<p>Perhaps you can change the ATL leg to Miami. UM is easily accessible from either MIA or FLL airports. Have a great trip.</p>
<p>I would be interested in hearing the response front channel. There had been nevative comments int he past (eg competitive atmosphere, faculty that didnt speak English, Challenging “survive the intense academics” feel, etc, but I think that is old news and not currently relevant.</p>
<p>Pixel…your PM box is full…could you please clear some space so I can send you a PM?</p>
<p>Leaving in a few hours!! Wish us luck!!</p>
<p>Meanwhile son has gotten accepted at USC!! </p>
<p>Now of all the colleges we are visiting he has been denied at Gtech only. Could not be happier with the wonderful choices he has so far. </p>
<p>If not for you all, I don’t think I would have let him apply to the reaches. Even the GC thought we were nuts. I have to thank the CC members and CC itself for such a wonderful journey.</p>
<p>Thank You.</p>
<p>Reporting from Austin!! Have a few minutes before we go to the UT campus.</p>
<p>So far the whole trip has been very exciting and interesting…will write in detail about each college later but on the whole I can say with confidence that visits are VERY important and I do not know how we would have been able to decide without visiting.</p>
<p>The weather has been weird, cold everywhere! St Louis, Atlanta and even here we have overcast skies sometimes wind/rain and even some snow in ATL!!! :)</p>
<p>pixeljig,
It was 70 degrees in Atl over the weekend, flowers were in bloom and everyone with convertibles drovw with their top down. Then on Mon morning we had snow flurries !!</p>
<p>You should have been in Austin yesterday. It was beautiful!</p>
<p>Ah but Pixel…my daughter reports the weather in Santa Clara was decent. She was glad to meet you!!</p>
<p>We are back!!</p>
<p>Had a great trip, went better than expected in terms of flights and jet lag too 
So here goes:</p>
<p>Santa Clara U - Met Thumper’s daughter, she was a delight! Answered all our questions and showed us around the campus too. SCU is a cool place, the weather was perfect (it spoilt us for later as we got pretty crappy weather everywhere except LA which was our last stop). SCU campus is pretty, the students seem happy and friendly. Nice location, we stayed at Candlewood, really nice hotel. Rented a car to go back and forth to the airport.</p>
<p>WashU St Louis - Was a cold windy day…nice campus with good architecture and very friendly and casual presenters. Many people on the tour. Area around the campus very pretty too. We also did the engineering tour which was good - got to see the labs. Impressive Bio Chem and Civil depts. The Computer Dept is small. Students seemed very happy. Ate at the DUC food hall, only 2 sections were open since it was a weekend. We stayed downtown and drove to the campus. Nice City.</p>
<p>Gtech - 2 of our friends live there so they took us around. Did not have to rent a car, could relax a bit. Visited the Campus on a rainy monday morning. Ate at Varisty first!! kids loved the concept. The Campus was a let down esp after Wash U and SCU. Given that its right in town of course that was expected but it seemed kind of harsh looking. Sorry but I did not like it. The presenter was a bit egoistic and kept harping on how tough the classes are going to be etc etc. Saw the Frat houses on the way there were many.</p>
<p>UT Austin - Cold day again, some drizzle. Got lost and finally made it for the tour and so glad we did because the whole charm was in the tour. Great job by the organizers. Felt comfortable by the end of it. At first it seemed overwhelming. Good spirit. Ate at Ruby Tuesday, walked from Campus. Son wanted to eat at Rudy’s but had no time. All in all a great visit to UT.</p>
<p>USC - Our last stop. Great weather, good formal presentations by the Meet USA group. The Engineering dept also gave a tour and presentation. Good campus, happy students. Got a bit lost getting there but turned out fine. Son liked the campus. Many tours were happening simultaneously. Saw a new student center being built for Fall 2010 right in the center of Campus. Did not know that USC gives 4 credits for AP scores of 4 or 5. They charge tuition for 18 credits per semester whether you take them or not.</p>
<p>All in all a great trip. Feel very fortunate that son has gotten accepted to 4 of the 5 colleges we visited. The tickets were booked way in advance without knowing the outcome. Just wished we had time to visit U of Miami too.</p>
<p>Thank you all for such great support!!</p>
<p>So, did he have a favorite? And you?</p>
<p>Welcome back Pixel…let us know the final outcome!! My daughter was happy to meet you. Of course, she’s rooting for SCU.</p>
<p>Trying to read son’s mind - I feel that USC and WashU are tied as of now. H leaning towards UT Austin. I loved SCU and USC both.</p>
<p>We drove past LMU too and it was just gorgeous!!</p>
<p>Need to do some more research on the Computer Engineering program at USC vs WashU. UT of course is higher ranked for the program but I am not sure about the size and whether son will be able to manage there given his absent mindedness and laid back attitude.</p>
<p>Sounds like you had a great trip! Great!</p>