<p>Wow, pixeljig - I’m exhausted just thinking about your trip. Is it at all possible to remove one or two schools? Am I correct that your son has already been admitted to Santa Clara? Are there any other schools on the current list that he doesn’t like as much? Those would be the ones I’d forego visiting.</p>
<p>Hotel suggestions for Vanderbilt: there are several West End hotels within easy walking distance of the school, of which the Loew’s and the Marriott are the most expensive. Slightly less costly are the Embassy Suites, the Marriott Courtyard, and the Hampton Inn and Suites on Elliston. If you’re staying just one night and can get a decent deal, the Loew’s is most conveniently located to the admissions building and has shuttle service. If you’d like to save money, the Hampton Inn and Suites on Elliston (not the other Hampton so much) is a nice spot with a good free breakfast buffet and free parking. I’ve stayed at all of these places as a Vandy parent - all are safe, comfortable, and clean, and some much more than that. Best of luck - you have the makings of an epic thread here if you report back, which I hope you will.</p>
<p>Tripadvisor.com is a great resource for finding hotels and restaurants. There is a thread for just about every city. Also, did you look at the parents page on each of the colleges websites? Sometimes they list hotel recommendations. </p>
<p>If you are not an American, make sure to check with the car rental agencies to see what paperwork they require.</p>
<p>When you visit be sure to check out not just the campus but also the immediate surrounding area - the area where your S might live when he’s off-campus, where he might go to restaurants, movies, etc. Also check out the areas for whatever other non-academic activities he likes to do. Remember that he’ll be living there for 4 years or so.</p>
<p>I would imagine that the OP and her son know full well what a jam packed trip this is. I’ve done major road jams with both my kids albeit without an overseas plane flight to start it off. What sounds horrendous to some can actually be a ton of fun to someone else. You just need to know yourself and for me, I’m someone that will get in a car and drive 20 hours straight to do something on a lark. My husband thought we were insane, and bowed out, but both boys totally enjoyed their wild trip with mom. We were exhausted but happy at the end. Husband would have been totally cranky the entire time. I do like the poster who suggested reversing the order to capture the time changes…nice thinking vinceh.</p>
<p>Let me understand this: your son is a senior, has applied to all these schools and wants to see them in March. This probably means visiting schools that he has not yet heard results from (unless he got in everywhere early action). </p>
<p>WashU, Rice, Vanderbilt and USC are all tough to get into. I’m envisioning this nightmare trip of flying and driving and cramming in all these schools, and then learning that he might not have gotten into one or two or even all of them. </p>
<p>Practically speaking, I’d concentrate visits on schools he’s either gotten into or his safeties. I think this trip is a lot to handle, and you’ll all be exhausted by the end.</p>
<p>I normally don’t book any travel during the school year either but I just want to say that the last semester in high school is a perfect time to miss school, in fact it won’t hurt your son at all for not attending schools for a few days. I would extend the trip a few days to see these colleges.</p>
<p>Wow, this is ambitious! I would suggest to replace some driving with flights, to reduce the travel time.</p>
<p>When I did a big spring break trip with my S visiting schools, which was all by car, our routine was to travel in the afternoon/evening and stay at a hotel near to the school. Then the next morning we would do the first information session and the tour and eat lunch at an on-campus cafeteria. Then, depending on timing and/or S’s interest level we would hang out around campus some more, or head out to travel to the next school. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t skip the official tours, since they were usually pretty good at getting a feel for the place, and had a student guide to ask questions to. And in our case, it worked out best to start the day with the school visit, while we were fresh. Better to be tired while traveling between stops, than to be tired while visiting a school. </p>
<p>Also, I second the Hampton Inn at WashU, which is where my S and I stayed when we visited there.</p>
<p>Pixel…there is a Candlewood Suites right across from the main campus entrance to SCU. If you are flying into San Jose, there is a free shuttle bus from the airport that will drop you at the transportation center which is right next to that hotel. </p>
<p>Santa Clara University spring break begins on March 19 (that is the last day of exams) so classes will not be in session that week or the following week. You might want to contact the admissions office. It was my understanding that they didn’t allow any scheduled campus visits during exams which are the 15th through the 19th of March. I’m not clear when you are planning to visit SCU…just FYI for you.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that Santa Clara HAS tours on Sundays…ever. The admissions office is closed on Sundays. The student would have to arrange something on their own. AND that Sunday is the day students will be returning to campus from their spring breaks. That would NOT be a time when it would be easy to make special arrangements.</p>
<p>P.S. There are PLENTY of shuttles from LAX to San Jose…don’t need to fly to San Francisco.</p>
<p>Santa Clara ,St Louis , Nashville,Atlanta, Houston,Austin and L.A. in 7 days.
Add in the 2 days for trans pacific travel.
Sounds impossible.
I know you want to fit this in your school break , but I would suggest , visiting after you have admissions decisions.
If you get accepted Rice,WUSTL,Vandy, GT etc, missing a week of school at the end of senior year will matter little.
Good luck on your trip , but as planned , sounds ambitious and possibly unproductive.</p>
<p>Yes, in essence thats the trip. Wow, it does sound crazy doesn’t it? </p>
<p>We are american citizens, left NY when son was 4 and have visited every couple of years since. Son has done EPGY at Stanford, so he has some idea.</p>
<p>Son has been accepted to SCU and deferred at G tech, these 2 we wanted son to see for sure. The rest we will hear from after the trip (and they are all reaches). </p>
<p>Thumper, I am stumped about the SCU now. If the school is not in session what is the point?</p>
<p>I completely agree. The problem with stopping West and then flying East one leg at a time is that with every leg, you lose an hour or two in the time change.
If you get your big jump out of the way first, then working East to West will work out MUCH better. You won’t lose as much time, since you’re gaining time zones. </p>
<p>OK, you already applied, waiting to hear from them, and not at a stage where you are trying to decide where to apply. I would argue that you won’t gain much by visiting the schools at this stage especially when these are all reach schools. It seems you might even be setting yourself up for a bigger disappointment if you don’t get in after your son “falling in love” with one of the school. I would second targeted Spring visit after finding out about the acceptances.</p>
<p>After reading the posts here, we are thinking of dropping Vandy and perhaps UT Austin. That will give us a bit more time and instead of driving from WashU to GT we will fly. This will cut down all the driving. Thanks!</p>
<p>Be sure to preregister at the admission office for WashU ahead of time. You will get a big packet of stuff which include parking pass, free lunch voucher and info about St Louis, nice town and a beautiful campus. Best tour we had of all the places we visited.</p>
<p>The most valuable part of the college visit for my kids was sitting in on classes. Not every class represents the nature of the whole institution fairly, of course, which is unfortunate. However poor the quality of the impressions collected by this method, it far surpassed any other single aspect of the college visit in helping them understand the differences among institutions and make a choice. I would do a lot of pre-visit legwork in figuring out likely classes to visit(subject interesting to your son, small size so student quality/involvement can be guaged, etc.)</p>