I want to start by saying…sure…apply to an Ivy or two. Why not?
Not wishing to belabor the point…we had a kid who went to college 2 hours and 20 minutes from our house. We had another who went to college all the way on the opposite coast. No direct flights. She flew SW via Baltimore.
We were able to see the 2.3 hours away kid more often, because we COULD hop in the car for a day trip, or even after work to get there for an 8:00 concert. If he had been 6-8 hours away…no. That is not a day trip.
I think the mom needs to identify WHY she wants this kid within a 6-8 hour drive of your home. If it is because she anticipates more visits, or thinks it’s an easy drive to do back and forth…I would,say no. And definitely not when you have winter and/or holiday traffic to consider.
We asked our kids to apply to colleges within a three hour drive from our home OR within one hour of a close friend or relative. We have a fairly large and spread out family, so this was not too restrictive. I think they both thought we were nuts until DD was admitted to the hospital via the emergency room trip for surgery the next morning at 7. No way we could get there before the surgery began, but close aunt, and very good friend were all over it…aunt actually spent a week with DD (they kept saying dd was going to be discharged…but then she needed a second surgery).
Anyway…take a pencil and an old fashioned map…and draw a circle that encompasses the 6-8 hour driving range from your home…then go from there. The northeast is filled with great schools. The Ivies meet full need…but so do a number of the smaller schools…Amherst, Williams, Bates, Colby, etc. lots of choices.