<p>Just came back from a 4 day visit for Family Weekend at Scripps. D is a freshman and we visited before, but those visits were much shorter and more focused (Preview Day, move-in/Orientation). This time we were able to spend time with D "in her natural habitat" as I called it. Here are a couple quick observations that may be of interest to someone considering Scripps.</p>
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<li><p>The Weather! Yes, I knew Southern California had nice weather, but nothing drives home the point better than visiting from the midwest in the heart of winter. We left bitter cold, gray skies, and snow and spent 4 days under beautiful, sunny skies with temperatures in the upper 70's/low 80's. Flowers were blooming, birds singing, and the orange trees on campus were bursting with fruit. When we left on Monday we passed the Scripps pool where a couple dozen students were sunbathing, floating on rafts, and swimming laps. It is hard to return to this dreary, winter weather.</p></li>
<li><p>The Consortium. Our previous visits were focused on the Scripps campus so we really didn't get to appreciate how big a role the consortium plays in the lives of Scripps students. During this visit, we saw how naturally the students from all the 5Cs interact. Here are some examples from our weekend visit: went with D to a small party on the Pitzer campus one night that was attended by students from all 5Cs; attended a Pitzer/Pomona men's basketball game on Pomona campus with D and some Pitzer friends and their parents; had dinner in Scripps dining hall where 1/2 the students dining were men from the other colleges; attended D's rugby game at their field on the Harvey Mudd campus - her team is a 5C team and an array of friends and parents were there to cheer on the team; attended D's philosophy class Monday on Scripps campus where 10 of 24 students were men from the other colleges. </p></li>
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<p>These are just a couple things that I hadn't really appreciated from prior visits and thought I'd share.</p>