<p>Can anyone from the NE who is attending give a sense of what it's like to go from New England to LA? I'm a mom who feels all things being equal no reason to travel across the country for school but my dd really liked Scripps after talking to an admissions officer at a college fair and good family friend went to Pomona and talks up the Claremont school a lot. I'm convinced (maybe self deluded :) ) that she will find LA too laid back and different. Also how often do you make it back home during the school year?</p>
<p>I am not from the NE but I am not from LA either. I wanted to share that because Scripps and the other Claremont Colleges draw students from accross the nation, it has less of a Southern California feel than other schools you find here.</p>
<p>My D is going to Pitzer, so I figure close enough to Scripps to chime in on this thread. We live in Europe (we're Americans) and I can tell you that she is definitely excited about going to school in Claremont. She loves the atmosphere of the 5C's and after ten years in northern Egnland, she is looking forward to the SoCal weather. I only hope the smog isn't an issue - I've read mixed reports on it. I don't think your dd will find it too laid back unless she's really a type A person.</p>
<p>Maybe she's a type A- but that is in part due to the intensity of her high school where she and her friends spend at least a day each weekend studying. I think it's more academic seriousness and social consciousness she is looking for.
I'm not sure if Claremont is as affected by smog as LA proper.</p>
<p>My boyfriend is a junior at Pitzer and I'll be attending Scripps this fall. We're both from Florida, so it's quite a ways across the country. My boyfriend says the kids at Pitzer were laid back, but he says the students from Pomona, Scripps, and Harvey Mudd are much more intense. Also, from the fellow incoming freshmen who I've met only about half are from California or the West.</p>
<p>Next year I'll be coming home three times during the school year. In October the 5Cs have a fall break, which is only two days, but if you take into account that classes aren't generally held on Fridays you have almost a week. We also have two days off for Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday), but I'm not going home because the airfare is ridiculous, though many kids (including my boyfriend) will be going home then. Then we have roughly a month for Christmas, Dec 19th-Jan18th. Then Spring break for a week at the end of March. School ends in May. Also, we don't have Easter off at the Scripps, we take off Cesar Chavez day instead, which is March 27th.</p>
<p>Plane tickets cost anywhere from 300 (fall break) something to 600 (Thanksgiving) something. If you're going to come visit Scripps, which would probably be a good idea, I would fly into Ontario. When I visited Scripps I flew into LAX. It was terrible! We were stuck in an extra 45 minutes of traffic just to get out of the airport. If LA traffic weren't bad enough!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info. Regrettably due to time and money Scripps would be a post admission visit only. She has gone to a college night for Pomona and I think there will be one for the Claremont schools in our area in the fall so that will have to do.</p>
<p>We are New Englanders, d only went to visit Scripps after acceptance. Had a fantastic visit. Finished her first year - challenging courses, great work-study job, loved her room-mates - each fascinating. Deeply involved in student govt stuff. Could not be happier. Did not travel home much for mid semester holidays but 5C outing club offers great trips and the school has Thanksgiving dinner for those on campus I believe. She loved the weather, and often swam in the outdoor pool. Now my youngest d wants to try for Pomona. Yikes!</p>
<p>Maybe the culture shock would be a good thing. I'm from the west coast and maybe a little biased. I was able to visit Scripps a couple of times, fortunately, but never made it out east to visit Wellesley because of finances. It's so hard to judge a school only by the pamphlets, I know, so if you ever want to see more pictures of the campus, I've taken a ton. Neither of my parents were able to accompany me to see the college, so I took pictures for them. I'd be happy to share with anyone else.</p>
<p>overwhelmedma, personally I agree with Eternal Icicle that the transition could be a good thing. Being laid back is nice :) and I think it'd feel less stressful. When I visited Scripps most of the people I met were laid back but they were still very focused on their education. But I have bias too because I've lived on the west coast my entire life.</p>
<p>I've talked with my parents about it and we've decided I'd only come home for winter break and summer breaks. I'm supposed to stay on campus for Thanksgiving (or find a nice friend) and spring break. Airlines are getting increasingly stingy and tickets are getting more expensive as well as driving being a general pain and expensive (gas).</p>