC...lots of room for that rah-rah spirit but I'm on well flamed upon record for not having a lot of respect for the intellectual atmosphere at USC. Emory has the intellectual atmosphere but not the rah-rah...combine the two and you've got either one great or one really awful school.</p>
<p>Btw, LMU tends to field a fairly good basketball team if nothing else.</p>
<p>I can almost feel your predicament: any of the choices is good, any of the choices has its dangers for your particular D. I almost wish your D had a tougher LAC than Loyola in the group.</p>
<p>It's possible she might chafe after a while at LMU and my reservations about USC aside, I think it's a great idea to get a Midwestern girl out to the West Coast. (I married one from St. Louis but that's another story.)
I don't think she'd chafe at Northwestern (too close by my criteria) or Yale but she'd have to step it up a notch. [I had my own theoretical concern for my D about being ordinary or below average at Yale vs. being towards the top of the class at Smith...only Yale's feckless admissions committee saved me (and her) that particular agony.]
For the record, my D is at Smith, having a great LAC experience, and being challenged more than sufficiently...however LMU isn't quite Smith, hence my ramble about wishing a tougher LAC were on your D's list.
In LMU's favor, I am a convert to LAC's and really really really do like the intensity of the classroom experience and general academic atmosphere. </p>
<p>And at this point I've probably said enough different things to thoroughly confuse you. ;)</p>
<p>scma, Don't sell San Diego short. Sure, we may not have as many movie stars walking the streets (but we do have some), but we have great museums, great cultural activities (art, theater), lots of concerts, easy access to out door activities, and Mexico is only a trolley ride away. Afer all, we are the 2nd largest city in California and the 7th largest in the nation. Not exactly a back water. :) She can always go to LA to visit on weekends but I'm betting she'll find plenty to keep her occupied here in San Diego. </p>
<p>Personally (and TheDad may flame me for this), I also think that San Diego is a much safer city, especially for a college kid. And, our air is cleaner too. :)</p>
<p>These are her choices? Frankly, I would not pass up the other schools for LMU. I like LMU but the academics and opportunities simply will not compare to the others. Period. There's another issue - if she is the type of student who tends to be lazy, it will be very easy for her to coast at LMU. At the other schools, she will have to "rise to the occaision" a bit more but isn't that what education is all about? The honors program at LMU has 20 kids in it --- the other schools are really "full honors" schools. If she wants to be on the west coast, I'd say USC would be a better choice, especially based on your description of her. The aid package at LMU would have to be a full ride for me to urge my child to go there over the other schools on that list. But, that's just me. Boy, I'm opinionated tonight, aren't I? :)</p>
<p>I really love this! You both have picked up on the very same things that concern me. Its too bad we can't clone the best parts and put them together in one place.</p>
<p>One of my D's criteria starting out was to find a school in a city. Because she is undecided on a major, but has considered engineering as a possibility, we kept the choices broad and stayed away from some of the traditional LACs. </p>
<p>Yes, Carolyn, I can see her attempting to coast. I see it now. She knows she can get by without putting out a full effort all the time. I (hate to admit it) was a lot like that when I was in school and know the eventual pitfalls associated with it. </p>
<p>TheDad, I would agree that being in the lower half of the student body would be a rude awakening to her and it is a toss up as to whether she would rise to the occasion or just feel defeated. A lot would depend on the environment, the support provided by the other students and the academic staff.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your comments. While it may not always seem like it, they are very useful in helping both to explore these options and articulate my concerns. The sounding board this place provides is tremendous.</p>
<p>Hi, I happen to have a close friend who has two sons, one attending LMU, the other at USD. They feel strongly that USD is a much better school. The second son who is attending LMU is transferring out. He felt that the academics were very weak, in fact he told his Mom that his classes were easier than his high school curriculm. FYI, LMU is really quite a commuter school. Lots of kids live nearby and go home on the weekends, and by sophmore year, most of the kids have gotten their schedules set so that they go home by Thursday afternoon. Huge problems with drugs and alcohol in the dorms. Last year the SWAT team came into the campus and busted one of the students for dealing drugs. One of the girls from our local high school is playing tennis there and got so sick of her teammates/roomates (kids on athletic scholarships) being stoned all the time that she turned them in to campus police. On the other hand the older son is having an excellent college experience at USD, they have fabulous academics, a really wonderful faculty and awesome school spirit. Throw in a beautiful campus and fun city to live in, there is nothing not to like about the school except for the high tuition.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all the great information. You are all making me feel much better about her leaning toward USD. The tuition is certainly steep (but it is just about everwhere), and with her brother at a private university as well it won't be fun around here for the next four years.</p>
<p>Carolyn, you mentioned the trolley to Mexico. That is actually my only "safety" concern with San Diego. Is it really ok for the kids to venture down there? Living here on the east coast, all we hear about are the horror stories of kids going to vacation in Mexico and never being seen or heard from again. Maybe it's all just urban legend?</p>
<p>Scma, I probably would warn my kids against going to Tiajuana which is where the trolley goes. The main lure for college kids is that the legal drinking age there is 18, and yes, I have heard stories of kids getting into trouble in Tiajuana. However, we live 15 minutes from Mexico and do go across the border every now and then to shop and just spend the day (but we avoid Tiajuana like the plague). College kids from LA also go down to Mexico, so it's not just a San Diego thing. May be harder to go soon as they have announced that you'll have to show a US passport to get back into the US.</p>
<p>5555 - Santa Clara is also stronger academically than LMU. Most here in California, consider Santa Clara to be the "best" Catholic school in the state, followed closely by USD and then LMU. Santa Clara is particularly strong for engineering, computer science, communications, business, and psychology. Like USD, it has a beautiful campus that feels much older than it is and attracts the top kids from Catholic high schools who want to stay in state but go to a Catholic college.</p>