<p>My DS and I are heading on a college road trip the end of September first of October. We are visiting UA, Auburn, and USC-Columbia. Thanks to BAMA's Discussions I know where we are staying and where we will most likely eat. South Carolina I only know of one place to stay and that is the Inn at USC and where we may eat. However I am clueless about Auburn. I have tried Campus Vibe and it will not load on my computer. Anyone have any suggestions of where to stay and or eat at Auburn? How about things to discuss about the colleges while driving?</p>
<p>The Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center is very very nice but quite expensive if it is a football weekend. In fact, I think you have to stay minimum of 2 nights if it is football weekend and they are probably sold out by now anyway. You might check the Hilton Garden Inn - that is where we usually stayed on our visits before son became a student, however, again if it is on a football weekend - good luck finding anything too close that you would be comfortable in. We did drive to Columbus, GA and stayed at a nice Homewood Suites after the UGA and Iron Bowl last year. It’s about a 30 minute easy drive to campus. I would google search places to eat for your taste and $ - it can vary widely. I just mentioned on the Auburn thread that we have enjoyed the Italian restaurant next to Hilton Garden Inn called Venditorri’s and we also took my son out for his 19th birthday at a restaurant with rave reviews (I thought it was good but not rave worthy) called Acre. Hope you enjoy Auburn - people sort of fall in love with the place!</p>
<p>We are headed to Auburn on a Tuesday. So we should not have a problem with football game rates.</p>
<p>Reading / responding on my phone and just realized you are the same person I responded to on the AU thread… Not as ditzy as I seem just not good at the phone apps yet.</p>
<p>On a Tuesday the AU Hotel and Dixon Conference Center would be the best choice. From there you can walk across the street to campus and walk downtown Auburn where there are places to eat that will give you the college vibe, including a Mello Mushroom pizza place. </p>
<p>I know nothing about Auburn but as to what to discuss, here it goes:<br>
We found it unproductive to discuss the colleges while travelling. Counter-intuitive? To the adult parent mind, yes. To a teen who’s about to leave home in less than a year, no. DD was downright antagonistic about talking colleges post-tour/visit so we talked about all kinds of things - almost anything BUT the college visited. I strongly suggest YOU taking a notebook or laptop and documenting your impressions of the colleges while you travel. Otherwise, it’ll all blend into one big tossed salad. You can get the stats off the web. Data points I’d recommend noting and most are qualitative: friendliness/culture on campus: does anyone not associated with the tour say hello or make eye contact? Building upkeep/cleanliness. How many students do you see socializing vs. studying? Are there students in the library or is it empty? How’s the food? Visit a class - are students participating or is it a talking head to a bunch of people on social websites? How articulate is the tour guide? Can he/she answer off-script questions? If you document your impressions, it’ll help a lot when your DS gets to the selection phase.</p>
<p>My son and I did similar tours last year. Spring Break: UNC: Charlotte-USC-Clemson- Tennessee and Fall Break: Georgia-Georgia Tech- Auburn- Alabama - Louisville and then home. I just stuck with all IHG hotels (Holiday Inn Group) racked up points etc. It was just the two of us and we talked about a little of everything. We talked about our impression of each school when we pulled into town and when we left, like a quick first 5 things good or bad. I had him look online at “things to do” in addition to opportunities in the area that would help him in the long term. There were little things that made a huge impression on him that as a parent would have been overlooked and vice versa. Most importantly I let him guide all the “school” discussions. I can tell you I knew what school he would choose within 5 minutes of being on campus because his whole demeanor changed. </p>
<p>Thank you @Knoxpatch I hadn’t even thought about noting my impressions in a notebook. @heyheyejay I have already told him he will do all the talking. He tends to be shy and keep quiet around adults. I started having him ask questions at College fairs to get more comfortable. I can tell if he likes something pretty quickly. He talks more and gets louder. :)</p>
<p>Welcome! My daughter’s the same way but I’m an extrovert so I had to consciously take a back seat and let her do the talking. </p>
<p>I can’t help you with hotels etc. because I’m up north and we looked at a very different set of schools. But I had a great experience doing a road-trip to college hunt with each of my kids. I learned so much about each of them – how they approach things, what is important to them etc. so it was a tiring but wonderful experience. </p>
<p>We did make some notes after each visit and I also set up a small file cabinet to keep the papers/brochures from schools. It was helpful to go back and look at some of the things when we began to come up with a final list of schools.</p>
<p>We ate nearly all our meals in the campus eateries. Check out the food and the dining hall atmosphere. Possibly eat with some students (this might be easier if your child goes alone). I think it’s a lot more informative than eating in an off campus restaurant your child is unlikely to visit more than a few times as a student.</p>