I know this is perhaps the most vague, borderline ridiculous thread topic, but it is our question currently. My son is considering applying and has been a serious and diligent high school student (to the point of missing out on some fun experiences). His mom and I have told him that one of the benefits of hard work in high school is the opportunity to go to college and that college, in our experiences, was a really fun period in our lives. Both of us studied a lot but were also social and had active lives outside the classroom.
It is hard to get a read on LMU in terms of kids enjoying the experience from just reading CC threads. Lots about getting in and finances but is the college experience there generally enjoyable? How do the religious affiliations of the school play out in day to day student life? Is it an open and accepting place for those who are different?
Hi, I don’t have a child personally that goes there but we have many friends’ kids that go there currently. It’s my kid’s 1st choice for next year. I would say that almost all (but one) love it and have a lot of fun. No regrets. It’s just big enough to get the full college experience but the right size to not get lost. It’s right in the Westside area with the beaches close by such as Santa Monica where there are a lot of things to see and do. There are cars you can rent by the hour to get places and I’m sure many uber. Not sure if you can have a car first year but I think you can - many do not have one so I don’t think it matters as far as “fun” goes. I don’t know if you had the chance to visit but the students have a lot of extracurricular activities and everyone I spoke with were kind, talking to each other, seemed like they were having a good time. They have campus events, sports, and get togethers. Lots of places to study, hang out, beautiful campus. As far as religion, they seem accepting and embracing of other religious affiliations… What I remember is that Mass goes on every week but students are not required to go to it. (don’t quote me but I think that is true). I’m not sure if they have religious classes or not. My kids go to Catholic school with kids of other religions and the training is really about getting to know who you are as a person with morals and values versus proselytizing. So I wouldn’t be put off if that is a concern to you. The only negative feedback I have heard from one friend was that it is “too small and like high school”. I took that with a grain of salt -for one, he was an upperclassman and maybe ready to graduate and two, I think he was referring to the size of the student body which should be factored in to any choice a student makes. I hope that helps - my daughter is dying to know if she got in! Fingers crossed!
Thanks very much. We are not in California (but pretty close, Oregon) but still won’t be able to visit all of my son’s potential schools. I think he is pretty interested in LMU. I don’t have a good read on how the finances will play out and that is a possible deal breaker (as it is for most folks). Thanks again!
Not sure how helpful this–one of my son’s best friends is a freshman attending Loyola Marymount. I wanted the kid to attend American in D.C. (not that I had any influence) but he wanted to go to Southern California. My son tells me his friend is having a great time and constantly posting about different parties and social events. If it would really be of help, I’m happy to follow up with my son to get more detail, but he’s mentioned it to me a couple of times. But hey–it could just be the kid’s life on snapchat–hard to know these days!
My D is a junior there. First of all, she loves it. Much of what @annefromla says about the culture is true, including size, friendly student body, activities. My D would never say it is like high school, but…she’s from out of state and knew no one there…maybe if a large percentage of your class ended up there it would feel that way? D loves the size, socially and in terms of academics. She has made great relationships with professors and has mentors. She can walk through campus and see people she knows and friends each time, but she certainly doesn’t even come close to knowing everyone, at all. You can have a car there freshman year. My D did (she was doing some off campus stuff); many didn’t. there are organized shuttles to Marina Del Rey and other events/places.
As for social life, it’s not a party school like a big state school, and you don’t have that big sports culture. There are parties to be found. My D isn’t a big partier, but some of her friends are and they found plenty of things to do. If huge parties are the “fun” you are talking about, this might not be the best fit…but there are parties, and fun, and drinking, and non drinking activities. Plus, there is the beach, LA itself, for lots of fun. The nonresidential greek system can provide more social opportunities for those who are interested.
The religious presence was something we looked at closely, D was not wanting a strong religious presence. I would say that it is there, if you choose to partake. There is absolutely no requirement to attend Mass. The convocation was in the church and led by a priest, but was nondenominational and not really a religious service…and not required, though it was lovely. There are resources for all faiths, and those with no faith are welcomed…Jesuits are a very open, accepting religious order. There is a core requirement that requires a couple of religion or ethics classes…and these come in a wide variety and again, you can choose ethics and not study any religion. So it is there if you want it, and present in terms of for example, Christmas decorations and the chapel, but no pressure to participate. The Jesuit philosophy of giving to the world, and “cura personalis” (whole person) is there, but in the background and my D enjoys this aspect of it even though she is moving away from organized religion.
Thank you for this thoughtful response. I am really surprised how “out of our hands” this whole college process feels. We both work in public schools so have had lots of opportunity to prepare for this time in our son’s life but really so much is beyond our control. Will the admissions team at the various schools see our son on paper as we do? Does he provide a value add to the student body that he will qualify for enough aid for him to attend? I guess all parents go through this but I have to admit this is quite nerve-wracking.
My impression from our visit was that all the students we met (and we visited with several, outside of the tour) really felt connected to other students in a genuine and deep way and had lots of fun together–going to the beach, hanging out together, activities on campus and in LA; fraternity and sorority stuff seems lower key than on other campuses (in my mind, that’s good). So it actually seemed like fewer raging parties, more significant interactive activities though; the student body seemed tightly-knit overall. It felt like the Jesuit educational system catering to the “whole person” made a difference in how students interacted with one another, if that makes any sense. My son is not an organized religion person and was, honestly, put off by having the tour’s initial focus being on that they are a Catholic school, touring the chapel and talking about all of that right away. However, they do emphasize that many students attend who are not religious and that there are all kinds of interesting classes that can be used to satisfy the requirement to take a religion class-- world religions, philosophies, religious influence on the civil rights movement, etc. that will suffice. He still isn’t sure about this aspect of the campus, although I have to say that this was his parents’ favorite campus that we have visited-- and we have visited a LOT of schools. There was such depth in everything that we witnessed-- the coursework, the students’ ambitions, their connectedness, etc. And we loved how diverse the student body was, all the languages we heard spoken on campus, etc. We just aren’t sure if we can afford it!
@COmama
Thank you. This is really helpful as we have not had the chance to visit any of the schools my son has applied to except our local state flagship. If he gets into schools and the finances make it seem possible we have spring break to take a visit(s).
The “vibe” you describe is nice and would work for our son, I think, as he is not a natural outgoing person and it takes him a while to find his people. A huge school where many students commute or go into Greek life or forge their path through a big, outgoing personality just isn’t for him. Appreciate your time.
@JD7777 , just wanted to pop in and say that 2.5 years in, my D couldn’t be happier. I visited recently and asked her that now that she’s a Junior, does she still feel like LMU was the right choice? She said absolutely, she loves it and never wants to leave (LOL…and honestly her biggest “issue” is that she keeps finding subjects that she loves and wants to major and minor in. I think at the moment shes a double major double minor). She has developed great mentoring relationships with professors and, true to her personality, has a diverse group of friends, not a large group, small, closer relationships which is what she prefers. She’s not a big partier, I would call her friendly but not particularly outgoing; I believe she met people and developed these relationships over time from people in her dorm and in her classes. The depth that is mentioned above…that’s a good descriptor.
Interestingly after reading that about Jesuit and the tour, I realized that our tour was “special” in that we were there on MLK day and LMU arranged a student tour for us even though it was a day off (also impressive…trust us we did not have this reception at other schools). He was obviously an experienced tour guide but I don’t think we started in the chapel and definitely didn’t get much of the Jesuit info (I’m familiar with Jesuit schools so I didn’t need it). He was clearly one of the many (most, my D would say, or her circle may be all) non denominational, non practicing students. As I mentioned my D enjoys the Jesuit philosophy in a non religious way and doesn’t feel any religious pressure. Sometimes I wonder if the Jesuit culture is what contributes to her very passionate, connected professors and the close relationship she enjoys with several of them.
I attended LMU and my son is now there. He is a junior. Is it fun? It definitely has changed since I attended which I described as fun and easy to make friends, etc. This however was before smartphones and Instagram and Tinder and Netflix and and ear pods, etc. were invented, so if you ask my son, he would say that at times he feels like LMU is a zombie campus due to students being more connected to their phones and social media or tuning out everyone with ear pods - then to other people. So, he has had to work hard at making connections with other students, much harder than I did. Also, my son says that on the weekends ubers and lyfts are lined up to take the students into LA for the night - which means the campus is dead on the weekends. I too have seen this for myself as I am on the campus for different reasons throughout the academic year.
As far as religion goes, a student is free to do what he/she wants in this regard and there is no pressure to attend mass or conform. Students from all walks of religion and faith or no religion attend LMU.
LMU academically is a very strong school and the small class sizes and availability of the professors and opportunities for research, internships, etc. - all make it a good choice for a university especially if you have a student that wants to work and take advantage of being mentored by a prof or doing research, etc. My son has done this so I think from an academic/opportunity standpoint LMU was a good choice for him.
Thanks! This is certainly helpful. We are in the waiting game as most schools, including LMU, have not sent financial aid.
As to the observation that kids at LMU are “tuned out” and “plugged in” and not paying attention to each other… I don’t think that is unique to LMU. Our son played in a tournament last year at our large state flagship and I had some time to kill by myself before his game. I walked through busy student spaces (example the huge fitness center) and saw large groups of students staring at phones and not having any sort of interaction with each other, even though they were just feet apart. It was the strangest thing. My memories of college were so different.