Anonymous wrote:A close friend of my daughter’s was completely shut out in admissions last year, Occidental was her safety. She was beside herself for month and absolutely dreaded going. Fast forward a year and she truly couldn’t be happier. She loves the school and the people and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

38% admissions rate is not a safety for anyone, not any more

A close friend of my daughter’s was completely shut out in admissions last year, Occidental was her safety. She was beside herself for month and absolutely dreaded going. Fast forward a year and she truly couldn’t be happier. She loves the school and the people and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Thanks so much, all!

Anonymous wrote:OP we live near Occidental and it's on our DS list for applications next year. The campus is beautiful and safe, the students are known to be thoughtful and socially conscious. We're going on an official tour in the coming weeks to hear and find out more in person.

Congratulations to your DS for the acceptance, especially at RD which is a great deal more competitive than ED.

I know they have a core study program, including languages but you can qualify as having met certain requirements if you have a language AP or pass a proficiency test etc. Also we are impressed with the United Nations internship they offer. Amongst other things.

I hope your DS decides he likes it enough to attend. Good luck.

I responded above. My DC had 6 years of HS French (MCPS which started in sixth grade). Nonetheless she took Spanish at Oxy, and loved it. Loved the professor and found college level language to be a completely different experience.

Anonymous wrote:Oxi is conveniently located (20 min to downtown LA, 10 min to Pasadena, 45 min to the beach).The area around school (Eagle Rock) is fine, but I would think it would be nice to have a car.

It’s Oxy.

OP, my DC (at Occidental) doesn’t have a car and they’re doing fine. Would it be nice? Of course, but will likely not happen.

Anonymous wrote:President Obama did his first year of college at Oxy.

He spent his first two years at Oxy

OP we live near Occidental and it's on our DS list for applications next year. The campus is beautiful and safe, the students are known to be thoughtful and socially conscious. We're going on an official tour in the coming weeks to hear and find out more in person.

Congratulations to your DS for the acceptance, especially at RD which is a great deal more competitive than ED.

I know they have a core study program, including languages but you can qualify as having met certain requirements if you have a language AP or pass a proficiency test etc. Also we are impressed with the United Nations internship they offer. Amongst other things.

I hope your DS decides he likes it enough to attend. Good luck.

We visited and absolutely loved the campus. Great tour. Great location. Great facility. Impressive faculty. Great food. The tour guides were well spoken and clearly having incredible experiences. The location in the heart of SoCal naturally provides access to tons of internship and research opportunities. I think this school is underappreciated and expect that it will continue to rise in popularity. Congrats on DC's acceptance!

Anonymous wrote:Oxi is conveniently located (20 min to downtown LA, 10 min to Pasadena, 45 min to the beach).The area around school (Eagle Rock) is fine, but I would think it would be nice to have a car.

Student parking on campus is available, permit required but I don’t think it costs anything. Leaving a car over the summer or semester abroad is also included. DC never had a car but there were so many people who did, it wasn’t an issue.

OP, we were in your situation, we didn’t visit until after admission. The campus is lovely, my younger DC, at a bigger state school, is impressed by the mall (for the olds, the HS in Clueless is Oxy). My DC is about to graduate, has loved the school and grown immensely there. Was able to do summer research and knows people in the diplomacy program, but isn’t involved.

DC likes the surrounding neighborhoods (the resident crank here finds them scary). DC only lived on campus, but is a little jealous of the houses friends toon. Senior year. Particularly the Highland Park side for food and shops. Eagle Rock on the campus side is more utilitarian CVS/Target/Sprouts/hardware. Colorado Blvd has shops and restaurants, but not as immediate for students, but there’s a TJ’s. I love Cindy’s diner, usually a wait, though.

We’ve stayed in Pasadena and Glendale, both were easy enough.

Oxi is conveniently located (20 min to downtown LA, 10 min to Pasadena, 45 min to the beach).The area around school (Eagle Rock) is fine, but I would think it would be nice to have a car.

President Obama did his first year of college at Oxy.

Oxy is very liberal and activist oriented.

Kid is a freshman at one of the 5C schools but loved Oxy. We visited summer before his senior year and thought it was a beautiful campus with friendly people. Their internship programs were impressive. He would have happily enrolled there. Congrats!

Know someone there now who seems happy but fyi there is at least one person on this board who like to crap on it

DC accepted. Deferred/denied at favorites, had a few nice acceptances but nothing they are enthusiastic about.
DC likes the size, location - going to visit next week.
Any thoughts about the school appreciated.
Thanks