<p>How do you manage to plan it out? I live in NY, on Long Island, and apart from going upstate and around NY, I want to visit schools like Penn State and Pitt (though Pitt might be too far out just for one school), go north to visit Connecticut schools., and a coup,e in New jersey. A list of maybe 9 - 10 (5 ivies that my dad wants though we have no chance of affording or getting in, and 4-5 that I am realistically applying to and I am interested in) schools skewed all over. I'm not quite sure how to plan it all out...</p>
<p>Should it be one big road trip? Or a couple schools at a time that are relatively nearby to each other?</p>
<p>Call ahead? Or show up and walk around and wait and see if a tour guide comes up to us and amazes us?</p>
<p>And how financially taxing are road trips like these? I feel somewhat guilty for using up my parents money just to see some schools. ( I'm just weird like that. I do really want to go see them. =D)</p>
<p>I should be asking my dad these questions, but I tried twice already, but I just got a "talk about it later" and a blank stare...
+ My mom and sister want to come but they need to know in advance so they can get the vacation days secured away.</p>
<p>I first visited a few schools around me in different locations (I visited Northeastern, a college in the city, UMass-Amherst, a large public university, WPI, a smaller school ina city and Hampshire College, a small liberal arts college) to try and figure out what I wanted in a college.</p>
<p>After knowing that, I put together a list of schools and sent out applications. After I found out what schools I was accepted to, I visited the schools that I were accepted to and decided then which school to go to. I applied to all of my schools (except Virginia Tech) early action or rolling so I found out most of my decisions by mid-February which gave me plenty of time to visit.</p>
<p>College road trips can be however you want them to be, they can be one big road trip or several smaller trips. You should reserve a spot on a college tour though especially in the spring and go on a tour. That’s the best way to get to know a school.</p>
<p>You might consider flying to Pitt. Southwest flies there, and you could see Pitt and CMU. Clustering schools is probably a little easier. They all kind of run together if you see too many at once, and if you have the option of doing more than one trip. Pierre0913 gives some good advice for deciding the type of school you might like quickly.</p>
<p>Also, if you want to look at schools after you are admitted, be sure to apply to a couple that are rolling or offer early (non-binding) action, so you will have some time to go visit. If you apply to all schools with an April 1 acceptance date, that month will go by quickly before you commit on May 1.</p>
<p>Have fun. Good luck.</p>