Our son was admitted to LMU (business school), UCSB (general admit/undecided, UCSB does not have a b-school), and Chapman (business school). We are OOS and cost of attendance between these schools will vary, in some instances substantially when merit aid is considered.
We have visited LMU and Chapman, but have not and it appears will not visit UCSB. Have visited SoCal many times generally as we have relatives there.
My own view is that these three school have some broad characteristics that distinguish them from one another and would materially shape the college experience. Smaller, Jesuit-grounded, private school in LMU vs. large state school in UCSB vs. midsized private and more conservative up-and-comer in Chapman. LMU near LA vs. Santa Barbara beach vs Orange County/Chapman also material differences. We did sense those differences in visiting LMU and Chapman, and we have visited big state schools other than UCSB.
If anyone has more specific impressions about how some or all of these three schools compare, we’d be grateful. Anything goes. One specific area would be familiarity/impressions of business schools LMU/Chapman and how heavily the lack of a business school at UCSB should be weighed by a student with business interests (UCSB has econ major and finance offerings). Our son also may not stay in California, so I suppose marketability of degree nationally may matter a little more.
I can share some general insight about UCSB and the surrounding area but it sounds like LMU and/or Chapman might be a better fit for his major. You might edit your title to include “business major” to catch the attention of those on this forum who know more about the degrees and opportunities.
On a national perception level - UCSB stands out and then LMU. I would not say Chapman’s an up and comer - not on a national level. LMU has “some” name recognition but a lot more back in the day when they were big into basketball. Sports helps perception/familiarity.
That said, in all these cases, fit (and finances) should matter most.
Thank you both for the kind replies! My request for impressions about the schools is probably too broad. We are going to spend more time this weekend digging into comparing the business offerings at the universities. I looked a little last night, and I think our son is probably going to like the LMU b-school approaches best, although Chapman offers many of the same areas of emphasis. He also thinks that LMU’s program and proximity to LA might allow for more internship possibilities, which is something else we should try to gather more info about.
Thanks again for taking time to reply, I appreciate it!
Hope this all played out well. We are in a similar situation, just returned from campus tours. UCSB has a national program, in several types of business economics / economics / mathematics that are heavily sought after by Big 4. It is a larger school, on two beaches, with a variety of students and a favorable social climate. LMU is in a great area and a little protected, but overall extremely nice. It is a safe bet. Chapman is very well done, but considered by some to be regional. Hope this helps, or provides other readers some context.