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i need to find some good colleges to apply to in socal. i didnt take sat2's, so the uc system is out. i applied to pepperdine ea, but got deferred. any help would be greatly appreciated. i really need some more schools to apply to, as of now i have penn state- rejected, pepperdine- deferred, juniata, usc, pitt, university of the pacific. i really need you guys help. thanks

By Kluge (Kluge) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 02:25 pm: Edit

U San Diego?

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 03:13 pm: Edit

Try these: University of San Diego (private), University of Redlands, Whittier, Point Loma Nazarene, Chapman University, Loyola Marymount, Occidental.

Here's a capsule summary of each:

USD- ww.usd.edu - beautiful campus on a hill overlooking San Diego,Catholic-affiliated but not overly religious, excellent science and business programs.

Point Loma Nazarene, www.ptloma.edu - In a beautiful area of San Diego - on a cliff overlooking the ocean just like Pepperdine. Also like Pepperdine, religiously affiliated but a very nice welcoming school.

Chapman www.chapman.edu - In Orange County, excellent film and good science programs. Good financial aid awards. Religiously affiliated but students are not overly so.

Loyola Marymount www.lmu.edu - attractive campus overlooking LA. Strongest programs in business, film, but good academically overall. Very diverse student body.

University of Redlands www.redlands.edu - about 40 minutes east of LA. Another attractive campus set with mountains as the backdrop. Lots of personal attention, close knit student body.

Whittier www.whittier.edu - In Orange County. Small liberal arts school - Has good honors program. Strong for political science,busines, english, psychology.

Occidental www.occidental.edu - near LA - one of the most diverse schools in the country. LAC - strong academics.

Pitzer www.pitzer.edu - part of the Claremont College consortium. Relatively liberal student body.

Of the above, Occidental and Pitzer are probably most selective - may be reaches if you didn't get into Pepperdine. USD, Uof Redlands, and Loyola Marymount are mid-range in terms of selectivity. The others are relatively easy to get into but still good schools to look at because they have good academic programs and really nice campuses.

You might also take a look to see which cal state schools are still accepting applications (cal state is different from the UC's - don't require SAT II's) - www.calstate.edu

By Peterline (Peterline) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 03:40 pm: Edit

thanks a lot guys, i appreciate it. i am applying to usd and oxy all ready. i will check out the other ones you listed. i want to major in biology/ pre-dentistry so any good science schools would help too.
i dont know much about the cal state sytem! which ones are good schools?

By Coureur (Coureur) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 04:06 pm: Edit

>>Whittier www.whittier.edu - In Orange County. Small liberal arts school - Has good honors program. Strong for political science,busines, english, psychology.<<

Whittier is also Richard Nixon's alma mater.

By Peterline (Peterline) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 07:22 pm: Edit

i checked out whittier too, it looks nice
any other ones?

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 07:24 pm: Edit

Coureur, well, yes, but I didn't want to bring that up...LOL! It has alway made me laugh that a quaker school with a good poli. sci. department turned out Nixon.

By Coureur (Coureur) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 08:00 pm: Edit

I guess you could say much the same about Duke Law School. Nixon went there too.

By Peterline (Peterline) on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 09:09 pm: Edit

did nixon go there?
hmm how reputable is it

By Coureur (Coureur) on Friday, December 19, 2003 - 11:08 am: Edit

Richard Nixon did indeed graduate from Whittier College and Duke Law School. Both are perfectly reputable schools, the infamy of their alumnus notwithstanding.

By Peterline (Peterline) on Friday, December 19, 2003 - 03:55 pm: Edit

ha ha

so any others?

By Kluge (Kluge) on Friday, December 19, 2003 - 05:40 pm: Edit

Now before you all go off on a Nixon-bashing tangent, let me remind you that he was one of only two presidents in the last forty years who managed to balance the federal budget while in office, even for a year (a matter which should be of interest to the readers of this website, who will get the job of paying the interest on the national debt for the rest of their lives.) And the two who did were possibly the most reviled men in the country (fairly or otherwise) during their day. There's always more than one way to look at things.

By Peterline (Peterline) on Sunday, December 21, 2003 - 12:32 pm: Edit

does anyone have any first hand experiences with USD. i am very interested in USD and LMU (la) also. anyone with any information that could help me out, i would appreciate it. thanks

By Ineedsleeep (Ineedsleeep) on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 01:42 am: Edit

lmu has rolling admissions (yeah for that!)...i was deferred pepperdine ea also (what is up with that school accepting the less qualified and defereing the more qualified...it's like the robin hood of colleges, lol)...lmu is a lot like pepperdine...i personally think it is more beautiful, architect is more spanish than modern, food is not very good at all, and from what i've heard from students who go there partying is huge (unlike pepperdine) and it is way too easy to find drugs on campus (also seemingly unlike pepperdine). the catholic religion is not forced on the students and church events are pretty optional. to me, it's like the liberal version of pepperdine. if you enjoy the conserative nature and faith-oriented aspects of pepperdine i would look into point loma nazarene (all the dorms have a view of the beach)and westmont in santa barbara (if the garden of eden still existed, this would be it! it is soooo beautiful, you'll never wanna go inside). if you need/want more info lemme know...i'm pretty familiar w/ socal colleges. Best wishes and sorry about pepperdine's random deferal system!

By Peterline (Peterline) on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 03:53 pm: Edit

yeah, im still kind of upset about the whole pepperdine thing. but 17%!? thats similiar to an ivy league acceptance rate. so anyways, yeah, im really interested in lmu, usd, and pt loma. the only thing that i dont dig about point loma is the pastor rec that you need. i go to church and all, but i dont know him that well so that kinda turns me off from there a little. i heard lmu has a picturesque campus. i want to shoot myself everytime i think about it because i was out in cali during the summer to look at colleges and neglected to tour these three. oh well. so anything else that you could tell me about them, i would greatly appreciate. thanks!

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 07:50 pm: Edit

I have personal experience with USD - know several people who have or go there and my daughter attends USD high school across the street so I'm around the area and on campus every day. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

USD has a very nice campus - like LMU it has spanish style buildings and beautiful landscaping. You can be in downtown San Diego or the beach in about 5-10 minutes from campus. The area right around the campus doesn't have a whole lot to offer in terms of night life, etc. but of course there's much to do in San Diego itself (there is a trolley to downtown right down the hill from campus). STudents tend to be on the conservative side (by that I mean no purple hair or tatoos here) and are from all over the country, including from the east coast. There isn't a lot of ethnic diversity on campus but they're working on that. USD is TERRIFIC for biology - they just opened a new $50 million science center on campus that is superb. The administration is working very hard to expand USD's reputation nationally --- they are expanding and building new buildings all over the place. I haven't seen the inside of the dorms but from the outside, they have some new beautiful ones and some older ones that are not quite as appealing. There is a big hill to hike up to get from many of the dorms to the classroom area. It's definitely a Catholic school but not overly religious if you know what I mean --- you won't need a letter from your Pastor to apply. When I've been on campus on the weekends, it seems pretty quiet during the day time so I don't know if that means most people go elsewhere, are recupperating from parties, or are studying.

Academically, USD is very good - on par with Pepperdine. The people I know who've graduated have all gone on and done well with graduate school admissions. Current students say that the teachers are approachable and class sizes generally small. One nice thing about USD is that they have an excellent library for a school of that size.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 07:52 pm: Edit

By the way, if you're willing to look up in Northern Calif. you might also take a look at these schools: University of the Pacific, Santa Clara, St. Mary's College of California and the University of San Francisco.

By Peterline (Peterline) on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 09:03 pm: Edit

thanks a lot carolyn, i really appreciate it. but i have a few more questions. what's the night life like on campus? what is the placement upon graduate schools? what kinds of schools are these kids getting in to? how far is it from UCSD? the only thing in a little apprehensive about is their reputation. for me, it is really important to be able to gain admittance to dental school, and coming from a no-name unknown college wont help that aspect any. i applied to uop because it was free to do so online, but id much rather be in southern california. i have forests and cold weather here, you know? thanks again

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 01:16 pm: Edit

USD is hardly a no-name college! Their pre-med and science programs are well-recognized and their national reputation is growing. I see license plates from all over the country in the USD parking lot. The students I know who have graduated from USD have gone on to UCLA, University of Arizona, and USC for graduate school but I am sure other students go elsewhere as well. I don't know much about the nightlife on campus but San Diego is a fun town - lots of bars, concerts, etc.

The campus at USD is much nicer, in my opinion, than UCSD - the buildings have a older Spanish feel to them and the landscaping is beautiful. There's even an outdoor swimming pool right across from the dorms. USD is about 20-25 minutes from UCSD - it is much closer to downtown San Diego than UCSD. What's nice about USD is the trolley is within walking distance (and actually the school also has a bus that goes down to it as well) whereas at UCSD you really need to have a car or no someone who does in order to get anywhere off campus. In addition to UCSD and USD, you also have San Diego State in town so there is always something going on.


In Calif. one of the best known dental schools is the University of the Pacific's --- they have an excellent pre-dental program. And, by the way, UOP is hardly in the snow and cold - in fact, the town it's located in is very similar to So. Cal in terms of weather, even a bit warmer than San Diego in certain parts of the year.

By Peterline (Peterline) on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 12:38 pm: Edit

that is good to hear that their students are getting into places like UCLA and USC because that is really important to me. it is also good to hear how nice the campus is. i really wish i would have stopped there when i went out to cali during the summer.. dang. i dont know about uop though, its just too far north for me. i would much rather see palm trees than redwoods any day. i guess ill have to see if i get in there first. thanks again

By Socalkid (Socalkid) on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 03:27 am: Edit

small correction: Whitter College is in L.A. county, if it matters at all, though the o.c. border line is only a few minutes away, and downtown l.a. is about 15 minutes away