Help with So. CA College tour road trip
 

I need...no get... to take my daughter on a college tour and because of sports it has to be the week of Feb 16, 2009.
I plan to fly into Burbank and see UCLA and USC and then travel to UC Irvine and stay the night and go to Disneyland. Because DL closes at 8pm I thought we could travel North and stay on the coast (sugestions) and then make our way to Pepperdine and the on to UCSB where we will stay the night before heading to Northern Calif.
I know it's a lot to take in. We have very little choice. We obviously are driving everywhere once we land in Burbank. Suggestions on places to stay along the way? Eat? See? Any Alumni suggestions?

We stayed at the Howard Johnson next to Disneyland this summer and it was fine. Mimi's, the restaurant in the parking lot was great. I can't help with other hotel reservations. Here is my trip report.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35138240

Thanks. I hear more and more good things about Howard Johnson.
Anyone else have any areas that you think are important to see for a potential student let me know!
Thanks so much

UCLA, USC and Irvine all on arrival day sounds pretty ambitious considering all the traffic. I think I'd skip UCLA and save it for Pepperdine day since they're practically around the corner from each other. Consider Hilgard House near UCLA, you'd really get a feel for the village surrounding the University and could even have breakfast on campus. Maybe visit the Getty Center nearby late morning, then make it over to Pepperdine and onward to Santa Barbara late in the day.

Your itinerary sounds ambitious, to say the least. Get yourself a good map of L.A. It seems you plan to cover a lot of ground in one day, if I understand you correctly.

Anyway, the area around USC isn't great, so I imagine you'll want to see what's on campus. (My son's applying there too!)

At UCLA, spend a bit of time walking around Westwood Village.

In Malibu, try to get lunch at the Malibu Inn, a typical Pepperdine student spot.

Regarding places to stay...staying on the coast will likely be expensive. If you want a less expensive alternative, you could drive from DL to Woodland Hills (Warner Center) or Calabasas. That should take no more than 1.5 hours. The next morning, you could be at Pepperdine within 20 minutes, and it's a nice drive through Malibu Canyon.

Good luck!

Hahaha, only in LA would the 15-mile drive between UCLA and Pepperdine through Westside traffic be considered "right around the corner". Assuming you're not going on any kind of official escorted campus tours, you can do all three in one day.

Casa Malibu Inn gets pretty good reviews on Tripadvisor so if it's within your budget I'd stay there.

I'm UCLA Alumni. What specific question do you have and I'll try answering it. Happy Travels!

I'm a UCI alumni, and I would always encourage any young person to choose a college by a beach!

It was great to live on Balboa Island or Laguna Beach during the school year for 1/4 the price of a summer rental.

My son is a USC alumni, and the area is not so great. UCLA is in a really fun walkable area.

I don't want to complicate your plans, but there is another school you might want to see: Loyola Marymount University, recently named one of the 10 most beautiful campuses by Princeton Review. About 6,000 undergrad, 1,900 grad and 1,300 law students. A less "intense" religious perspective than Pepperdine. The campus is near LAX, not far off the 405 freeway.

http://www.lmu.edu/

Guenmai-Thank You! I would be interested in the areas that you made your home....where you spent time off campus. Those places you ate, shopped and any special places on campus that we shouldnt miss.

Kailani-I hear that about USC and for me the area around the school is really important. Anything about the area around UCI that needs our attention?

Jean...I did forget Loyola and we are going there. My daughter discovered it in a "personality" match. Glad you mentioned it here for others to see!
Thank You all. I love this site!!!

I am a little confused on where you want to stay? I live about 10 minutes from UCI and go to Disneyland often... but could not tell by your post where you want to stay?

Do NOT stay by USC - UCLA is in a fabulous area - grea to walk around etc.

Not sure how you are going to see UCLA, USC AND UCI in one day. I live here and getting up firs thing in the am it would be next to impossible to do - and it is still getting dark pretty early in Feb.

Best of luck to your dd - UCLA and USC are pretty tough to get into!

magialmemories,
One of my sons went to LMU and one to USCB. The campuses are as different as day and night, but both near the ocean, which was a requirement. Be sure to make time to walk to the top of the cliff (by the chapel) and look out over LA and the Pacific Ocean, the view is fantastic.

Good luck in your decision making.

ttt

OK, this is a bit confusing. It sounds as if you want to do this trip in a couple of days and yet you said the week of 2/16. Exactly how many days will you be spending in Southern Cal? You can't do this trip, well, in two days, it's impossible.

Santa Barbara has a wonderful small airport... SBA. You may wish to fly to Northern CA and ease your schedule a bit.

Howard Johnson's is clean and comfortable and Mimi's has a great quiche!

You will be seeing some of the most beautiful campuses in CA... enjoy your time with your daughter.

Can you fly into John Wayne airport in Irvine? Then go straight to UCI, see that, and then drive up into Westchester to see LMU? You should be able to find a good place to stay in Westchester or near LAX, or even in Culver City (my home town). Then the next day go over to USC first, then up to UCLA in the afternoon. Then, drive out to Malibu for the night if that's your choice, so that you can see Pepperdine the next a.m. and then drive up to Santa Barbara for UCSB. Good luck!

I decided to fly into Burbank and back track to Disneyland and UC Irvine because I didnt want to go to Disneyland on a holiday. I guess I just have really under estimated the LA traffic. We are really trying to narrow down her options and get a "general" feel for the different areas. I went to UCSB so when we get to Santa Barbara I will take her to State Street, the beach and pier near the junior college and then of course through Isla Vista and drive her around the student area and do the walking tour on campus. I really want to give her an idea about what the areas have to offer.

After we get home we can narrow our choices and make appointments to see student housing and get into more specific detail.

So for the benefit of myself and others can someone explain how to gauge the LA freeway situaiton? If UCLA and USC are 15 miles apart and we concentrate our efforts on UCLA in the am, spend an hour or so at USC and the drive the 50 miles to UC Irvine for the afternoon can't this be done?

I know we cant see it all on this trip but I think she will be able to decide if a large university like UCLA is a better fit than a small private universtiy like Pepperdine.

If you know one of the areas and can recommend places that students or "locals" eat or where visiting parents would stay that would be helpful to get a feel for the area.

Honestly, I don't know where some of the posters are getting their info from. Do they actually live here? Yes, of course you can see UCLA in the morning, go over to USC and then drive to Irvine for the afternoon. I can't imagine that it will take more than an hour to get between any of these places during the day (and probably less for UCLA to USC).

Virtually all freshmen stay in the UCLA dorms (as housing nearby Westwood is expensive), and there are tons of places to eat on campus. Westwood Village is worth a walk around (there is free parking in the Broxton Street Garage). Be sure to check out Stan's Donuts and Lamonica's NY pizza for student food. Often the sophomores will try to get into a sorority even if they aren't "that type".. so drive down sorority row (Hilgard on the north side of campus).

What time does your flight arrive?

Yes, you can definitely do UCLA in the a.m., then go over to USC for a while and then drive down to Irvine. Just know that you will be in pretty heavy traffic on your way down to Irvine. In good traffic UCLA to USC should only take about 30 minutes, however it could take significantly longer. Sorry, but I don't have any recommendations. UCLA's Ackerman Hall has a food court on the bottom floor that has decent mall food and there is a food court close to USC that I believe is called University Village. It's on Jefferson Blvd. and is an easy walk from campus. It would great for you and your daughter to walk this as it will ease some of your concerns about the neighborhood. These will give your daughter a definite sense of student life at both schools. There are plenty of places to eat in Westwood, next to the UCLA campus. They are mostly places that "locals" eat, with some chain restaurants and lots of independents. Once you get into Westwood you might have trouble dragging your daughter out.

I would expect USC to UCI to take at least 1 1/2 hours if you are leaving USC in the afternoon (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) It might be a little faster, it could be significantly slower if the weather is bad. We have no idea how to drive in rain here in LA.

When do you hope to see UCI? It sounds like you'll be doing a drive through in the evening after you drive down from USC.If you take the Jamboree Road exit off the 405 Freeway you will find a CPK and some other restaurants close to the freeway. There's probably a lot of places close to campus, I just don't know where they are.

Getting from Disneyland to Pepperdine is probably another 1 1/2 hour drive minimum, given that you won't be hitting the freeway until after 8 p.m. Part of that drive will be on the Pacific Coast Highway, which can be difficult in bad weather. I know, it never rains in LA (as if)......

Pepperdine up to UCSB should only take about 90 minutes (but you may already know that as you are a UCSB grad). Are you the Broncos?

If you do end up visiting LMU, there are several good restaurants that are frequented by students and locals on Lincon Blvd. just north of Manchester Blvd. Ask at your hotel about Alejo's, Hacienda del Rey or Chicago for Ribs.

It sounds like a great trip. Just be sure to see UC Berkeley before you head home!

mlgb and cferrb
Very Helpful!I knew I could do it!

We will be arriving first thing in the morning and we will do what we can and come back to see the rest.

It's the UCSB Gauchos! Berkeley is in our neck of the woods and with an acceptance rate that is even lower than UCLA's I am happy to say it is not in her radar at this time.

Magialmemories,

Did you live on Del Playa in the good old days?

Not lucky enough to have lived in such a cool neighborhood...but I woke up there a few times!

Seems like a million years ago...and now here I am again as a mom. Wow! Where does the time go?

I'm a college counselor and I plan trips like these for my clients all the time. In fact I just got back from a trip to LA where I saw USC and Loyola Marymount (Jean read my mind as I read the posts).

I highly recommend taking the official tours on each campus. You do not learn half as much just walking around on your own. Also, colleges do take highly into consideration whether your student has made the effort to visit, and the admissions offices will not know you have been there if you are walking on your own. It is great to meet students, hear about special programs, and showing interest is VERY important. I always do the admissions tour and try to stay for the information session as well.

I just saw 8 colleges in 3 days in the Baltimore/DC area and while wonderful, it's overwhelming to see 3 schools in one day. I would recommend maybe going to Disneyland/UCI, then head back up through LA to see UCLA, USC, and LMU. Also, as someone said LMU is close to LAX so you could see that when you get there, then drive south which would save time. Then see UCI later that day and/or in the morning before hitting Disneyland.

Or you could do LMU/USC one day, then UCLA and drive up to Pepperdine for later in the afternoon.

I don't know anything about your daughter or what she is looking for, but a real gem is University of Redlands. It's out on 10 East past the Claremont Colleges which are also TERRIFIC (as I'm sure you know). I adored Redlands. In addition, Occidental College is also awesome. These are all smaller, liberal arts colleges so if your daughter wants a medium to larger size school they might not be the right fit.

Where are you going in Northern California? I've done that whole tour-UC Berkeley and Stanford are both gorgeous, and I also was impressed with the University of San Francisco.

I hope this helps-can't really help with hotels and most campuses have big food courts these days so you can grab a quick bite if you want to see multiple colleges in one day.

Please take the tour(s)! And yes, this will be overwhelming but have a great time, buy her a t-shirt or two and she'll enjoy the ride.

I'm an almost-alum of Loyola Marymount, and it is a really lovely campus with strong academics. Its smaller size makes it hard to get lost in the crowd, and her teachers will really take an interest in your daughter and her goals. Mr. Pickle and I met and married there.

Hacienda del Rey - yum!

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to LMU, and their main academic building (I forget the name, it's on the hill as you drive in) is WOW!!!!! OMG...and beautiful campus, happy students, and there is a Jamba Juice on campus in case you need a snack. USC was also as impressive - there is a vibrant energy on campus that is highly palpable and lots of wonderful things going on there.

Sorry but I imagined if they were traveling to visit schools they'd have appointments and tours of campus. I wouldnt want to just drive around the UCLA area for an hour and call that a "campus visit". So they're talking UCLA maybe noon appointment at the earliest? What time does that leave them for an appointment to visit UCI, 7pm? Even with traffic I would figure, MINIMUM....noon to 3pm UCLA, 3pm to 6pm USC, and 6pm to 9pm UCI? They're not gonna get any "feel" for the campus by driving in and out, especially USC which is surrounded by a dismal area.

Clark-this is why I feel that taking a campus tour and attending an information session is crucial. Sometimes I walk around a college campus and I don't get half as much out of it as opposed to when I take a tour conducted by a current student.

All colleges have their admissions tours times posted on their website. You can arrange your day based on what times are available. You can do one school in the AM and one in the PM. I have never seen a tour later than 3:30 which will take you to 4:30-5 PM.

I can't help at all with the CA colleges, but I just wanted to say that I agree about doing no more than two schools per day. DD and I have been doing the college circuit and even two schools per day can be pushing it to really mentally take in all the information. I would not even considering wandering around a campus without a tour. The tours, meeting with admissions, and meeting with professors all give you much more of a feel than doing it on your own. DD likes to wander the campus after all the official meetings as well, but it does not take the place of those by any means.

mms I agree 100%.

If you're taking the trouble to visit a campus, get the credit for it, by checking in at the Admissions Office and taking a bona fide tour given by the school.

Schools do consider your visit a show of interest on your student's part, and it's a good thing to have in her application file.

Also, I would not try to visit more than two schools in a day. We only visited one back when we were in the market. Too many schools makes for confusion in your memories as you try to re-construct which was which.

Our son goes to LMU now. Definitely take a look at it. Its School of Film and Television has been rated right up there with NYU and USC. Very hard to get into, though. Our son is majoring in Recording Arts, in that school.

Good luck with your visits. So many schools in California to consider. We looked at Pomona College, considered Occidental and Redlands. . .

Thank you to all that replied and a special thanks to those who pointed out that you do get "credit" for seeing many of the schools. All of the websites have links to walking tours and I there are definitely some that I want to be on record with.

A little off subject but I have a daughter who is a junior with a 4.3 who is in the top tenth of her class and has all the leadership, extra curricular and athletics to add to her application as well as great SAT scores and recommendations and still there are no sure bets when it comes to getting in to some of these amazing schools. Every little bit helps and I am on 5-6 websites a month researching schools,scholarships and ways to increase ones chances of getting into the school you want.
Things have changed a lot in the last 20+ years. Good Luck to anyone in this situation and please forward along any tips or bits of wisdom that you have!

I feel for you! Our two college app processes are over and done with. Thank heavens. It's such a tough process. And also, it can be completely unexplainable, because you will see other classmates get into top schools that surprise you.

The good news is that there are so many good schools out there. The bad news is that there are many, many good students out there, too.

Your daughter's job will be to decide on her preferences, narrow the list, and create a stellar application.

My advice is don't spend too much time trying to check every single resource. Use one or two written/on-line resources that you like and trust for capsule information.

Like FastWeb.com has really easy links to a one-page school summary, to private scholarship info., and to the college websites.

And the Fiske Guide is very good, in book form at your public library. (Use only the most recent one, for sure.)

Of course, confer with your high school college counselor as much as possible (if available).

Secondly, PERSONALIZE her application. Make sure it reveals HER. Not a by-the-book application, or text-driven essay. Make it one that can't be ignored. At least so it will be set into the pile for Consideration.

Make sure the application highlights her as a "whole" student, including community service work, musical/artistic talents, etc.

But, find out what the college will accept. Some schools will not accept CDs, or additional samples of writing, etc.

Your daughter needs to submit an app that sets her apart from the 10,000s of others. An app that tells them who she is, why she wants to go to their school, what she will contribute, how she will be a good fit for their school.

Because schools don't want you to come for one year, then quit. They want to admit the great students who truly want to be there.

It's a grueling and competitive world out there for the college applicants. Good luck with it.

I wasn't sure what your budget is for dining. My favorite places in SoCal to dine are Mastro's Steak House in Irvine, very close to South Coast plaza...but it can get very expensive. I just eat in the bar which is very cool and make a meal out of appetizers which are sublime. Still expensive but not as much as the full meal.

Another favorite is Ramos House in San Juan Capistrano but I don't know if that is too out of the way. Caliber of food in both these places is 4 star plus.

wasn't sure what your budget is for dining. My favorite places in SoCal to dine are Mastro's Steak House in Irvine, very close to South Coast plaza...
===
This is excellent!

I visited UCLA with my son last Spring as a "side" stop on a trip to UCSB. He had visited other Calif. schools with my wife last fall.

His first choice at the time was UCSD, second was UCSB, but he ended up at UCLA after we took the admitted students tour there in the spring. Interesting that I had to convince him to visit UCLA on our way to Santa Barbara.

The campus is beautiful,and Westwood Village is a great area to walk around. When we went back for orientation and Parents' Weekend we stayed at the Hotel Palomar(a Kimpton Hotel) on Wilshire Blvd. It's near the school and Westwood village, and they have given us a "UCLA rate" which is reasonable.

We also stayed at a great little place near UCSB, Pacific Suites. It's a 5 minute ride down the highway that brings you to campus.

Good luck to you and your daughter. It's a great experience for the two of you.

I'm an LMU alum, so I have to give a shout out to the beautiful campus. Go Lions! Westchester, the del Reys (Playa del Rey and Marina del Rey) and Venice are all really great areas and a lot of fun for college students.
Don't know what your religious affiliations are, but LMU is a Jesuit university. They do not, however, have any religious requirements other than taking a few philosophy and theology classes. I am not religious and felt completely comfortable there. But there are a lot of organizations to become involved in, should your son/daughter choose. Mass is held a few times a week in Sacred Heart Chapel. If you're on campus, you have to stop in and take in this incredibly beautiful place.

There's the "UCLA HOUSE" at UCLA which is a motel/guest house of sorts, right on campus, and you can stay there as long as you have business with UCLA. A campus tour or interview would qualify.

My husband is an L.A. native. Our oldest just graduated from UCLA after attending school there for four years. She's now at Pepperdine attending law school.

It appears that you are going to visit the schools in a short period of time, just to get a cursory feel.

Your information regarding Berkeley v UCLA and admissions is off. It is harder to get into UCLA than Berkeley. UCLA has more applicants than any other university in the nation. Your daughter's chances are high due to her outstanding accomplishments but you never know. Out of the UC's our daughter rejected Berkeley and UCSD's invitations for admission in favor of UCLA and was thrilled with her choice.

Take the time to stroll through downtown Westwood and compare it to the surrounding slums of USC. A friend's cousin, in the midst of receiving his second degree at USC, was just killed by an inner city thug this past year. Our daughter was accepted into USC's law school but rejected it due to the area. One of her sorority sisters is attending their dental school and won't go on campus from dusk on....she lives in Santa Monica. She has other friends attending various grad schools at SC. They live in Pasadena and make the drive in everyday rather than living nearby.

We've never stayed at the UCLA Guest House but know others who have stayed there and they really liked it. If you want to stay in Malibu for a great price, do what we just did last month...stay at Pepperdine. We got a wonderful price with a full ocean view room, a large patio, very comfortable bed and nice amenities. Our daughter has her own apartment in Malibu but we chose to leave our other child and dogs with her so we could have privacy. The rooms are very, very quiet and it's a lovely atmosphere. http://www.villagraziadio.com/.

We went to Disneyland last month, while we did the aforementioned visit to Malibu. The drive took about two hours and it was a Saturday.

Best of luck to you - it's an exciting time for your family, I'm sure! I'm sure your daughter will be successful in whatever she chooses to do, I'm sure you're very proud of her.

Thank you to all that responded. I am interested in looing into what the new figures are regarding acceptance rates because we attended a college seminar last year where I got my information about Berkeley being harder to get into then UCLA. Obviously these are all difficult school and like one poster stated in can be hard to know why some schools take one person over another...thats why we want to give her the options and open her mind up to all the possibilities.

As a result of all the great information you all have provided I am making some changes to our schedule. We will limit our tours to 2 a day and will do the offical tours for all of the schools we see.

Day one-arrive 8am in Burbank and see UCLA and USC. Drive to Anaheim.

Day two-UCIrvine and Disneyland and drive to Playa Del Rey area

Day three-Loyola Marymount University and Pepperdine

Day Four UCSB and home

I think the reason that getting into a great college is so labor intensive and difficult is to distract you from the reality that your baby is leaving the nest!

Have you decided where you're going to stay?

It's not your fault the seminar gave you misinformation regarding the facts. UCLA is definitely more difficult to get into than CAL. Hey, they're both wonderful schools, though. Is your daughter not interested in UCSD? My husband went to medical school there, after we both graduated from UCLA. We loved San Diego. If she's scientifcally-minded, she ought to check it out, too. Irvine is too urban for me.