want a college in a pretty town - low key

jjjane · 02-03-2009, 08:16 PM

my son wants to go to a low key (easy to get into) college in a nice town - atmosphere is important! mountains nearby a plus - looking for suggestions - thanks

lamom · 02-07-2009, 05:09 PM

If you are comparing Redlands to Ivy, I suppose it is easy to get into. LA Times had an article on Redlands last year. The Fiske guide gives a very good report. Mountains are nearby. Son graduated and is now a grad student there. I like the town.

What does your son want besides atmosphere?

jjjane · 02-07-2009, 07:03 PM

easy to get into - act 21, gpa 2.9, a school that is supportive and will not let him get lost in the crowd - with tutoring and extra help available. he needs direction in choosing a major and a strong support system in academic counseling

lamom · 02-07-2009, 07:25 PM

As a parent I felt Redlands had very supportive staff. I have heard they have great academic counseling. I don't know how the present economy has or will affect Redlands programs. Sorry I don't know about the grades. They do like to interview student and then parents. I think they look at the whole student.
Feel free to pm me
LA

jjjane · 02-07-2009, 07:28 PM

thanks for the info - we are planning to visit in march - i haven't been to redlands since I was child, is it a nice town now? do the students feel part of a community or is it more like a suburb of la?

lamom · 02-07-2009, 08:09 PM

Students do seem to feel a part of Redlands. The city has plenty of Alumni. Seems like most of son's professors live in town. Students are often invited to professor's home for dinner. Locals are very supportive of the music programs and attend concerts. There are parts of Redlands/neighboring towns that aren't great but overall Redlands is safe. Not like LA where I've gone down a wrong street and felt scared. (I went to USC) Redlands still has the bowl and Thursday nights where everyone goes downtown.

jjjane · 02-07-2009, 08:12 PM

thanks again - Redlands sounds like a good possibility - do you know of other similarly situated schools - in CA and elsewhere?

my daughter is a freshman at usc and loves it, but it would be much too big for my son

lamom · 02-07-2009, 08:35 PM

Sorry. It's been awhile since we did the college search.

MidwestMom2Kids_ · 02-07-2009, 09:02 PM

post on the college search forum and more people will give you suggestions