<p>5boys - I hope you like the book. I did find it a little intimidating at first - just lots of maps and lots of information. Just give yourself time to go through the parts you need before your trip.</p>
<p>kathiep - My S’s college counselor suggested the book to me for my 2012 son. I’m not sure why it wasn’t suggested when I went through this the first time with my 2010 son.</p>
<p>Good morning everyone!! Just got up here in CA… </p>
<p>OKay… Did decide NOT to do the ME schools… just too many schools in 1 week for my DS.
So, it should be relatively easy.I am dropping my S off in Vershire Vermont… about an 1 1/2 out of Burlington towards New Hampshire… very close to Hanover. We will be visiting Dartmouth… huge reach for my DS but thought it would be fun to see since we are so close, and UVM this month when we drop him off. We wanted to see Midd then, but their admission offices are closed the month of December and January for remodeling.,bummer!</p>
<p>I do like the idea of flying into Logan and then taking a train to Providence and renting a car there. We could do the loop and then go back to Boston and I think there is a Dartmouth coach that could take my DS back to Hanover and the school will pick him up from there. I think that would be the cheapest and easiest. I knew you guys would have GREAT suggestions. It is hard living in CA because all of the schools are a plane ride away… DS does not want to go to school in CA. We did the PNW last Spring… a little early but in hindsight was a GREAT idea. It helped my DS know early what type of school he wanted and really gave him motivation to do good this year. FYI to 2013’s… smart plan.</p>
<p>He has already at least 4 pretty sure bets on his list that he LOVES, so this trip will be to look at some of his reaches and see if he likes any of them enough to put a lot of effort into his app’s.</p>
<p>As an almost lifelong Northeasterner (a few years in the midwest) who has lived in Boston, New York and Western Mass …I would suggest the following. A lot depends on how much time you have, though and how much you like driving in the dusk/evening.</p>
<p>Day 1: Fly to Providence (or Bradley or Boston…whichever is the least expensive.)</p>
<p>Day 2: Visit Brown in the morning. In afternoon, drive across CT, and visit Wesleyan. Depending on timing, may want to either stay near Middletown, drive all the way to Poughkeepsie or stop halfway between Middletown and Poughkeepsie. </p>
<p>Day 3: Visit Vassar and Bard. Drive up to Colgate/Hamilton in late afternoon/evening.</p>
<p>Day 4: Visit Colgate and Hamilton . Head towards Middlebury. Stop somewhere before Middlebury.</p>
<p>Day 5: Visit Middlebury. Head towards meeting in Hanover (Dartmouth)</p>
<p>Day 6: Parent goes back to Providence/Boston/Bradley to fly home.</p>
<p>colorado_mom, that’s so true…it seems those of us on the Eastern seaboard go “out west” and those westerners, go “back east.” :-)</p>
<p>We did not do as extensive a tour as you, but I have had excellent luck with trip advisor site. if you put in the city you are interested in, the people are incredibly helpful. when we did an Oakland to Sf to San jose trip, they planned every stop!</p>
<p>If I was in Vermont/New Hampshire visiting UVM and Dartmouth, I would certainly include a driveby on Middlebury. It’s not that far out of the way and you can at least <em>eyeball</em> this pretty New England campus. </p>
<p>My first view of Middlebury was when I was driving back from dropping S2 at summer camp in upstate NY and S1 was in the car. He shrieked … in my ear … MIDDLEBURY! They won the D3. We have to stop. (That would be the NCAA DIII Men’s Lacrosse Championship for the uninitiated.) His version of looking at colleges at that point was to drive twice around the main portion of campus and then go park at the athletic complex and check out the stadium and the locker rooms.</p>
<p>I know you are on a tight schedule but if it is at all possible try to spend a full day at any campuses you & S feel are important to him. Eat at least one meal in each school’s cafeteria/dining hall. Collar some students when doing so and ask them the usual—what do you like least/most about the place, etc, and my favorite—“if you were accepted at (the same schools I am also thinking of applying to), what made you choose this one?”</p>
<p>I use Tripadvisor for choosing places to eat, stay, etc, all the time, no matter where we are going. </p>
<p>And google maps! You can get a perfect idea of which exits, routes, etc etc, all from your desk weeks before the trip. You can print maps of particular routes or confusing ramps or other parts of the drive. You can use the satellite photos to see exactly which driveway and what building you need to find, even the configurations of parking lots. </p>
<p>I strongly suggest arriving the night or day before & settling into the hotel/inn for a good night’s sleep.</p>
<p>If you are looking for economy digs for visiting Brown, try the Johnson & Wales Inn in Seekonk, MA, which is just over the state line. It is an easy drive in to Brown from there and it is <em>very</em> reasonably priced, includes breakfast, is across the street & down the block from a modestly priced OK family restaurant. This is the practicum training inn of Johnson & Wales Univ’s hospitality school, and is entirely run by the students. It is clean, the breakfast is fine, etc. From the outside when you drive up, it is an old 1960s “colonial” motel–but on the inside it is excellent (except for having only one elevator). They are training the students to run 4 & 5 star hotels and that is the level of service you get. </p>
<p>[Hotels</a> near Providence RI - The Johnson and Wales University Inn New England](<a href=“http://www.jwinn.com/]Hotels”>http://www.jwinn.com/)</p>
<p>Happy trails!</p>
<p>Another tip–make sure you know whether the schools require advance registration for the info session/tour.</p>
<p>Also, mapquest’s website allows you to put in multiple route destinations, so you can try various different permutations of the trip.</p>
<p>I think most rental cars come with the automatic toll thingamajig. Every state seems to have a different name for their program, and back East, every time you turn around you are in a new state :). Anyhow, make sure your rental car comes with one and that you know how to use it. We found it very useful in our trip last year.</p>
<p>A bit off your question but given how many schools you’re trying to fit in please be sure to have a notebook with 2 or 3 pages for each school and immediately write down any and all thoughts about each school - from the most inane (self-serve refillable drinks) to most important. Quick pictures might help also, anything to allow you to all to remember and differentiate once you’re home. We have daughter write first so as not to influence, then add our thoughts. It’s a long process and it would be bad to confuse or forget things that will help you decide come next May 1st.</p>
<p>Good luck and have fun!</p>
<p>Burlington is just an hour north of Middlebury so it’s not a big detour. I don’t suppose you could fly out of the Burlington airport? I like the idea of doing pairs of colleges. One of the two may get short shrift though. We did Vassar and Bard in one day driving up from New York City suburbs, so that is definitely doable.</p>