Hello! Happy to help. Threads here on LMU seem to run a little thin! We are from Ohio, by the way.
My D (senior) is a Theater major and knew that when applying. She then added a Women and Gender Studies major and a Screenwriting minor. So…that’s three different colleges there. She had good support and advising when figuring this out and adding it. I do know that there is flexibility in the core requirements, for example I think there are two ‘religion’ classes required (I don’t know if they term them religion) but the options for those can be philosophy, ethics, or actual religious studies. My D never found the core to be burdensome, I know that many classes double dip as major and core requirements, and she did lots of exploring in her first three years…which was great and exactly what we both wanted for her. Her good friend switched into a marketing major midway, so it must be possible. I think that SFTV (film school) might be the only one that would be difficult or impossible to transfer into, but minors are possible (hence my D’s screenwriting).
I’ll get more details from her on social life. She is not a big partier and is happy with the social scene that she found. Hangouts in dorms, some off campus parties (that wasn’t a big draw for her, but her friends did). She didn’t rush, Greek is non residential; many of her friends did and were happy with it, there are Greek events, parties, dances and she went to a few. I don’t know if there are parties on campus! There are events, clubs, improv shows, dance and acapella shows etc, of course they get some amazing guest celebrity speakers too, and a fall concert that gets very popular acts. I’ll get more info from her though on what the social scene is really like for someone looking more than small hangouts in dorms! (She’s lived off campus junior and senior year, and still doesn’t go to any big parties). LMU has some off campus events too like beach trips, Disney trips, surf club. My D didn’t spend a ton on off campus entertainment with the exception of the area music festivals. The surprise more to us was groceries (she’s gluten free and eats healthy so bought some groceries in addition to meal plan. On that note, I would say that dining seems to be a weakness. It looked great on paper, but in reality seems like just one dining hall with rotating options that surely gets old after a while, one diner that closed for renovations, and one “nice” restaurant that kids only go to with parents or when they have extra food dollars to use up!).
I met a friend at orientation whose D was also a Theater major and is very into dance; I’ll see if she can come in here with dance info for non majors.
I haven’t heard any concerning financial news, with covid or before. Some people think that LMU is a little stingy on the merit scholarships but my D got a good merit award. I have heard that students wanting to defer due to covid are not being guaranteed that their merit scholarships will be the same, but I don’t know that that is a troubling sign or just a prudent financial practice given the uncertainty for all college finances! I think tuition went up the standard percentage for this year, and in a recent town hall that I didn’t watch I heard that they will not be reducing tuition for the online fall semester.
More later on social scene!