<p>We are planning a tour of some New England colleges and Vassar. Is this the place to get input on the itinerary ---- or is there another forum or thread. </p>
<p>In case this is the place, we are traveling north from Washington, DC. and would like to see Vassar (I know a bit of an outlier, but perhaps a good fit), Wesleyan, ale, Brown, Harvard, Holy Cross, Amherst and Williams. </p>
<p>Other schools and ideas are appreciated.</p>
<p>This seems ambitious but doable if you have enough time. Two questions though…Have you ruled out Maine? Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby would seem to fit in nicely with these other schools. That said, your current list is pretty heavy on reach-type schools. Are you planning to look at any safeties while you’re up this way? </p>
<p>Be sure to build in some break time to enjoy the area as well. Happy hunting!</p>
<p>Burry-</p>
<p>Natural pairs to visit on the same day-</p>
<p>Yale/Wesleyan or Wesleyan/Amherst-both pairs about 45min.-1 hour apart
Brown /Harvard - a little more than 1 hour apart, including difficult parking at each
Vassar/Bard- also about 45min.- 1 hr. distant</p>
<p>We did those pairs and managed to get info session and tours at all schools. Took a little planning but was very doable.</p>
<p>Brown/Wesleyan also could be a pair, about 1:45 apart.</p>
<p>If you want to officially tour and attend info session, check carefully with school websites, some schools offer frequent, daily tours, some are more restricted.</p>
<p>We enjoyed the college visiting very much. Made my wife and I want to attend most of the schools.</p>
<p>We visited Amherst in the morning, Williams in the afternoon. That two-in-a-day combo worked out well for us. Went to Tufts the next day, and then flew back home to the other coast. ;)</p>
<p>Brown is only about an hour from Holy Cross, so you might try pairing those up. </p>
<p>//would like to see Vassar…, Wesleyan, ale, Brown, Harvard, Holy Cross, Amherst and Williams. //</p>
<p>Good thinking–those college tours will make you thirsty. A nice Wachusett or Harpoon IPA would be just the thing. ;-)</p>
<p>Coming from DC, I’d do:
Day 1: Vassar (then about 2 hrs to Yale)
Day 2: Yale & Wesleyan (about 40 minutes apart)
Day 3: Brown (about 90 minutes from Wesleyan; then about 1 hr to Harvard)
Day 4: Harvard & Holy Cross (about 1 hr apart; then about 90 minutes to Amherst)
Day 5: Amherst & Williams (about 2 hrs apart)</p>
<p>That fills up a full week (well, 5 days), but is easily doable. Schools I’d consider adding:</p>
<p>Bard: a little over 2 hours from Williams or 45 minutes from Vassar; could do Vassar-Bard on the same day, but then I’d reverse the rotation of the trip, going next to Williams-Amherst, Holy Cross-Harvard, etc, ending at Yale— still doable in 5 days)</p>
<p>Bowdoin: about 2.5 hrs from Cambridge, a little off the circuit but definitely of the same caliber as the other schools on this tour. Probably adds a full day to the trip, but you could also add Bates or Colby on the same day as Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Dartmouth: about 2 hrs from Amherst or 2.5 hrs from Harvard. Again adds a day. Could possibly be combined with Middlebury, about 90 minutes away, but then I’d have to redo the entire route. Maybe Vassar-Yale-Wes-Brown-Harvard-HC-Dartmouth-Middlebury-Williams-Amherst?</p>
<p>Tufts?</p>
<p>Some safeties. A little hard to come by in this part of the country but I’m assuming your student has stellar stats if you’re looking at these schools, so maybe Connecticut College (between Yale/Wesleyan and Brown), possibly BU, possibly Clark U?</p>
<p>Only slightly off-topic…</p>
<p>anyone have an estimate of how long it takes from Middlebury to Amherst (or vice versa) on public transit?</p>
<p>We visited most of the schools on your list. Didn’t get to Vassar, but did see Conn College, Tufts, Hamilton, Skidmore, Swarthmore and Haverford. In retrospect would have added Bowdoin and Middlebury.</p>
<p>The distances from place to place are not great and the admissions offices are used to giving driving directions.</p>
<p>We found this book very helpful, though you must reconfirm details:
[Amazon.com:</a> Visiting College Campuses, 7th Edition (College Admissions Guides): Princeton Review: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Visiting-College-Campuses-Admissions-Guides/dp/0375764003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246612953&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Visiting-College-Campuses-Admissions-Guides/dp/0375764003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246612953&sr=1-1)</p>
<p>What worked best for us was to devote one whole day to one school – take the tour, attend the info session, interview if offered, spend some down time wandering around campus, eat in the dining hall, visit sites of interest that are not on the tour. Obviously if your time is limited, this may not work, but if you can devote two weeks – or two one week trips – it’s so much better to slow down.</p>
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<p>We made it to Bard from Vassar in about 40 minutes, and that even included a quick lunch stop. Everybody we saw at Vassar that morning was also at Bard in the afternoon.</p>
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<p>Not sure how long it takes via public transit, but here’s a handy list of directions to/from Midd and its top competitors:</p>
<p>[Directions</a> for Campus Visits](<a href=“Admissions | Middlebury College”>Admissions | Middlebury College)</p>
<p>Admission interviews are pretty important at Wesleyan and Holy Cross (And Middlebury, Hamilton and Skidmore if you add those schools) If you’re visiting, you should set up interviews! Not all the schools on your list offer interviews.</p>
<p>Never underestimate the fatigue factor when on a college tour. After a while, the colleges start to run together in your mind. Never do more than 2 in one day. Take notes and photos to help you recall facts. Consider the impact of heat and humidity, even at East coast schools, on your stamina. Drink lots of water, eat healthy food, and “call it a day” early. Mix it up—have some fun—but don’t think you can do full-blown sightseeing tours, either.</p>
<p>If you can make this a somewhat leisurely trip (and break up all of the college visits…) and if money isn’t a huge issue…</p>
<p>Day 1 Leave early in the am. Get to Poughkeepsie about noon - 1:00 . Visit Vassar.</p>
<p>Go to Hyde Park. See FDR home and library. Make a reservation to eat at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), if they’re open. Stay in Rhinebeck. Lovely town.</p>
<p>Day 2 Go to Williams (should be less than 2 hours from Rhinebeck) then to Amherst. Stay in Amherst at Lord Jeff Inn</p>
<p>Day 3 Go to Holy Cross to arrive mid-morning. Arrive in Cambridge late afternoon. Have fun walking around Harvard Square.</p>
<p>Day 4 Harvard. Could also do Tufts, or Brandeis, or BU or BC or one of the other in-Boston near-Boston Schools.</p>
<p>Day 5 Enjoy some more of Boston in the morning. Visit Brown in the afternoon. Stay in Providence or go to Middletown.</p>
<p>Day 6 Wesleyan in the AM, Yale in the afternoon.</p>
<p>This trip can be condensed…but…could also be really nice if you spread it out…and take some extra time along the way. Maybe you’ve been to Boston …but…if not…there’s so much to do and Cambridge and Boston are great places to just people watch – especially in the summer.</p>
<p>Dartmouth, Middlebury, southern Maine schools, Conn College, Trinity (Hartford) and Bard are also options on or near your route if you really feel you want to fit in more schools.</p>
<p>you will literally pass the connecticut college campus on the way from wesleyan or yale to brown…
and trinity college is right on the way from amherst to wesleyan or yale.</p>
<p>I don’t think you will find convenient public transit from Middlebury to Amherst. Rent a car.</p>
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<p>Check with Greyhound. I’m not sure they stop at Middlebury anymore, but you can get from Burlington to Northampton in about 5 hours by bus (with a change at White river Junction). From Northampton there’s a local bus to Amherst.</p>
<p>Amtrak also has a train, the Vermonter, that takes you from Burlington/Essex Junction to Amherst in about 4.5 hours.</p>
<p>Either way you need to get yourself to Burlington, though.</p>
<p>Middlebury to Williams to Amherst is a reasonable route. About an hour and half between each one. </p>
<p>Another strategy is to go from Williams to Skidmore and down the Hudson to Bard, Vassar and then Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>I have seen all these schools except Holy Cross and would be glad to be of help to anyone who wants to PM me.</p>
<p>[Transportation</a> Information](<a href=“http://www.middlebury.edu/campuslife/activities/travel_info.htm]Transportation”>http://www.middlebury.edu/campuslife/activities/travel_info.htm)</p>
<p>Thanks to all who have responded to my request. Especially those who have suggested some other schools we can look into as well as where to seek interviews.</p>
<p>Also, 2boysima, your itinerary is better than what I initally thought as our trip back home will be shorter.</p>
<p>I realize these schools are all “reaches,” but we have some other schools closer to home to fit the match/safety criteria. </p>
<p>If anyone has any additional thoughts on these schools, I would be most appreciative.</p>
<p>Thanks,
Burry</p>