LMU v. Santa Clara

Toast8152
Mon, 02 May 2011 22:48:13 +0000

My decision in choosing Santa Clara over LMU was a result of the culture. My top two schools were Notre Dame and Boston College. I was waitlisted at Notre Dame and still hope for an acceptance. I was accepted at Boston College, but the financial aid is terrible and it was simply not feasible. After those two came Santa Clara and LMU. I felt at ND and BC this culture of pride the students had. They loved their school, were extremely proud of it, and did everything they could to make it a vibrant, dynamic community. This was something I also found at Santa Clara, though less so at LMU. LMU tries to base its merits too much on the southern California weather, beach proximity, Los Angeles, etc. As my tour guide at Notre Dame said, “You can live in a city at any time in your life, but only once can you go to college.” Santa Clara is about the college. They will tell you about the nice California weather (though being from Northern California, the comparison to LA or San Diego is moot point) and the Silicon Valley advantages. However, they aren’t right by the beach. There are no movie stars. The concentration of blondes in bikinis is not in their favor. So, Santa Clara has the better school (slightly) and the better community. It was not a hard choice for me and I’m glad you made the same decision.