ksbeem

Hey. My husband and I are planning to take our three kids (DS15, DD14 and DS9) to California this summer and drive top to bottom. Our oldest wants to look at colleges along the way.

I think we've got 7 to 10 days to do this.

What are your favorite stops along the way? Any tips?

We're adventurous and like anything!

HappyTrvlr

Carmel, Hearst Castle, Cambria,Santa Barbara and for the 9 year old, Legoland. San Diego..Sea World, Zoo, Zoo's Safari.

happytrailstoyou

Our favorite stops on this drive are Garberville (Redwoods), Healdsburg (Sonoma Valley), San Francisco, Carmel, Pismo Beach, Santa Monica, and San Diego.

HTTY

november_moon

What major(s) is you oldest considering? Also are you looking at state or private schools? That can help you narrow down the college visits.

10 days will be better than 7, of course. You've got a lot of ground to cover as it is, so the more time, the better. I would focus on northern CA, southern CA or the portion from SF to LA - you won't have time for the whole length.

SAB

Between San Francisco and Santa Barbara depending on the route taken, you can visit the University of San Francisco, Stanford University, San Jose State, UC Santa Cruz, Cal State Monterey, Cal Poly, and UC Santa Barbara. Between the Oregon border and SF there are no colleges to visit on the coast except Humbolt State and Sonoma State, inland at Santa Rosa-- you would have to go significantly inland to visit any others. After Santa Barbara and down to San Diego, there are too many to list.

SAB

BTW don't take your US college bound kids to Stanford unless you are able to send them there and there is an excellent chance they can get in because they are likely to become very enamored!!

SAB

Oh dear, I forgot UC Berkeley. I will be severely punished!!

janisj

Do you really mean 'top to bottom'? Crescent City to San Diego is a thousand miles and 7 - 10 days really isn't long enough if you want to spend any time at all in SF or LA or SD and/or visiting schools.

So as nov_moon suggests -- pick northern CA or Southern CA.

Tomsd

I think you can do it all in 7 days - and if you like to see as much as possible - having 10 days could allow you to possibly even zip up to Lake Tahoe (3 hrs) for a couple days/nights. Or 4 hours from SF to Yosemite.

Personally - I would start in SF - and after a couple days of seeing Stanford, USF, Bezerkeley, Santa Clara, San Jose St, etc (note - I think a leisurely drive thru campus is sufficient for a first "survey") - head on down the Coast/Hiway 1 to the Carmel/Monterrey Bay area (2 and a half hour drive).

There you can see: Cannery Row, 17 Mile Drive, the Acquarium, venture on down to Big Sir, etc. You could also check out laid back UC Santa Cruz on the way.

BTW - I think driving North to South gives you the best views from the Coast Hiway - as you are on the Ocean side.

Then you could drive from Carmel (or even leave from Big Sur) to say Hearst Castle (if you left early in the am - you could get an early afternoon tour) and wind up in say Solvang - or Santa Barbara by nightfall.

After UCSB, drive on into LA (going past Pepperdine at Malibu if you follow the beautiful Coast Road) and see UCLA, USC, and maybe a couple other schools there, and wind up in San Diego for your last couple days to see UCSD, USD and San Diego State.

Tomsd

Again, there are other schools/colleges you can visit - and I should also second the recommendation for Cal San Luis Obisbo, a very good school - especially for engineering.

And there are other schools in the SF Bay Area and LA - but I think that a big part is what area they prefer (which a survey trip should help determine) and then go into greater depth the next time around.

Heck - if they are real science students - don't forget Cal Tech in Pasadena, the MIT of the West Coast.

ksbeem

Thanks for the suggestions. TomSD, yes, I was thinking it's a survey trip, mostly. He is really interested in Stanford, but he really has no idea of all the possibilities. We want to satisfy his yearn to visit colleges and have fun, too!

SAB

Tomsd-- UC Berkeley is called Cal, not Bezerkeley. Is that very dated reference still being used in San Diego?

janisj

If all you want is college visits . . .then 7-10days is fine to cover the Bay area, coastal schools like Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, LA, and SD. But if you mainly want a family vacation w/ short visits to a few campuses thrown on the side --then no, it isn't enough time.

2 days in SF (very minimal time), 2 days along the coast, 2 days in LA and 2 days in SD would be an extremely hectic plan and barely give you any time for universities let alone Tahoe - or Yosemite - or the Redwoods - or anything else. Not sure if the 15 yo's desires trump the rest of the family.

PeaceOut

California has so many picture-perfect campuses with beautiful Spanish architecture and authentic mission churches:
Stanford, Santa Clara (Jesuit), UCLA, Loyola Marymount (Jesuit), USD (Catholic), etc.
It is dizzying, unless you do your homework in advance and choose to visit the ones that would actually make sense for your student.

Have fun! We really enjoy seeing campuses, even though our kids are both college-graduates now (thank goodness!).

sf7307

>>

Or, as someone (not I) once said about Stanford - "it looks like a giant Taco Bell".

Surfergirl

@sf7307 -- lol!

GO BEARS!

sf7307

Surfergirl, I'd reply with some anti-Cal barb, but, alas, I am the mother and future MIL of a Stanford/Cal couple

MichelleY

ksbeem: Are you starting in SF? Is this a vacation with colleges thrown in or college visits with a little vacation? If it is mostly vacation, plan where and what you would like to do, then visit one or two colleges in that area or on the way. Many to choose from, so narrow choices to your son's interests, city campuses vs. suburban, size of student body etc., price.

Surfergirl

SF, as a die-hard Bruin and faithful alumnus thereof, I might do that as well -- except that my charming, but wayward son chose the Bears over the Bruins. Whatever, both of us are always yelling at people in crowded arenas to "Take off that Red Shirt!"

november_moon

All the discussion above is why I think it is important to know what the oldest kid is interested in - areas of study (even if he doesn't know - what are his aptitudes/interests?), type of school, etc. - there is a long list of universities in California and the family only has 7-10 days for the trip. We can help narrow down the list of schools to look at - make the school tours more meaningful.

The list of recommended schools to visit will be different depending on whether he is interested in science/engineering/math or art/music - whether he is interested in an urban school or a school in a smaller town, etc.