D21 is currently a 4.0 (unweighted) student with 1400 SATs after first try. Average ECs (mostly music and cross country). We live in the Portland metro area (on the WA side) and have explored all the viable options up here in OR and WA. Our spring break trip to CA was disrupted and we are hoping to reschedule it for later this summer if things open up enough.
She is interested in both life sciences and digital arts/animation but doesn’t have a clear singular focus. But has shown the most interest in genetics and thinks genetic counseling might be an interesting career. Mom is a doctor and daughter wants no part of a medical career. A LAC or smaller private where she can explore a variety of options is probably what she is looking for if she decides against our giant in-state flagship, the UW in Seattle.
She’s a liberal kid looking for someplace liberal and LGBT friendly But not someplace so over-the-top politically correct as to be dysfunctional. Academics come first.
I don’t think she is motivated and competitive enough to try for Stanford, USC, or Pomona. She is a good student but not that competitive and achievement oriented. And I see no point in looking at the CA publics as we can get that experience at UW for $30,000yr less and have lots of family in Seattle.
So what CA private schools should be put on our list? We’ll just be road tripping by car so can go anywhere without regard to plane schedules. We are thinking (from north to south)
USF
Santa Clara
Stanford (mostly as tourists for comparison purposes)
Occidental
USC (mostly as tourists)
Pomona and the Claremonts (mostly for comparison sake)
LMU
USD
I’m thinking that Santa Clara and Occidental are the two most likely to suit her, at least on paper. We haven’t seen either one. Are there any schools we are missing that should be added to this group? Any we should not bother with?
She is also not very car-oriented so some place with easy non-stop flights to Portland that is accessible by public transit and easy to attend without a car would be a plus. I’d rather not have to send her to college with a car and she isn’t really much into cars anyway.
Also I"m happy to answer questions about any OR/WA schools as we have seen nearly all of them. And as a HS teacher I’ve pretty familiar with all of them, both public and privates.
Really haven’t. Neither has been on the radar. My vague perception of both is that they are more conservative-leaning and not as selective or resource-rich as say a Santa Clara or Occidental. If she is going to go all the way to Southern California for school it will have to be a fairly extraordinary place that jumps out ahead of what we have here closer to home.
What is it about either of those schools that would interest a quiet studious politically liberal and LGBT-leaning kid looking for a liberal arts education?
She is not religious but we are of Catholic roots so she would be comfortable with the trappings of a Catholic institution if it was not demanding about it. She would not be interested in any sort of Evangelical-leaning place like a Pepperdine. I have no idea where Chapman or Redlands fall into that spectrum. My impression was that they were Christian-based schools but maybe I’m wrong?
Rather than Pomona, Pitzer might be a fit among the Claremont schools. It’s a very distinctive school with a strong liberal tilt, a bit less competitive than Pomona, although not much. My nonpolitically-minded S19 didn’t like it at all, but I can imagine that for some kids it could be a perfect fit The Claremont schools are quite far from LA, and a long way from LAX, so you might want to check if there are flights from Ontario International Airport, which is much closer. Occidental is closer to LA and the city is reasonably accessible by public transportation. It’s a beautiful school with a very nice vibe. I was impressed with this article about how Oxy rejected an approach by Rick Singer, the Varsity Blues mastermind: https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-admissions-adviser-rick-singer-called-this-school-said-no-thanks-11573036202 Although we didn’t consider it for our son, my husband taught at USC for a couple of years. It’s a totally different type of school, big, urban (in a not-so-great part of the city), totally sports-mad. The education is first-rate, it really just depends upon what kind of environment your daughter would be happy in.
Regarding Chapman and Redlands: I think there are schools on your list that are likely a better fit for your D than these two. I mentioned them in case you’d overlooked them; there could be something that clicks. Neither school is religious at all. I am less familiar with Chapman, but Redlands is not conservative. I’d place it mid-spectrum, roughly equal to Santa Clara politically (minus the Catholicism).
Redlands has the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies that appeals to many students who have similarities to how your describe your student:
Are you just doing a drive by? Most schools are closed and not offering tours or info sessions at all this summer. Also, Mills has had serious financial problems. Be careful there.
my dad went there 60 years ago. It was artsy then too. He has fond memories; he kept a pet chicken and duck in his dorm room for some reason. I think it was conservative then but it’s changed in that arena.
No set plans. If by say August it is reasonable to do a road trip without running afoul of stay-home orders and general common-sense precautions the we will probably do it no matter what is open. Just to see the scenery and lay of the land and get a sense of what these places look like in real life. If August is like April then we probably won’t.
We have to go to San Francisco anyway to renew my daughter’s Chilean passport at the consulate there. That has to be done in person. Our daughters are dual citizens and we are maintaining both citizenships for them so they have flexibility in the future. The Mercosur is like the EU. With a Chilean passport she can go work or study in any of the more affluent South American countries without needing work or student visa. If we need to go to San Francisco anyway, then might as well check out the nearby schools. And then since we have plenty of time, might as well do LA too.
The school around here are all closed, but people are using the campuses like parks to stroll around, skateboard, etc. So it is easy enough to do your own walking tour if you want. Perhaps some of the more inner city schools are gated off. But around here the campuses are all open for walkers. So you can pull a campus map up on your phone and do your own walking tour. You just can’t see inside any buildings.
And yes, I know about Mills and it is not on our list. We aren’t looking for a tiny uber-liberal woman’s college. Just good solid reputable private universities that are reasonable prospects and not to out of reach competitive as Stanford and Pomona. If we want a tiny struggling liberal arts college in financial difficulty we have plenty of those up here.
On paper Redlands looks like more of a second tier school than the others on our Southern CA list (LMU, Occidental). It has a tiny endowment relative to enrollment and less selective admissions stats. Chapman was completely off my radar. Not sure why. I’ve vaguely heard of it but never looked into it. On paper it looks identical to LMU in terms of selectivity and endowment size. I had thought it was religiously-affiliated but perhaps that is not just historical.
We are basically looking to CA in case it turns we find the perfect target or reach school that she falls in love with. We have plenty of very nice safety school options up here. Lewis & Clark, University of Puget Sound, and Western Washington are all satisfactory “safety” options for her that she liked on our visits. The question is if there is something in CA that leapfrogs past those to the top of the list.
Fine. I apologize. Although according to Niche, they rate Mills as the #1 most liberal school in the country and judging from the student comments it sounds somewhat dysfunctional. The 25/75 SAT range is 1010-1240 so it isn’t nearly as academic (or selective) as the other schools we are looking at. The SAT range at Santa Clara across the bay is 1270-1440, for example. And news reports suggest they may be on very unstable economic footing. https://www.kqed.org/arts/13870226/staff-at-mills-college-recovering-from-budget-crisis-follow-faculty-in-union-campaign
Not sure I’d be planning a road trip into COVID hot spots…
Santa Clara and Oxy are significantly different. SCU offers a Jesuit liberal arts education in a mid-sized campus. While Catholic, the Jesuits are extremely welcoming to all. Oxy is an urban LAC and as such, might be more liberal-LGBTQ friendly.
Agree on your Mills thoughts. Mills is tiny, with a 25% transfer out rate; only 60% graduate in 4 years. In addition to financial difficulties, Mills is located in a not friendly section of Oakland. No place to walk off campus for a movie or pizza. OTOH, Mills is great at recruiting low income kids – 56% Pell grantees.
The other issue with Mills, is that according to Niche, they only had 17 bio majors last year which doesn’t suggest a particularly robust department. Or perhaps not one large enough to have much research and specialization going on.
Yes, we are pretty aware of what are likely to be the distinctions between Santa Clara and Oxy. We basically have the same thing up her in the Northwest with small liberal arts colleges like Reed, Lewis & Clark and UPS on the one hand and Jesuit schools like Gonzaga on the other. We will be visiting both and letting the daughter decide which type of environment she prefers, or if she would rather attend a big public flagship like UW.
I honestly don’t know if she is going to prefer a small LAC or a mid-size private like Gonzaga or Santa Clara. We will take a close look at both kinds of schools.
And no, we won’t be driving into any covid hot zones in the middle of a pandemic. This is just speculative for August if conditions allow. If not we’ll probably have to wait until Christmas or just make a couple of separate short trips during the school year.
If she is interested in animation, it is definitely worth touring the Dodge college at Chapman. My daughter has decided to focus purely on art colleges, but before she decided that, we did their tour and were impressed with the facilities and with reports of internships and jobs obtained.
I never understand why people think Catholic schools are not religious. LMU is a Jesuit school with a Catholic mission. I know the priest who was in charge of the Jesuit schools consortium. His entire job was to keep the religion in the Jesuit schools.