<p>We are not going to get a chance to visit Redlands before the early application deadline. I'm trying to get a reading on what the social environment is like. Is it possible to tell me if the student population as a whole is more like Chapman, University of the Pacific, Santa Clara, Cal Poly Pomona, or any other western school?</p>
<p>academically redlands is more like la verne. neither the faculty nor the student body is particularly distinguished. chapman once was a peer but it has zoomed way ahead.</p>
<p>Actually by almost all measures (SAT, GPA, etc.), Redlands, Chapman and Santa Clara are very similar, while La Verne is clearly a significant step lower. Redlands actually has a better student to faculty ratio (12:1 vs. 16:1)and smaller classes (avg. 19 vs. 22) than Chapman, with more of their professors having PhDs/terminal degrees; this probably reflects the recent push to expand Chapman, which has resulted in the hiring of more part-time professors.
U.S. News 2006 ranks both Redlands (7th) and Chapman (11th) very well in their category of 123 schools. Redlands is particularily strong in business, music, creative writing and biology, as well as their unique Johnston Program. Chapman is known for business administration, advertising, and cinematography.
With almost all of their students living on campus all 4 years, Redlands feels much more like Santa Clara than Chapman, where many students live off campus after their first year. The student population at Redlands is similar to Santa Clara, with the obvious difference of some Santa Clara students choosing to attend for the Catholic affiliation.</p>
<p>I can't speak for the other schools, but Redlands is also known for education. Music education at the pre-college level is a very strong program here.</p>
<p>That is very helpful information. Santa Clara has a good selection of majors and a nice student environment. If Redlands is similar it is worth considering. Chapman didn't have the same atmosphere. I heard it's becoming more like USC.</p>
<p>Visited both this spring. Redlands is smaller, in a seemingly isolated small town with limited public transportation. Santa Clara is about twice the size of Redlands with a train to San Francisco adjacent to campus. My daughter was unable to get beyond these differences to see any similarities. Only Santa Clara remains on the list.</p>
<p>My daughter is at Santa Clara and loves it. Her friends seem academically competitive, size is just right, knows her professors, excellent faculty. Low on diversity, but orientation for parents/students was openly accepting of all, even sexual orientation. Of CA private schools, I'd put it below the best, but above the rest. Safe, great location, great weather.</p>
<p>Santa Clara overenrolled their freshman class this year. Over half their freshman did not get housing. They talked about tripling students in a room to fit them in. Does anyone know the result?</p>
<p>In comparison to Chapman, Redlands appears to have more variety in majors.</p>
<p>Santa Clara seems alot like Redlands in terms of the social atmosphere. Some might label Redlands as being low on diversity, yet in just the past month, we have had 'coming out of the closet day,' an anti-Colombus protest, the formation of a bi-weekly women's issues discussion group, and an article in the student newspaper that reviewed sex toys. At the same time, we are in the midst of our University's centenial celebration, which means traditional ceremonies and speeches and the like. </p>
<p>The current freshman class is the biggest in the school's history, but we are not over-enrolled (at least in terms of housing). There have been some minor problems with scheduling classes, but the music department overall did an excellent job of planning for a large class; really, the only problem that freshmen have told me about is that some of them could not get into the piano proficiency class. Possibly because I'm now a junior, I haven't felt any of these scheduling difficulties.</p>
<p>In terms of class size, even my 100's level philosophy class has under 15 people in it. </p>
<p>In terms of music, which is all I can really speak about with any level of authority, I think Chapman and Redlands have better programs than Santa Clara. I know that Chapman and Redlands are both accredited my the National Association of Schools of Music. I don't really hear that much about music at Chapman, occationally I hear about a concert, whereas with Redlands we had people from hours away driving to campus to see our Opera Department's production of Norma, or our (completely student run) production of Beauty and the Beast. We also have the annual Feast of Lights celebration, definetly worth coming to campus to check out, even if you can only make one of the nights.</p>
<p>Redlands is much more liberal than Santa Clara or Chapman. Would a more conservative, religious student fit in? I read some old threads here that make it sound like a party school and a free-for-all on weekends.</p>
<p>my take on redlands is that it is pretty strong in the arts and humanities for a midrange LAC. it's gets dreadfully hot in the IE for about 4-5 months of the year but the town is okay. in business redlands has a far inferior faculty and program to places like chapman and santa clara however.</p>
<p>Redlands is not a party school. There are a fair amount of alcohol related offenses on the weekends, but at just about any campus in the US you will see drunk students on the weekends. As I've said before, there are a number of weekend activities available that do not involve alcohol. In addition there are countless clubs and organizations on campus to get involved with. </p>
<p>Redlands has very involved and active Christian groups. A couple of the guys in my fraternity frequent Campus Crusade for Christ and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. They are always going on weekend retreats or having activities. Just last week they took a weekend trip to Catalina. We also have a very active Jewish community on campus. And each year there is a big celebration for the Hindu new year (I still have my candle somewhere). </p>
<p>Anyway, speaking of my fraternity, during pledging all of our members remain dry (meaning no alcohol, except we decided that it was okay to have one glass of champagne at the University's Centenial Celebration). Our probationary membership process is going into it's third week now, and I haven't had any problem having fun while not drinking, and even when we aren't pledging, I certainly don't have any problem finding a place to hang out where people aren't drunk.</p>
<p>I've heard many good things about Redlands, including how beautiful the location is. I'm sold. I don't know if my child is.</p>
<p>My daughter fell in love with Redlands - and quite unexpectedly, I might add. Are you from PV or Peninsula? And has your child made the decision that Redlands is his/her top school? I have been there several times with her and have been impressed with everyone we met ... however, my husband is not so sure of the schools academic reputation. What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>Not really on topic but I was just wondering... Dead Parrot said that it wasn't a party school. But I had heard that it had a high amount of drug use. Would people agree with that or does it seem to be about the same as all colleges have?</p>
<p>From someone who grew up near and now lives in Redlands, you shouldn't feel at all out of place if you are a conservative, religious person. You'd fit right in!<br>
On the location: The university itself is nice and pretty; Redlands has some old victorian houses, too (the nice ones are hidden in the hills, literally) but aside from that Redlands is kind of a boring place (I guess that is good for studying!). There are very limited places to eat...by places - i mean GOOD places (not fast food). Asian restaurants are lacking, you'll have to go out of the city for those. There are two main places where it is nice to hangout: downtown Redlands and maybe the big plaza down next to the freeway entrance of the 10 where there's a Barnes and Noble...Target...Coldstone, Starbucks - the typical fairly new plazas you see popping around all over suburban areas.
Also, a random thing, there are lots of Mormon Churches...I live next to one. There are probably more LDS churches than Christian/Catholic in the town.
Downtown Redlands has a Krikorian movie theater where pretty much all of the h/s scenesters hang around (unfortunately), and by the chipotle on orange street (plus skaters, of course). There's a tiny mall around that area which has nothing but a Harris' Gottchalks, really, albeit a cool vintage store. Then there's State St. - it will remind you of that tv town where the Gilmore Girls lived; every thursday night is "market night" (think outdoor vendors, overpriced jewelry, horse-rides).<br>
Looks like a lot when listed, but if you see Redlands for yourself there's limited things to do outside of school. You'll definitely need a car to get out and have some fun on the weekends!</p>
<p>About the drug use: about the same as the others (except san diego state- that school is crazy!!)</p>
<p>Id like to know more details about the social environment…im from LA.And the redlands seems like a drastic change? is public transportation really that bad?..</p>
<p>Our daughter is graduating this year. ComDis major. If you are considering this school you should ask about job placement and career guidance. The ComDis dept. is lacking BIG TIME in these areas. Her councilor gave her the wrong advice about grad school and has been no help to her in obtaining an SLPA cert. We are extremely disappointed!! Also, I believe the school is in deep financial trouble.</p>