I would say it has a very similar vibe to USD. Not any better or worse than USD and probably an “LA” reputation thing. Its “near” UCLA and I understnd there is some overlap in student socializing but UCLA is very bright group of kids who take their studies pretty seriously. As far as busines schools go LMU gets the better rep for sure with more companies recruiting out of there, etc.
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I’d head to PA since CA is easier to visit another time. I’d also look into Pitt!
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May be too big/urban for your son, but Fordham might be worth a look. It has a strong business program particularly in finance/international business and is @ a two hour drive from Villanova, depending on traffic. Their gated campus in the Bronx is lovely and exceeded our expectations when we visted.
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Thanks, we have many family members who have attended Fordham (my grandpa even went to Fordham Prep). I love NYC and lived there after college, but I’m not sure it’s the right fit for my son. Although you know what, I’m going to run it by him because I have no idea what’s happening in his head most of the time.
It’s a slippery slope this business school thing. Fordham leads to Boston College leads to Northeastern…it’s never ending.
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Why not have him apply to the ones he is most interested in? Then, if he is admitted, he can visit a couple if he is still interested.
I’m personally not a fan of summer visits, if possible. No animals in the zoo=no vibe. Just my opinion.
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If he likes Dickinson, consider Gettysburg too.
Agreed. Two reasons in this case. Lehigh is one of the few schools that marks demonstrated interest as “important” on the CDS. And he may want to apply ED to CMC.
Otherwise, I would completely agree, we found summer visits with D23 to not be great.
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The flipside to summer visits- the faculty is around; grad students are around; we had a few serendipitous conversations with professors (standing on line for ice cream on a hot day…) which were really tremendous opportunities. They’re at work but more relaxed since they aren’t running from a 1 pm lecture to a 3 pm faculty meeting…
We found the more relaxed campus environment very helpful if there are specific programs or departments your kid is interested in. And we found Admissions very helpful in setting up scheduled meetings with specific faculty… in addition to “bumping in” to professors who were always happy to be helpful.
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Thanks for sharing this perspective! I was getting annoyed at the thought that we’re running out of time for school year visits to see the schools we want to see, but you’ve pointed out some upsides that would allow us more visits in the summer.
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If schools offer interviews, you can do that in the summer too. Agree that one can miss the vibe, and that’s important if you’re considering ED, but at many schools we visited, there were quite a few kids who stayed on campus for the summer and who were happy to chat. DS was on his campus one summer, and when friends in admissions ran into people touring who were interested in things he did, they would often connect them. (And his summer on campus didn’t involve admissions.) Everyone just had a bit more time.
Visits are generally helpful but the serendipity of them – who you meet/gives your tour, weather, whether everyone is in the middle of exams, looking forward to or recovering from a big weekend/game – is always there.
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We are from Washington too. I wish we had done some of the Pennsylvania schools including Lehigh and Penn over summer. Fall wasn’t an option due to her Fall sport. We could have way more easily swung a Fall visit to CMC. We toured CMC over summer and got a great vibe in fact I think it would have been her ED2 school had ED1 not worked out.
I agree with poster that Lehigh has a ton of ways to show demonstrated interest virtually with info sessions and virtual interviews.
We did several summer visits and I found she got a lot out of them. I agree a lot has to do with serendipity in terms of who you meet, who is on your tour, the weather…
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Lehigh is very organized and easy to work with, too. My D has had several virtual visits, ambassador interactions, and an interview. I would say of her 17 (!) schools, Lehigh and Elon really stood out for us as well run and nice to interact with.
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S25 is looking at Elon too 
D23 loved it as well and only didn’t attend because she wanted more of a city.
So I think I’m going to have him attend a virtual session with Lehigh. If he loves the virtual session then we will visit. Villanova doesn’t track interest so we’ll visit if we visit Lehigh and maybe check out some of these other Pennsylvania suggestions too.
I think we can do a quick trip to CMC as well and skip the other California schools. He’s not big on Santa Clara and wants to apply to USD but will “probably” be accepted without a visit.
If anyone is interested this is S25’s current (too long) list that he’ll cull after our spring trip.
Likely
Gonzaga
Miami Ohio
Elon
50/50 ish
USD
Furman
SMU Cox
Trinity U (sister attends)
Lower Reach
Denison
Lehigh
W&L (he probably won’t attend but is a 5th generation legacy one on side and both my husband and I attended so I’m calling it a low reach if he EDs which he likely won’t)
Reach (all ED possibilities, haven’t visited yet)
William and Mary
U of Richmond
Wake Forest
Huge Reach
Notre Dame (will do REA if nothing else moves up higher)
Claremont McKenna
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Good list, we had some similar. I would also say look at Fairfield. Seems a fit. Great internship opps, tons of Fortune 500 companies close by and similar vibe to a lot of these.
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Thanks, I’m completely unfamiliar with Fairfield but it looks like his kind of place
UW Seattle isn’t on the list? (Understandable if you’re not in WA, but otherwise it’s a pretty solid potential option)
It’s a great option, but he hates Seattle and “everyone from school is going there.” Sigh.
If he can, have him sign up for both a Lehigh virtual general info session and the business school specific one as well. There was also a virtual business school student panel info session- I think D24 enjoyed that one the most.
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Our oldest went to SMU and loved it. He wasn’t in Cox (English and Philosophy major), but his 2 roommates were and seemed to have good experiences. It was a school I was completely unfamiliar with before he went, and pleasantly surprised by.
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Just wanted to say I feel this… We’re in VA and this is what’s causing my son to be not so excited about UVA, JMU, and VaTech. Mom, everyone goes there. GAH.
(The only reason we don’t have the VA schools you are visiting on the list is because they don’t offer the things he wants to major in - they are all great schools so I wish you and him good luck!)
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