<p>Ds has been given the opportunity to attend a conference at Stanford on May 30 in conjunction with Questbridge. I've got reasonably cheap tickets into Oakland. What is the cheapest/easiest way to get to Stanford from there? I looked at BART, but that left me totally confused. If the hotel and transportation is too expensive, we can't go. :( Any hints for how to keep costs down on hotel/transit? TIA </p>
<p>I posted this on the Stanford forum as well, but I don't know how heavily used it is.</p>
<p>Congrats to your DS, YDS. I hope he’s able to take advantage of that opportunity. But since Questbridge is for low income students, I would have thought that transportation costs would be included in the offer. I’m sure it would be close to impossible for many low income students to take advantage of that opportunity.</p>
<p>Tell me about it. Some of the lengthier visits to campuses are all-expenses paid, but this is not. He did apply for a travel grant that would cover air fare. What I didn’t count on is two nights in a hotel, but that’s the only way the flights would work with the conference times.</p>
<p>I wish I’d known that before I just booked these flights, which I can cancel in the next 24 hours. I’m not a very seasoned traveler! I’ll investigate the cost of flying into those airports.</p>
<p>I’m sure you considered it but is renting a car too costly? It’d probably be the easiest.</p>
<p>Never mind if it’s just the S going.</p>
<p>I found this on Yahoo answers -
You can get there quite easily using the train. Take BART (subway) from anywhere in Oakland to Millbrae station. At Millbrae station, cross the platform and transfer to Caltrain for Palo Alto. </p>
<p>I assumed renting a car is too costly, especially because the last time I was in Cali with a rental car (years ago) I had to pay to park it at the hotel. At the time I had NEVER heard of such a thing. I told you I’m not an experienced traveler. I don’t mind using public transit. I want ds to get used to the idea of getting out of his comfort zone, and this will be a learning experience.</p>
<p>I’d never heard of SFO. I checked out the flights and could save $38 for the two of us. By train, do you mean BART?</p>
<p>Rental cars vary in cost. How many days would you need it for? Most hotels don’t charge for parking but the ones in big dense cities, like San Francisco, usually do. SFO = San Francisco airport.</p>
<p>Super shuttle shared rides =1-800-blue-van. Try to get QB (or Stanford) to reimburse part of the fare? I would get on the phone with them and explain that this would make a difference between going and not going.</p>
<p>I would just send DS so he can bunk on someone’s futon. The shuttles, hotel (not much cheap near Stanford) etc. will add up. For him it’s one airfare, one shuttle and no hotel. Someone on the Stanford board will probably host him or maybe admissions can set this up.</p>
<p>Well, it’s kind of six of one. If you apply for a travel grant, a parent must accompany the kid (liability issue), so it would be just as cheap to get the grant and have me go. And he would FREAK if he had to take public transit in a strange city, check into a hotel, etc., himself. Which is a great life lesson as he’ll be doing this stuff on his own in a year, and this will help decide whether he’s up to it. </p>
<p>He’s taken public transit before (buses, rail lines), just not by himself in a brand-new city. This fall, he’s hoping to get invited to a diversity weekend or two, so he’ll get more experience before he’s off on his own. If he hates dealing with the travel too much, that will be great to know.</p>
<p>If he’s going to consider Stanford or any other school far away, he’s going to have to learn to get himself back and forth. I think taking this trip with him (and letting him try to “lead”) would be a great life lesson. Getting to the BART station at the San Francisco airport involves (or at least it did last time I did it) a little bit of shuttle/airport smarts. Might be good to experience with someone else along the first time. Have a great time!</p>
<p>Just to be sure you’re clear on all this train business - the train that is walking distance to Stanford is called Caltrain, and it’s a traditional kind of train. Caltrain runs from San Francisco to San Jose, but it doesn’t stop at any of the airports. BART is a subway system that does have a connection to the San Francisco airport. There is one station where you can transfer between BART and the Caltrain, and that’s Millbrae. This is a town near the San Francisco airport. </p>
<p>So from the SF airport, you would take BART to Millbrae, transfer to Caltrain, and then take that to Palo Alto. It’s confusing because BART and Caltrain are both referred to as trains.</p>
<p>If he ends up going to Stanford and living on-campus the travel part won’t be such a big deal. He’ll figure out the distance travel pretty quickly (and likely use San Jose or SFO rather than Oakland since they’re closer and easier) and for holiday breaks there are lots of Stanford students at the airports. I even ran into a friend of my D’s at San Jose airport once (actually on the plane as he was walking on) and we sat together on the plance and talked about Stanford for the whole trip here.</p>
<p>Thanks, Calreader. That’s exactly the kind of clarification I need.</p>
<p>I’m warming to the idea of SFO because ds has never been to San Fran. Maybe we can sight-see before taking the train to Stanford.</p>
<p>It’s not like he’s even interested in Stanford, but he is very interested in a couple of colleges that are QB partners. The trip is really about making connections and expanding his horizons. But maybe he’ll love it and want to apply there, too.</p>
<p>YDS: Sightseeing in San Francisco would be a pretty significant detour north of where you join the Caltrain at Milbrae. Doable but not exactly ‘on the way’. Check the map. </p>
<p>Also, while the Caltrain station is technically within walking distance to Stanford, it will still be a significant hike if you have luggage. We are not talking walking distance like Columbia University is from the 1/9 subway line in NYC! The free Stanford shuttle would be a much better plan. Palm drive on foot with a heavy backpack could be a miserable introduction to Stanford.</p>
I don’t mind using public transit. I want ds to get used to the idea of getting out of his comfort zone, and this will be a learning experience.</p>