California coast drive/college visits in summer 2012
 

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!

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

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

HTTY

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.

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.

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!!

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

Do you <i>really</i> 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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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!).

<<<California has so many picture-perfect campuses with beautiful Spanish architecture>>>

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

@sf7307 -- lol!

GO BEARS!

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

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.

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!" :D

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.

<<<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.>>>

Not to mention whether he's a C student or an A+ :-)

Definitely check out CSU Monterey Bay. You will probably want to stay at least one or two nights in the Monterey area. Monterey has the Monterey Bay Aquarium, whale watch tours, kayaks and biking. Carmel and Big Sur are also nearby. Carmel has great shopping, restaurants and wine while Big Sur is known for amazing coastal views and hiking.

http://www.seemonterey.com/

Another good point about grades sf7307. I kind of assumed the kid was a top student if Stanford is on the list, but I probably shouldn't make assumptions. My in-laws were convinced that my sister-in-law was Stanford material until I showed them the admissions statistics. My SIL was always a good student, but not Stanford-good.

Stanford is ridiculously hard to get into. We know several stellar students, who had all the extra-curriculars, community service, music, and over-the-top accomplishments, and they did not get in there. However, a student who has all that, PLUS athletic ability, especially swimming, has a better chance there.

What sf7307 said. You are going to be visiting a lot of colleges unless you narrow the scope to fit his interests and grades. I would say 5 or 6 max or they will all run together, and the siblings totally bored.

The UC universities are actively recruiting out of state students as they pay more in tuition. ( Reality strikes again). Berkeley, Santa Cruz, UCSD, Irvine, and UCLA are all excellent, but each has a different flavor. I will admit I went to Cal, but these day I kind of like Santa Cruz and Irvine, especially for science. Both have the advantage of being close to nice beaches if he is interested, but without the "party school" rep that Santa Barbara has.

Peaceout, I know lots of kids similar to the one you described, who did not get into Stanford; some were accepted at Harvard, Yale, MIT, but not Stanford. Numerous Northern Cal kids with extremely high grade points and test scores (as well as stellar extras) apply to Stanford, it is the gold standard for many kids (and their parents). As far as the scuttlebutt goes Stanford basically only accepts one or two kids from Norcal public schools (except for Gunn which has a high concentration of faculty kids) Yes, sports with good academics is a good ticket and not just swimming--I know 2 kids who fenced and 2 who did crew who were accepted with good but not great grade points, etc.

That should be "from any Norcal public school"--did not wish to imply that it only takes a total of 1 or 2!!

<<<As far as the scuttlebutt goes Stanford basically only accepts one or two kids from Norcal public schools (except for Gunn which has a high concentration of faculty kids)>>>

Actually, that applies to both Gunn and Pali, but there are other schools that have an inordinate number of students accepted to Stanford - ex. Piedmont High School.

OK, yeah, this is a vacation and showing him colleges along the way. I know there are tons. This is a not college visit trip, more of a lay-of-the-land trip with casual college visits.

So I think we're going to start in Arcata. I think the kids would like the Avenue of the Giants. The thing I'm having trouble figuring out is how long to stay in each place.

We've narrowed when we can go, based on camps, etc. We're going right after July 4 -- can't remember the exact date. We'll have about 10 days.

Forgetting the college question, what are your suggestions for can't-miss sites? I'm polling the kids about what they want to do, of course, but I've found in the past that Fodors is a great place to discover things I never thought of.

A similar query I posted here about Boston and about trips to Provence and London yielded some great itineraries. So that's why I came back to this well.

Thanks!

For kids that age, I would definitely stop in the Santa Cruz/Monterey area. Beach/boardwalk/old fashioned amusement park in Santa Cruz; kayaking, fisherman's wharf, aquarium, cannery row in Monterey. Just listing a few of the many things to do in both areas.

OK- so now we've established the college visits are not the primary driver here. More visiting colleges that happen to be along the route of the family vacation.

But now we do have a bit of a reality check. You say you to start in Arcata. Arcata is a looooong way from anywhere you are likely to fly into. At least a day's drive. (From SMF for example it is a 6 hour drive w/o any stops. About the same from SFO)

So - where are you flying into/getting your car? Then you'll have about 8 days left after getting to Arcata. (assuming the 10th day is when you fly home). Eight days is not very long to make it all the way to southern CA. SF needs at least a few days, plus in July many places on the coast have a 2 night minimum, especially on weekends.

It might make more sense to take your 10 days and focus on either the northern bits (between Arcata & Monterey) or mid/southern bits (between SF and LA)

If there are any particular schools you want to see in-depth, check to see what's possible in the way of tours, etc., during your timeframe. Many (most?) schools don't offer much to visitors in August, weekends in July, etc.

I think all of the well-known schools have been mentioned already, but if you told us your son's possible field of study, you may get suggestions of great smaller colleges you haven't heard of.

Flying to Eureka on United. Renting a car there.

I just want suggestions. I know there's a lot -- I've been on this route, at least part of it, before, but I didn't have kids then.

I picked up a book -- Unofficial Guide to California with Kids. Seems helpful.

Avenue of the Giants -- is that a one-day drive? Should we stay overnight somewhere along it?

Oh, and we can just scratch the college question. We'll stop and tour them, but these won't be full-fledged visits. Just wanting to give him a birds' eye view, and if something piques his interest, we can go back later. My husband travels a lot for business, so we've always got FF miles to use.

Hey - just have a good time and if you visit all the suggested places - it will be a fast paced trip - which I like myself.

Ahhh - the old Stanford-Cal Rivalry. I could have gone to Stanford (played baseball) back in the 60's - but went to AF Academy instead, and had friends who played ball there - and one of my nieces finished her PhD there - and my father in law was a Cal grad, and had friends who played ball there - and my wife - went to Santa Barbara -another good UC school, and I wound up going to UC Hastings - a Cal law school - in SF.

Now tht we are down here in SD - I am a big fan of the SC Trojans - another good school - which of course has a big rivalry with UCLA, another top school where another niece of mine is currently going.

All the top schools are hard to get into today - as there are so many kids coming out of school with very good grades (BTW -we never had A plus grading when I was in high school) - and scoring well on SAT's - which I was fortunate to do.

I think with most kids - give them an idea of the entrance requirements and then - if they are realistic candidates - let them see as many schools as possible the first time and then let nature take its course, which sounds like it will be your approach.

Have a blast. :)

I'd suggest skipping Arcata and the Avenue of the Giants. There are redwood trees further south, like in Muir Woods, which would be just as interesting.

Have you thought of the cost of a car rental? Where will you pick up and where will you drop off? For your family you'll probably need a very large car, or better, a minivan, to travel so many miles comfortably.

If you're starting in Eureka and heading south on the 101, you'll be going through some of some of the best redwood country in the state. You can drive as much or little of the Avenue of the Giants as you wish. The Benbow Inn in Garbarville would be a possible overnight (we stayed there many years ago, liked it, check for current reviews). An intriguing area near there that we never made it to is the Lost Coast. There's an abbey near Shelter Cove that makes wonderful creamed honey(http://www.redwoodsabbey.org), which I first discovered in a grocery store in Arcata.

I have to second the Muir Woods stop. We've been 4 times for a nice 1/2 day trip north of SF with the kids. We all love it. It is a get-out-and-walk thing. You could spend 2+ hours walking around, but on a misty day we were happy with a quick picnic and were in and out in less than an hour. Walking among the redwoods is highly suggested!

"<i>I have to second the Muir Woods stop.</i>"

W/ all due respect, Muir Woods doesn't hold a candle to the major Redwood stands up north where the OP will be starting. Muir Woods is great for those visiting SF and w/o the time to go farther north. But it is a small/usually crowded park. If one is visiting Redwoods National Park/Avenue of the Giants etc . . . there would be no reason to also stop at Muir Woods.