college road trip

Hi. I’m a hs junior. I plan on visiting some schools over the summer. I have 4 or 5 days to visit schools. I don’t know whether to start from boston it new york. Here are my two options.

Start in either Boston or New York

1
Start in Boston
Visit harvard, wellesley, etc
Brown
Yale
NYU, Columbia, Barnard, etc
Finish in New York

2
Start in New York
NYU, Columbia, Barnard, etc
Yale
Brown
harvard, wellesey

Should I start in Boston or New york. Also if you have any tips for my tip please share.

Are you flying in to the start city and renting a car, or are you in driving distance from home.
If you are flying in, I would prefer to rent the car in Boston (or possibly better would be Providence) and drive from there. Another good option is to fly into Manchester NH and drive to Boston from there. Renting a car at JFK and driving into Manhattan would add needless stress. Boston is a much saner city to drive and park than Manhattan. If you can return the rental car and just take the subway around Manhattan that would be a very pleasant way to finish such a trip.

If you are in driving distance from home or won’t be renting a car, I don’t think it matters much where you start and finish. I would consider if you plan to sight-see in either Boston or NYC before/after your trip what the costs of hotels are on weekends vs. weekdays or what opportunities you might choose such as free days at museums or best days to get discount tickets for Broadway etc.

I am flying to either Boston or New york

When I did it, I did something more like #1. Except I think we flew into Providence and went to Brown first thing, Something about the timing of the info sessions.perhaps, and also Southwest had good direct flights to Providence from where we were living at the time. Plus we were also visiting Wesleyan. I don’t remember why Providence first exactly, because Boston makes more sense.

From there our itinerary diverged, because we were going to the Philly area too. But ideally one would return the rental car in New Haven and get the MTA there (not Amtrak) to Grand Central Station in NYC. If that works out money-wise with the rental.

Ok thanks.

over the summer you’ll see some nice architecture and hear great stories on the tours (although after a while they sound alike; every school has a library where “the architect forget to account for the weight of the books and its sinking”. What you won’t get is much of a sense of what its like to be a student at these schools. For that, better to visit when school is in session and students are around, you can visit a sample class, etc.

No, every school has a library that was almost used as the Hogwarts library.

It doesn’t really matter where you start the trip. Just take good notes so you remember all the schools and not forget anything about them.

Ok thanks. I’m thinking that I will fly into Boston look at schools nearby then travel to Brown and Yale then take the train to new York City, visit schools there and then fly home.
Do you think I can hit Brown and Yale in the same day? If yes Do you think I can drive from boston to Brown to yale and take the train to nyc and go straight to the hotel all in one day?

How long does the MTA Train take going from Neww Haven to Neww York City?

I’m not sure if you can hit them in the same day. Depending on the times of the tours/open houses, you will be pretty crunched for time. Lots of families allot for one day for a college in a city. Brown is in Providence, RI and Yale is in Connecticut. While the states are adjacent, it will still take some time to commute. You might have to set a day aside for Brown and Yale.

Day 1 and Day 2: Fly into Boston, visit the colleges here
Day 3: Brown (and possibly Yale)
Day 4: NYC
Day 5: Wrap up and fly home

If not both on Day 3 then, Day 4: Yale
Day 5: NYC

Thank you so much.

“Do you think I can hit Brown and Yale in the same day? If yes Do you think I can drive from boston to Brown to yale and take the train to nyc and go straight to the hotel all in one day?”

Look up the times of the tours and information sessions at the various schools, that was a deciding factor for us in some cases. Then use Mapquest or Google maps or whatever to determine the driving time between destinations. That will help you plan.

We basically saw only two a schools a day, given the tour/info session times, the logistics, and our endurance. I remember we stayed overnight at a motel in New Haven.

“How long does the MTA Train take going from Neww Haven to Neww York City?”
It takes two hours from New Haven Union Station to Grand Central Station in NYC. Then you have to get from there to where you are going. . Use MTA trip planner to plan your trip in. You can put in your actual starting location (eg New haven rental car company address)and final destination (eg Columbia University) in trip planner and it will tell you exactly how to get there.

Thanks

Don’t know your stats but make sure you visit and find some safeties and matches you like.