@Magnetron @waitingmomla Thank you both for the replies above. Helps ease a little parental worry about sending the boy off to school. Thanks also for the link to the earlier thread with the post by @docmom.
@californiakt0 Apologies for the partial thread hijack. Hopefully the additional responses helped give you a better sense for the campus experience at ND. Back to your original post…South Bend definitely won’t be big city, but there may be other aspects of the university and the community that will appeal to a California kid. Good luck if you decide to apply.