We toured Chapman back when my son was a freshman and now, as a senior, he’s been accepted. Our tour showed us a lot of gorgeous landscaping, fountains and flags. We were not able to see inside the dorms, the gym, the classrooms, the cafeteria… Honestly, we weren’t able to see inside ANYTHING, and this was way before the pandemic! Even that first tour felt like they were trying to hide something from us. Maybe because all the dorms are triples? The food is bad? The classes are boring? I don’t know - because I didn’t get a chance to see anything.
We flew 2600 miles to see the campus once. We’re considering going back but if we’re going to see a bunch of grass and hear about Disneyland again, I’m not sure it will be worthwhile. Is there any way to sit in on a class, spend a day shadowing a student, or do any of the other things that OTHER colleges offer? He hasn’t even seen the gym. Honestly every other college has shared the inside spaces with us but not Chapman. PLEASE - any help would be much appreciated! Will a revisit even be worth the trip?
Why don’t you call the admissions office and ask them if he can sit in on any classes or go inside any buildings. With covid, many colleges are not letting you inside buildings, but it is worth asking. My son picked a school without being able to go inside (except to use the bathroom in the admissions building). I remember doing tours with my older son and how helpful it was to see inside.
This isn’t unusual, even pre-pandemic. Why not wait and see if he is accepted? Maybe by then, he will get to see inside. There are plenty of photos online. I doubt they are hiding something, but understand that there are plenty of cruddy dorm rooms at most colleges, even the Ivy League and private colleges you’ll pay $75k a year for.
My son is admitted and still very interested. I already spoke to admissions and they detailed the tour: same exact tour as last time with the possible exception of eating lunch in the caf. Yay. And this was NOT typical of the nearly 50 colleges I’ve toured with my sons - we almost always went inside a dorm, and there were no other colleges where we didn’t see the gym and the cafeteria, and that includes during the pandemic! It’s just a long trip to see the same grass and fountains.
I visited there 5 years ago with my daughter. I remember my impression of Chapman was that it was above-average nice, clean, well kept…almost like the town in The Truman Show LOL. And yes, we got to see inside a dorm room. It was typical but nice, not run down or old in any way. We toured the film school which was quite incredible, very very new, nice, cutting edge. I’m sure we went to a dining hall but I just don’t remember. But I walked away with a clear impression of very nice/new/bright/well kept/$$$ of both the physical spaces and the students. Hope this helps. She attended LMU and had friends of friends at Chapman who were all very happy there.
That is so weird our tours to Chapman definitely included the dorms pre pandemic! And they aren’t currently triples during the pandemic, and we toured the whole building for my students’ major department (Dodge but others do it too). We also toured the new engineering building and the library and the interfaith center. We did not tour the gym or the dining hall and I will say the dining hall is mediocre at best. I do know that they are currently in a no casual visitors policy (including tours) for the pandemic and when they start again (mid February) they will require either vax + booster or negative covid test to tour and enter buildings.
Definitely ask about admitted students day/tour and panther for a day (they get to sit in on classes). They even have had (pre pandemic) a program where they can room with a student for a night.
We toured Chapman in October. While not included in the tour, we went to dining hall/student center /bookstore on our own afterward. Had to show proof of vaccination through a barcode. We weren’t able to go into dorms but I get that with Covid. We will be returning April for admitted students day and they say then can see dorms.
We actually just got back from an admitted student visit last week, and we saw dorms as well. We also had a friend who took my son to the caf, so he had a chance to see what that was like (but the tour didn’t go anywhere near it). It seems that whatever happened during our first visit was a fluke, at least with the dorms. We actually saw an actual student’s room, not even a model. Unfortunately it was a double when most rooms at Chapman dorms are triples - in the same size room - so it’s tough to guess how crowded they would be. Thanks for weighing in.
Hi - Just wanted to write again because we went back to Chapman and visited again for Admitted Students visit. This time we were able to see a dorm room (someone’s actual room!) as well as inside several different buildings. Still no visit to the caf - but we were able to see it after our tour. This visit was SO MUCH BETTER - negating the reason for the original question! Wanted to let people know, in case they find this thread and wonder.
There isn’t much talk about the food, but we knew someone (who knew someone) who took my son to lunch. Food was expensive and not good, but I honestly believe that there are very few cafeterias that would be “great.” I know they went to the “main” caf but I don’t know if there’s another one somewhere… As for dorms, the dorms are nice … as long as you don’t mind sharing! The one we saw was nice - spacious and bright. But … I also heard (loud and clear, while my son didn’t notice) that MOST freshmen and sophomores live in triples - a standard-sized room that is shared between three people. They showed us a single, which is not only an extra cost but unusual at Chapman. If you look on YouTube, there is an actual 2020 dorm tour (my college dorm tour 2020 ✨| Chapman University - YouTube) that is a triple so it gives a pretty good feel of what a room is actually like. Good luck in the search!
hi! i’m a current student at chapman and i would have to say that everyone’s experiences are quite different. so it’s important to remember that whether classes are boring or not will depend on your son’s outlook and mentality on things here. but, i am willing to take him to my classes with me whatever day you may come and also give him a tour of the school as long as he looks like any student here. again, that’s up to you if he is dead set on going to chapman. i can totally go into further detail about everything else over private message.