<p>Thank you for your suggestions Sockhermom and mom60. We are driving, leaving from a soccer tourney in San Luis Obispo on Sunday evening Aug 7th. Then I think the first tour will be Cal Lutheran on Monday morning, and then the LA colleges and down to Orange County for Whittier and Concordia.</p>
<p>Would it be wise to have two different hotels, one for the LA colleges and then one for the Orange County ones? Or can I get one mid-way between the counties and just stay in one place, travelling further each day to get to the campus tours? I know we will be dealing with SoCal traffic during the work week, so that might be difficult.</p>
<p>We are thinking of skipping CSU Channel Islands, as with all the bad news about budget cuts, I’m concerned it might close. I know that sounds drastic, but the news about the CSU budget cuts is pretty bleak. Plus, our D is a two-sport athlete and CSU Channel Islands doesn’t have sports, except club sports. She at least would like a campus where sports teams exist with opportunities to watch games. </p>
<p>I have to remember to have her sign up for the Oct SAT today…she took it for the first time in June, but is going to prep for a second time. It’s hard to get her to think about school starting up again in three weeks, and what she needs to do for that, let alone college apps and essays. I know her AP English teacher will have them working on the college essays at the beginning of the year, so I’m not pushing it. </p>
<p>Thanks again for your advice. I need to figure out the hotels quickly. If you have any other ideas, please let me know.</p>
<p>Hi Shinkrap! Congrats on your son going to LMU! You must be so excited for him. It is a reach for our D but we encourage her to apply to reaches too, because as they say “you never know unless you try.” Our son will be a sophomore at Saint Mary’s and he is very happy there. Now if we can only have the same success with our daughter. Although she prefers not to stay in NorCal–she is looking at colleges in SoCal and Oregon.</p>
<p>Please keep us updated on your S’s experience at LMU. Are you looking forward to having an empty nest?</p>
<p>For folks outside of the area I thought I might mention that USD was the hot B student school in our area (OC) this year. So I would expect it to be more competitive next year :(. My son will be freshman at Chapman this fall. The average entering GPA according to them was 3.77, although my son was not that high. I think they recalculate and also might give an edge to boys since they are 60/40 boys /girls. He was 3.6 with a 26 ACT. Redlands gave him a big scholarship and although they accepted their largest freshman class I have a friend whose son applied late and was accepted late and he was not a stellar student. Cal Lutheran I hear great things about for the B student. Whittier is not a very popular school in my neck of the woods so have no input. CSU issues are big, kids are not getting classes, so just be careful.</p>
<p>"Are you looking forward to having an empty nest? "</p>
<p>Mixed feelings; husband has been looking forward to it for 21 years!</p>
<p>We looked at schools in Oregon and Washington too; Willamette, Gonzaga, University of Portland and Whitworth. He was successful with admissions, liked them all a lot, especially the soccer scene, and they where a great value, but us 'rents struggled with the lack of diversity.</p>
<p>Older sister of one of D1’s best friends graduated from UNLV’s hotel school. She is doing quite well. (Works in hotel management–I think she’s in FL right now.) She liked the school a lot.</p>
<p>Bumping this helpful thread for those of us on the west coast since college apps will be breathing down our necks very soon. I’m also interested in anyone who can talk about UNLV. I know they’re well known for hotel management. Anything else?</p>
<p>Tulare, my nephew and his wife both went to UNLV for a year or two each. Is there anything in particular I can ask him for you or do you just want a general impression of the school and/or campus?</p>
<p>An insider’s general view would be great. What’s the campus vibe? Is it a “commuter” school or is there a strong on-campus community? What makes it different than UN Reno? Thanks Tangosmom.</p>
<p>Tulare, both my nephew and his wife went to UNLV for a time. (His wife’s family lives in the area.) Anyway, she got back to me tonight. Not sure if this is comprehensive enough but for what it’s worth:</p>
<p>"UNLV is good, I liked the classes I took there. I was living off campus at the time so I didn’t really get a feel for the campus life. I think it’s a good mixture of on-campus and commuter.</p>
<p>However, I’m not sure about area safety. Vegas took a very bad hit with the recession and is having more crime than ever. It’s possible that wouldn’t affect people living on campus, but it’s worth noting.</p>
<p>The good thing is, you can buy a house in Vegas for $100,000. UNLV also has the best hotel administration programs anywhere because of the Vegas casinos/hotels."</p>
<p>So, probably doesn’t answer all your questions but hopefully it’s a start? I don’t think they will know anything about the differences between UNLV and Reno since they went to UNLV based on where they were living. By the way, they actually met in their freshman year at BIOLA–but they left after that because she got homesick. :-)</p>
<p>USD is a beautiful campus - went there for a conference about a year ago. Very impressive faculty, caring campus ministry staff, great engagement by campus administrators who seemed very down to earth and accessible. The place had a great vibe.</p>
<p>In the LAC category, Whitman College has drawn a number of my kids’ classmates from IN and they love the excellent faculty, experiential learning, and social opportunities. It’s a very highly-regarded college, also described in “Colleges that Change Lives.”</p>
<p>Partyof6mom, I agree with everything you’ve said about Whitman, but you should be aware that the average HS GPA is 3.8. They do look at the application holistically but they’ve gotten more selective in the last decade.</p>