We live in west coast but my D would like to apply to seven sisters so we have decided to visit some of them. We can only go from Friday to Tuesday(gotta arrive at airport by noon) and our plan right now is;
Fri. Visit Bryn Mawr(campus tour, info session) and Swarthmore & Haverford if time allows
Sat. look around PHIL and fly to Boston
Sun. Visit Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst (self-guided tour as it is Sunday…)
Mon Visit Wellesley(campus tour & info session)
Does this schedule look okay? We are not familiar with the area at all and I am not sure if I have made a good plan. My D is most interested in BM, Smith, and Wellesley. How is it like to visit a campus on Sunday? I know they do not offer any tours but would it be okay for us to tour ourselves? It would be ideal if we can attend campus tour to all three, but I am assuming it is almost impossible with this travel schedule. Am I correct?
On Google map, it takes 1.5hrs from Smith to Wellesley without traffic, but is there usually a big traffic for the route?
You should definitely be able to squeeze Haverford into your Bryn Mawr day. The schools are 5 minutes from each other and given the bi-college program, it would be helpful to tour both campuses.
Perhaps you can squeeze in a visit to Swarthmore early Saturday morning.
Traffic can be bad in the Boston area on a weekday. Sunday will be a long day for you given all you have planned but I’d suggest driving back to the Wellesley area on Sunday night and stay near Wellesley that night rather than sweating traffic on Monday morning. That way you can sleep in a little and have a nice breakfast.
If you need any dining advice in the Philly area, let me know.
Your itinerary is ambitious but doable knowing you are trying to maximize your time on the East Coast.
Have you considered flying from Phil into Hartford/ Springfield Bradley airport instead of Boston and doing a one way car rental (fly out of Boston)? You are going to have long days trying to see three colleges-might save you some time.
It could take 2 hours (or more) for the drive between Amherst and Wellesley on a Monday morning. I would recommend driving between Philadelphia and Amherst instead of flying. It would probably be quicker.
This sounds possible but frantic. I realize your time is very limited, but you might get more out of the visits if you just did Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Amherst and Wellesley. It would give you time to not only tour the schools, but also the neighborhoods, sit in on some classes, set up interviews and enjoy the process and your time together. These college trips are an opportunity to discuss so much more than just the schools - and drinking from the ‘impressions’ fire hydrant leaves so little time to reflect on the upcoming experience and what your D wants out of these years.
If I was going to fly, I would fly from PHL to Bradley Hartford/Springfield rather than flying out of the way to Logan Boston.
But when you include going through security and the cost of flights, you may be better off just driving since you’ll be north of Philly and the airport is south of the city.
Since Saturday is just a transit day…
Bryn Mawr drive to PHL Airport, 50 minutes (rounded to an hour)
Check in to airport, an hour before flight, one hour
Philly to Boston Flight, one hour
Boston Airport to Northampton, MA, 2 hours (could be as long as three hours if you hit traffic or check bags)
Total Time: 5-6 hours
Bryn Mawr drive to PHL Airport, 50 minutes (rounded to an hour)
Check in to airport, an hour before flight, one hour
Philly to Hartford/Springfield Flight, 30 minutes. (Round up to an hour)
Bradley Airport to Northampton, MA, 1 hours (could be a little longer if you check bags)
Total Time: 4 hours
Drive Bryn Mawr to Amherst, MA
Total Time: 5:30- 6 hours.
Remember that the more things you try to pack into a trip the more likely that the tours will be rushed and that your daughter will be burned out and not giver a school a fair shake. As a result, I tend to advise against adding side things like sight seeing or shopping to a trip like this.
Bryn Mawr is literally down the street from Haverford. Haverford has an open campus and you can walk it without an official tour. Since you can enroll in 1 school and take classes at each school, I don’t think a full “official” tour of both would sway your decision. You can simply walk the campus after dinner Friday. Assuming good weather, it is easy to strike up conversations with students and even faculty.
Technically, while a Bryn Mawr or Haverford student can take classes at Swarthmore, it is not logistically easy.
Swarthmore should be viewed as a separate school and I’d recommend an official tour if possible. If it is not possible, the campus is worth visiting. It is a VERY different feel from the BM and Haverford.
One note about visiting the MA schools on a Sunday - we drove to Amherst on a Sunday last year and walked around both UMass and Amherst College. Visiting UMass wasn’t too difficult because my husband is an alum so he played tour guide and knew where to take us.
But we did not get a good feel for Amherst College at all. Beyond the fact that it is really hilly, there isn’t much I could tell you. The reason is that the place was deserted. I don’t know where everyone was. We were asking ourselves if maybe they were all studying, or maybe watching football in their rooms (it was Sunday afternoon), or what, but there were no people outside. We didn’t talk to anyone because there was no one to talk to, and ultimately we came away with a very weird feeling about the place. I think it would have been much different on a weekday when students were out and about going to classes.
Seeing Haverford after Bryn Mawr is easy - they are only about a mile or so apart. Unless Swarthmore is high on the list, I’d actually skip it (it’s a great school with a lovely campus) and leave Philadelphia early Saturday for MA. I agree with others, there’s no reason to fly to Boston if the next stop is Amherst/Smith/Mount Holyoke. See if you can schedule a Saturday afternoon tour at one of the three schools.
I would maximize the number of tours/information sessions but limit the number of school visits to one or two a day. It would be a pity to drive all the way to Western MA only to wander around on a Sunday doing a self-tour. I also like the option of dropping Philadelphia and limiting the trip to just MA schools.
Another option - assuming flights aren’t already booked - is to flip the trip around. Do the MA schools on Friday and Saturday (hopefully some of the schools have Saturday tours.) Travel to Philly on Sunday. Visit Bryn Mawr/Haverford on Monday. Early visit to Swarthmore first thing Tuesday morning, if you can squeeze is in.
This schedule might allow for more official tours and therefore more chance to get a feel for the schools.
I’m not sure how much you will get out of rushing through the self-tours of the three schools. Plus the schools would have no record of your visit. I’d try to move the schedule around so you visit Phily on Sunday and get tours of the schools you want to see.
Thank you everyone for the great advice! Since the flight is already set and my D is trying to decide whether ED BMC or Smith or Wellesley, we need to go to all three locations. I will make sure not to rush too much and remove some schools from the list as some are not her priority. Thanks again.