Three Days, Eight Colleges, One Conference!

Let's start with the most important things about our trip to Southern California. We love statistics so here is our trip by the numbers:
Number of celebrity sightings: 0 (boo!)

Number of In-N-Out Burgers adjacent to the UCLA campus: 1

Number of minutes it takes to drive 6 miles in L.A. traffic - 60
Number of locals wearing hats and gloves when the temperature dropped below 70 degrees: too many to count!

Number of college counselors that were thrilled to be in California in January: 2

Last week, Ms. Maglio and Ms. Prugh had the opportunity to attend a conference sponsored by the University of Southern California (USC) called “Attributes that Matter: Beyond the Usual in College Admission and Success.” Over 200 people attended the conference and we learned about the non-cognitive variables that colleges use in the admissions process. The sessions were great and we heard from speakers on issues such as affirmative action and private scholarship programs.

While we were on the West Coast, we also visited eight different college campuses! Our first stop was to visit the Claremont Colleges. The Claremont Colleges are a consortium of five private universities and two graduate schools that are located in Claremont, which is about a 30 minute drive from Los Angeles. Little did we know that we were visiting during a fire emergency practice drill and the campuses were filled with firefighters; at least we know that campus security is a priority! The five undergraduate universities that make up the group are Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Pomona College and Scripps College. Each school has its own campus and the schools look and feel very different!

Yes, that's the very warm sun overexposing this picture. Winter in SoCal....

Next, we headed to UCLA and stopped for a quick (and delicious!) lunch at In-N-Out Burger, which is a must-visit in California. The UCLA campus is sprawling, which is not surprising considering that UCLA is the college with the largest enrollment in the state of California. Walking along Bruin Walk, we were impressed by the number of student groups and activities that were being showcased and even got to try samples of a new type of juice drink (very SoCal…) The area around campus is filled with shops and restaurants and the campus itself is a short drive from Beverly Hills.

Mrs. Prugh hamming it up with the UCLA Bruin.

Parking proved to be quite difficult during our visit to USC but we managed to find a metered spot on campus. We would recommend making a reservation with the Admissions Office if you are going to visit so that they can help you figure out where to park. We visited during lunch and ate at Seeds, a cute marketplace in their Student Union. Checking out the bookstore meant that we saw tons of red and yellow gear, as school spirit is quite strong at USC! Home to the School of Cinematic Arts, which is the oldest and largest film school in the country, alum George Lucas just donated a record $175 million to expand the film school even further!

This is not USC. This was a quick stop at the Santa Monica Pier. It was "on the way."

 Our last college visit was to Loyola Marymount University, which is located conveniently near the Los Angeles airport. The drive up the hill to campus gives you a sense of the area and there are spots on campus with an expansive view of all of Los Angeles from the beach all the way to the mountains! We walked along the Sunken Gardens to see the stunning Sacred Heart Chapel and it was not surprising to see why Princeton Review has ranked LMU one of the most beautiful campuses in the country!

This is the view of the city from Loyola Marymount; can you imagine waking up to this every day?

Published by: LP and TSM