Long Beach advice

Our daughter has been accepted to Cal State Long Beach, but we've never been on the campus. We need to come down for a campus tour and class visit, and want to check out interesting things in the area as well. Not sure we're going to fit in the Disneyland visit.

Group will be me, husband, and our 14 and 17-year old daughters. No aquarium please, looking more for coffee places, book stores, etc. Any of these near campus that we can wander through to get the local vibe?

Southern California was not high on our daughter's lists for colleges, but she's looking at impacted aerospace program, and state college is budget-friendly. And it's the first acceptance so we're kind of excited.

cindyland said:

Our daughter has been accepted to Cal State Long Beach, but we've never been on the campus. We need to come down for a campus tour and class visit, and want to check out interesting things in the area as well. Not sure we're going to fit in the Disneyland visit.

Group will be me, husband, and our 14 and 17-year old daughters. No aquarium please, looking more for coffee places, book stores, etc. Any of these near campus that we can wander through to get the local vibe?

Southern California was not high on our daughter's lists for colleges, but she's looking at impacted aerospace program, and state college is budget-friendly. And it's the first acceptance so we're kind of excited.

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Did she apply to any other So Cal schools? I'd suggest you wait to see what happens with the UC acceptances so you don't have to make 2 trips. I remember being a little unimpressed with all of the schools that was made a special trip to see. Of course, none were my first choice, so that may have been the reason. You may want to stay near another school and just drive to LB for the day.

It's kind of a commuter campus, with 30,000 students and less than 10% living on campus. The best thing to do is to schedule a campus tour and a housing tour. Contact them in advance and ask what areas they recommend for a hotel and what to check out. When I was a freshman living on campus (not there) I didn't have access to a car and didn't end up living on the side of campus near the dorm we toured. I didn't do a single thing I did with my parents off campus on my tour or during orientation because I couldn't get there.

It will be a spring break trip, and we're waiting to hear on UC San Diego. None of us were too excited about UC Irvine so she didn't apply there. The commuter culture does concern us, and she really has her heart set on schools further up the coast. But she's in the running for a major scholarship, and state colleges are more affordable than the UCs.

As for hotels, I'm working on a hotel near DL so we can sneak in a trip. Younger daughter has been on way too many tours the last three years, and we need a day off from a very stressful senior year!

Belmont shore area is nice for small shops and places to eat. Seal Beach pier as well. Those are close to the campus though not within walking distance.

Beach wood BBQ. Good stuff.