Great that he’s thinking about what he wants! It’s funny how region can really affect kids’ perspectives. We’re in the southeast, and my kid, too, doesn’t want to go too far – so she’s not even considering schools in CA. I’m sure there are some that are perfect for her, but nope.
I didn’t think my older one would even leave our state, but she landed in TX – but only because it’s an easy and direct 2-hour flight home.
Chapman University (Anaheim area/Orange County CA)
Current Chapman senior that we know loved the school (education major).
Any idea what he wants to study? He might want to look at SDSU as well.
Chapman, LMU and USD are very popular Southern CA privates for our Bay Area public school. The 5Cs show up every year too (Pitzer, Scripps, CMC, Pomona, Harvey Mudd). Occidental gets 1-2. Pepperdine, too, depending on how kids feel about a Christian school).
They don’t have the same So Cal feel as the other campuses. I recommend visiting if he is thinking of applying.
I’ve known a couple of people recently or currently at Chapman who loved it. The private schools Wjs1107 mentioned are all destinations from our school as well. But the single most popular socal destination seems to be UCSB!
Environmental science but who knows he might change his mind once he starts with it. I told him to pick a school that is easy to change majors since he doesn’t feel that strongly about it.
Oh yeah we visited those, they are way too far out for him. Also a friend who graduated from Harvey Mudd wrote about how hard it was and how much work he did there that scared him from even applying.
We toured Miami of Ohio the day after you – also had amazing weather, thankfully – and my D26’s impressions were a little different.
In general, she liked the school, but everything seemed a little bland and cookie-cutter. Nothing objectionable at all, but just “nice” or “fine” – but then we toured the Emerging Tech department, and she really loved the whole program. The building was cutting edge, they had amazing tech going on, and every class they offered was something she wanted to take.
With merit aid, the cost is really very reasonable for an out-of-state public. So with that, the department she likes, and the opportunity to join a marching band, she’ll almost definitely apply.
(I wrote a longer review on the Colleges You Crossed Off thread.)
For anyone interested, we have an exclusive Q&A w/ Jeff Selingo scheduled for next Thursday at 7pm ET. Jeff has a new book coming out in the fall called Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right for You and he is here to answer your questions about how to pick the right college, what factors to consider, does prestige really matter, and more.
You can ask your question now and join on Thursday for the live session. This is a written Q&A. Jeff will log in and answer questions for 1h from 7-8pm ET. Ask away! 
C26 didn’t get the summer camp job. I am SO bummed.
How disappointing! That sucks! I’m so sorry. 
Oh nooo. I’m so sorry. Is there a potential backup plan?
D26 finds out about her big summer program next Friday, the 21st, and I’m holding my breath.
Nothing formal to replace this. They are already doing an arch program for a month. I think they might see if they can do some babysitting or similar, but it’s not going to be the fun they were hoping for The other local day camps that they can apply to (ie that don’t require a high school diploma or be 18+) require you to be available all summer but don’t guarantee you’ll be working regularly, which kind of sucks, and in any case they are not available all summer…
Sometimes some thing good comes from something unpleasant, My D26 is just recovering from a serious injury that kept her away from her sport for longer then she would have liked. Today she got into a pretty cool summer program that she would never have applied to if she was not injured. The dates of this program conflicted with Nationals, but now instead of being sad that she is not at Nationals she will be enjoying a little taste of College life!!
I’m looking forward to this part for C26 too - (hopefully) gentle introduction to dorm life too.
I think we’re going to take Texas Tech off of the list after this huge incident that happened on Thursday.
When do you all have junior prom? Ours is late April. One of those steps that makes it seem more concrete where on this journey we are… eek.
Our HS has combined junior + senior prom coming up very soon… but D26 will miss it since she’s going to be on tour with orchestra.
S23 didn’t go to prom as a junior either.
No idea! But it’s probably in early May. D26 won’t be going. She totally hates school dances.