Would she be happy here?

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Lutheran University
1

<p>The multimedia program is attractive, but we live in Virginia and California is a long way away. We could not visit in person unless it became the top choice. So –

  • how good is the multimedia program? Are kids getting jobs?
  • Are academics challenging but not over the top hard? Are students more competitive or more cooperative?
  • how is the city/campus as far as things to do? D is not a party animal, but I think she’d like to have people to hang out with on the weekend - and she certainly wouldn’t be coming home often. Mall proximity is not important - more things to do. It’s a plus that there’s not a Greek scene.
  • Does it ever get cool enough to at least wear a sweatshirt? I think a lack of seasons might drive her insane.
  • what do you (or your kids) love/hate about the school?</p>
2

<p>mamaduck,</p>

<p>I have a freshman dtr at Cal. Lu. She’s a liberal studies major and so far is absolutely loving it. She does find the curriculum challenging without it being too stressful. The school appears to do a great job making sure the students get the help they need. We were very impressed at freshman orientation. I would call the school’s multimedia dept. directly (as I did for liberal studies) and they will be able to answer all your questions. I found this to be very helpful in our decision to attend.</p>

<p>Cal. Lu had big shoes to fill because we have a son who graduated from Harvard this past year. I must say that we were beyond impressed with the academics and the staff at Cal. Lu. </p>

<p>Best of luck to you!</p>

3

<p>Hey guitars, how did your D’s semester go? After some time at CLU, does she still love it?</p>

4

<p>Mamaduck, I’d like to know how Cal Lutheran is also. Took my daughter for a tour this week and she really liked it (Mom wasn’t that impressed). I just don’t want her to be sitting there alone on the weekends. </p>

<p>I’ll write a tour report, but here’s a couple of highlights. </p>

<ul>
<li><p>It’s a long drive up into residential area and the campus sits on top of the hills above tract developments. I’m sure it was way out there alone in the hills when it was first built. </p></li>
<li><p>Very very safe location - I cannot imagine crime coming onto the campus from the local neighborhoods. </p></li>
<li><p>There is nothing to walk to - you have to drive to get to anything. I am not clear on whether there is student transportation down into Thousand Oaks or anywhere else. </p></li>
<li><p>There are a lot of new classroom buildings amongst the older buildings - some major donations from local businessmen (not alumni). Brand new football stadium and huge athletic/fitness facility.</p></li>
<li><p>Dorms are original and kind of weird. They were built as a motel. There are 2 bdrm suites surrounding a courtyard. This means that students probably are not sitting around all evening with their doors open in a hallway for socializing. Doors go straight outside, so it would be cold to have doors open all the time. Two bedrooms and a small living room and bathroom for 4 students. The living room thing was kind of nice because then a student could sleep while their roomate studies out on the couch. Students have to bring their own living room furniture between the 4 roomates. I believe bedroom furniture is provided.</p></li>
<li><p>Regarding weather… we are all wimps in Southern California. Evenings and nights are cold (in our minds) and you are definitely wearing sweatshirts. It can be in the high 50’s and 60’s sometimes in winter, so we break out the big coats! Thousand Oaks can get hot in the summer (not getting ocean breezes), but students are not on campus at that time. And, some of our warmest days are actually September and October.</p></li>
<li><p>There wasn’t anybody on campus so I cannot report on the students, although the swim team was practicing in the pool. They have to return to campus early. </p></li>
<li><p>Campus was medium sized and very manageable and well laid out. Freshman have their own dorms and there are newer dorms built for upper class. Upper class dorms have 4 singles sharing a full kitchen and bathroom. They can opt out of the meal plan if they want. Most students live on campus all 4 years so there is a high percent of residency. My biggest concern is whether it becomes a ghost town on weekends and honestly, Thousand Oaks is not a hip college hangout. So, I am guessing that a lot of kids leave on weekends??</p></li>
<li><p>They allow all students to have cars on campus and there is plenty of free parking for students. So, most kids are going to have cars and go off somewhere.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>My daughter was very impressed with their 4 To Finish program. They guarantee you will finish in four years as long as you meet with your academic advisor each semester and keep up your minimum GPA.</p>

5

<p>We squeezed in a self-tour on the Sunday afternoon of Presidents weekend this past February. The security guards gave us a map of the campus. We saw 4 students the entire time we were there, lying on the grass on a beautifully peaceful part of campus. So, a total of 6 souls, counting the two security guards. The library was actually closed! We did manage to get into one building where there were faculty offices to use a bathroom.</p>

<p>Granted, it was a 3 day weekend, but I’d never seen a campus so very, very quiet. I think it might be depressingly quiet for an out of state kid who couldn’t afford to fly home on the 3 day weekends. </p>

<p>As coralbrook reported, the surrounding area appears safe, but very suburban residential. A car is probably necessary to get anywhere. </p>

<p>We saw 4 other So Cal colleges that same long weekend, all busy and lively with many students around, and tons of activity swirling around the campuses. </p>

<p>This visit took CLU off my son’s list, except as Hail Mary Safety. He did get accepted with $, but has lots of other choices at this point, phew.</p>

6

<p>Coralbrook, what did your daughter like?</p>

<p>All of D’s other schools are either large or located in an urban environment. I fear she’d find CalLu lonely, from what y’all are posting.</p>

7

<p>I think my daughter liked how small and intimate it was. I don’t think she will thrive in a large environment. They really stressed how the class sizes were small and professors really spent time to work with the students. </p>

<p>Also, it was ‘pretty’ with large open space and some new buildings.</p>

<p>She liked the high percent of residents in dorms and the fact that she can stay in the dorms through senior year if she wants - and a high % of upper class do stay in the dorms. 80% freshmen live in the dorms and 60% overall stay on campus.</p>

<p>She probably thinks Mom and Dad are going to let her have a car if she goes to that school - one of our current rules is ‘no car freshman year’.</p>

<p>Also, she is secretly Christian (she’s going through the phase that it is uncool) and maybe she liked the safety net of chapel and ministers involved with the school - although she definitely did not tell me that was one of her reasons.</p>

<p>In contrast, we also toured CSU Fullerton, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Long Beach. Although Long Beach is far superior academically, she just hated the institutional architecture and the layout of these campuses. They were obvious commuter schools with huge parking structures for all the students driving to campus. Fullerton has 37,000 students and I just cannot figure out where they all fit on that campus. And, we know there are only 1,200 freshmen in the dorms, so that has to be a lot of freshmen living off campus. Even though she has already been accepted, they are probably off the list now.</p>

<p>Not sure why the prior poster didn’t see any students on the 3 day weekend. Maybe there were a lot of off campus excursions??? There’s just no way that all of the out of state students were not on campus. I think it would be nice to find out what %% of students are OOS or international - that would give a good feel for how many are really staying on campus over the weekends.</p>

<p>Also, it could be that a lot of students go to their local friend’s houses on the weekend??</p>

<p>If we get closer to our decision and she is still thinking about Cal Lutheran (it is not her top choice right now, but might be as we get closer to figuring out the final cost of everything) we will go visit again on a regular weekend.</p>

<p>As a comparison, her dream school is Chapman Dodge Film school and 2nd choice (and getting hotter by the minute since she is deferred at Chapman) is University of Denver where she has been admitted to their Film major.</p>

8

<p>I just wanted to follow up that the Admissions Rep who was the tour guide for our visit during Winter Break sent a very nice hand-written follow up note to my daughter. Nice touch!</p>

9

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>Well after 1 semester down my daughter…LOVES IT! she has made a ton of friends. The school is safe and there is plenty to do. The college offers school events in the evenings on Fridays and Saturdays. The kids go bowling, to concers, to dances etc… lot’s of activities without taking away from what they are in college to do…get an education. My daughter walks to a few food places and trader joes which is about a 10 min. walk. My daughters roommate has a car and many kids go to the mall which is about 4 miles away and there are TONS of restaurants and movie theaters. </p>

<p>the school is a close knit environment and the administration takes a personal interest in the students. I believe this is because the school is small. There is no way they would have the time to take a personal interest with thousands of kids enrolled. </p>

<p>our family loves Cal. Lutheran Univ.!!!</p>

10

<p>btw, kids like to go home on 3 day weekends. Many kids take their friends home if the friends families live far. This was the same situation at Harvard where my son did his undergrad. Harvard was empty also on 3 day weekends. </p>

<p>the chapel time is great. it’s nice to see the kids all go to chapel together and then go to lunch or classes right after. the school closes down for chapel time (1 hour every thursday).</p>