COLLEGE TOURS Academic Camps by Education Unlimited®

Join us for California College Tour, which visits the top schools throughout California! Students arrive in San Francisco on the first evening, and make their way from San Francisco south to San Diego visiting top universities and sampling the local culture along the way! Our tour is unique in the quality of our housing, food and travel arrangements. Most nights we stay at high quality business and/or luxury hotels, though we sometimes spend the night at a college when a unique opportunity is available. Meals and our tour bus are also always of high quality, and students have often reported that our trip is far better in the quality of the travel arrangements than any other student tour they have ever taken.

The California College Tour allows students to visit and experience life at several prominent California Colleges. For many students, the process of figuring out which school best fits their needs is an overwhelming and confusing task. The California College Tour transforms this experience into an enriching and fun summer adventure, in which students take campus tours, have meetings with admissions representatives and receive materials to help evaluate each school. Tour participants are shown how to get the most out of their future college visits. For example, students learn what questions they should be asking of campus officials, how to compare schools to one another, and what factors are most important for their personal college selection process. Many tours are led by the admissions office staff, others by personnel provided by Education Unlimited, depending on the campus and tour dates. Where available, campus tours will also include an information meeting provided by admissions office staff.

The California College Tour is a wonderful opportunity for students to tour numerous college campuses and evaluate their college options. Students visit a wide variety of campuses, including private and public schools in both urban and rural areas. Participants will be able to determine if a large or small school is appropriate for them, and, with the comparison materials we give them, they will be able to review their opinions once they’ve returned home. In less than one week, students have the opportunity to experience great American cities. 

We encourage students to enroll with friends, but even those who don’t arrive knowing someone will end up with a group of newly-found friends, usually from across the US and around the world, although of course the demographics of attendees for any given trip cannot be predicted. Housing is provided with students each having their own bed, usually in doubles or triples. Most overnight stays are at business class hotels like the Sheraton, Westin, Marriott or Embassy Suites.  We stay in the main areas where attractions are when feasible. We may occasionally stay in a campus dorm/residence hall to get a feel of campus living.

Meals are provided, though some students bring some spending money for snacks or optional food items (or souveniers!). All essential items of room, board and transportation are provided during the trip, so it is possible to comfortably do the California Tour without any added cost or expense.

Tour Schedule:

NOTE: For timeslots where there are two options (A -OR- B), each student chooses which campus they would like to visit.

Day 1:  Arrive in San Francisco 

• Arrive into San Francisco International Airport (SFO).  Early arrivers can visit San Francisco State University (SFSU) - OR - University of San Francisco (USF) 
• Greet your fellow travelers and enjoy dinner in the East Bay.

Day 2:  Berkeley, San Francisco and the South Bay 

• Enjoy a quick breakfast in historic Berkeley 
• Begin your adventure University of California, Berkeley (UCB) -OR- St. Mary's College
• Enjoy lunch on the motor coach as we travel to the Peninsula
• Complete your day with an afternoon tour of Stanford University -OR- Santa Clara University (SCU) 
• Take a well deserved rest on the motorcoach as we head down the coast.  

 Day 3:  Santa Barbara and Malibu 

• Enjoy a hearty Saturday breakfast and prepare for your visits to these stunning seaside campuses. 
• In the morning, begin your day with a tour of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo located half way between San Francisco and Los Angeles. 
• In the afternoon enjoy a tour of  University of California, Santa Barbara before having lunch in their charming downtown and visiting the beach just steps from the campus. 
• Take in the beautiful seascape and a refreshing milkshake as we make our way to the heart of Southern California for dinner and a little So Cal site seeing! 

Day 4:  Disneyland or California Adventure Excursion 

• Put on some comfy shoes and get ready for a full day of Disney Magic.  

Day 5:  Los Angeles and The Inland Empire 

• Put away your mouse ears and enjoy breakfast at the hotel before heading out for a day of So Cal College Touring.  
• In the morning take a tour of Claremont McKenna –OR- Cal Poly Pomona  - OR - La Verne University
• Meet back up with the group for lunch before heading out for our afternoon tours.  
• Hope back on the bus and head out to visit Caltech –OR- Occidental College   
• Get back together with the group for dinner and some evening site seeing before heading back to the hotel for a good night's rest. 

Day 6:  Los Angeles  

• Enjoy a quick breakfast before heading out to visit some of LA's top universities. 
• In the morning take a group tour of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - OR- Loyola Marymount University (LMU) 
• Gather together for lunch and tell your new friends about your morning tours. 
• Spend the afternoon on the beautiful campuses of University of Southern California (USC) – OR – CSU Los Angeles

Day 7:  Orange County and San Diego 

• Enjoy a hot breakfast before venturing out to see Orange County and sunny San Diego 
• Start your morning exploring UC Irvine 
• Grab a quick lunch as we head down to beautiful San Diego 
• Spend the afternoon checking out San Diego's top public or private universities at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) – OR – University of San Diego (USD) 
• Don’t forget to thank our motor coach driver before departing the motor coach for your flight home (San Diego International Airport (SAN)).