West coast schools
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Anonymous
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I’ve learned a lot from this board and I know the college landscape has changed from when I applied 30 years ago! My oldest is a sophomore so we have a ways to go. So far he is a good student, taking a couple of APs, some EC (I think he should lean in more but I think it will look decent on paper, sports teams also but not the star so wont be a recruited athlete) and no idea how he will do on the standardized tests. He’s interested in going to college on the west coast (we have family there so have visited often) and I’m thinking of doing a road trip this summer to take a look at schools beyond the obvious (Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Pamona which I know are super competitive and may be out of his reach). He doesn’t have the context yet to know if he’d be happier in a SLAC or large university so this trip is really to see a variety of different school types. Any suggestions? We’d include Washington and Oregon too so not just CA.
We’d mix it up with some fun too so and he’s really on board with this idea so it’s not a pressure filled trip by any means. And if anyone has experience of their kid going to (or even applying to) school on the west coast, I’d love to hear about their experiences! |
Anonymous
| Cal State schools, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State. |
Anonymous
| San Diego State was an affordable surprise. If he’s way above their stats, there’s an honors program. |
Anonymous
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Pitzer, Claremont McKenna, Occidental, Chapman, USC, Pepperdine, other UCs, Santa Clara, Reed, Lewis & Clark, Whitman, Univ of Washington
Santa Clara is becoming more popular and a good target for kids not within reach of the very top schools |
Anonymous
| What does he want to study? |
Anonymous
Tuition low, dorms breathtakingly high |
Anonymous
Does this mean the cost of housing high? What’s the draw to Santa Clara? |
Anonymous
| USC |
Anonymous
How would he know now |
Anonymous
Some hand holding, and proximity to jobs. Well known to CA families. |
Anonymous
| I lived up and down the west coast for ~20 years. Let me plan this trip for you: Fly into Seattle and stay a few days; it's a really fun town, especially in the summer. Tour U-Dub. Then hop on I-5 (which, before becoming acquainted with 95, I thought was a miserable road). Tour UPS in Tacoma. Spend a night there if you want or just continue down to Portland. Spend a couple of days in Portland (also a great summertime town) and tour Reed and Lewis & Clark. Back on I-5. Tour Willamette in Salem and then continue to Corvallis for the overnight. Tour OSU and then head to Eugene for the overnight. Tour U of O and then break to the coast. Due west of Eugene is Florence, which is a fine coastal town, but ~45 minutes north of Florence is Newport, which is the coolest town on the Oregon Coast, especially for anyone into marine science--if you have the time, spend a little there. Then enjoy the drive down 101. Golf in Bandon if you're into that. Definitely spend a day in the Redwood National and State Parks. Continue down Highway 1 to SF. Spend a couple of days there. Check out Berkeley and Stanford, but don't fall in love. Check out Santa Clara if you're into that. Then make your way to UCSC, which is a gorgeous and wildly underrated university where OOS kids actually get admitted. Continue down 1 to San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly-SLO. Then USCB. Then whatever strikes your fancy in metro LA. Then UCSD and USD and maybe San Diego State. Maybe then break east and check out ASU and/or Arizona, or maybe just fly home. (Arizona is an underrated, fun, and accessible school; ASU has more than its fair share of knuckleheads but its honors college is truly fantastic.) |
Anonymous
| Wow that’s an epic college tour ! |
Anonymous
DP I made this trip many years ago. You will need about 2 weeks if driving. |
Anonymous
Californian here. This is a fantastic itinerary but I have a few edits and comments: In NorCal stop in Arcata and visit Cal Poly Humboldt. Although the drive from Arcata down to SF on 101/1 is spectacular, consider swinging inward and visiting Cal State Chico. Then continue down 5 (sadly ugly road) and go to UC Davis. On the way to SF consider veering over to Sonoma State (gorgeous campus, good education). While in SF also visit St. Mary’s Moraga (another little SLAC that is beloved by a lot of Californians but unknown out of California, good little school and fabulous small school sports culture, they punch way above their size). Also consider visiting SJSU. UCSC is wildly popular in California these days and I think the days of OOS admits there are going down. But definitely visit. From UCSC go to Monterey and visit CSU Monterey Bay, a relatively new CSU that’s got a strong reputation in state. On the way south, consider a stop at CSU Channel Islands (newest CSU, I’ve never been but heard it’s nice). In LA look at Cal Poly Pomona, which is an easier OOS admit than SLO. Consider going inland to University of Redlands (everyone I know here in CA who went there or has a kid there raves about it in a way that stands out, it’s on my radar for that reason). Visit LMU (spectacular campus) and Pepperdine (amazing campus). Have fun! |
Anonymous
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I'm in LA. If the above itinerary is too jammed for you, just apply to the UC schools without visiting.
It won't make a difference in that they don't want demonstrated interest, and there is only one application to fill out for all the UC schools, and you can check as many boxes as schools you want (and pay more application fee per school, but still) Then you can go back and explore the ones that your kid got into. FYI the UC system is right now/actively trying to limit OOS kids as a response to in-state uproar (we in-staters can't get our kids to our own colleges). So I would not concentrate on the UC schools, if you are in the area, just drive through them. And yes, if in LA, look at LMU and don't omit driving through Pepperdine, omg for the views alone....if your kid likes Pepperdine then just know DCUM rips on it a lot but I live near there are it's not religiously cray-cray as DCUM makes it out to be. Oh! Not for OP but for anyone else reading this board--Scripps. Beautiful, and a women's college physically next to co-ed colleges so there are men too. My DD got into her ED school but the one school both of us, independently, lamented was the "alternate universe" of going to Scripps. Finally, fyi, as you asked for "types of schools" my kids' high school deans recommend going to the Claremont Consortium schools, and then walking through USC and UCLA to get the different vibes. Example, Pomona can correlate to an east coast SLAC. Technical school is Harvey Mudd. Women's college is Scripps. UCLA--large public urban. USC--med large private urban. Etc... HTH! |