We are thinking of flying to Hartford, renting a car, and visiting Amherst, Hampshire, Williams, Middlebury, and Skidmore over a four-day period, and then flying out of Hartford again. Is this doable? We also probably will make another quick tr4ip this fall to visit Dartmouth. My D is also interested in Union. But Amherst and Middlebury are at the top of her “visit” list, so we would like to visit them before senior year starts in early August. Any thoughts?
Skip Hampshire and check out Mount Holyoke instead (I know, she – or her parents – may not think a women’s college is her preference, but it is a great school and easy to pick up on that trip-- and it is a frequent occurance out here that students or parents who think they won’t care for it come away very impressed). My kids both strongly preferred it over Hampshire – which is a good school for the right kid, but a student who is interested in Amherst, Midd, and Dartmouth likely isn’t going to be a good fit at Hampshire. MHC has a beautiful campus, strong academics, and an interesting and diverse student body, plus the benefit of being in the 5 college consortium for social life and a few off campus classes.
Whether it is enough time or not depends partly on what you want to do on campus. You definitely should go on the tour, and if you haven’t done visits at other schools yet, sit in on some info sessions (although you will soon realize that a close review of the website will give you pretty much the same info). If school is in session, sitting in on a class can be very helpful, as can eating in the cafeteria – both give your kid a good sense of the academic rigor and student body personality. Pick up the school paper if you see one, too, often a very interesting view of the campus that isn’t exactly what admissions hopes you will see! But all that takes time. But if you are going to travel so far and spend so much on college, we always thought it was worth it. So we found that one school a day plus driving was usually all we could handle, unless they are close together (like Amherst & Mount Holyoke, for example, maybe could both be toured in one day, just can’t do classes at both).
Union and Skidmore are only about 35 minutes apart from each other so no matter where the schools are on her list, if you are going to visit both eventually I’d go to those two schools in the same trip (even the same day). And yes, Hampshire does seem to be the outlier in the group to me as well.
My suggestion is to save the Middlebury visit for the trip when you visit Dartmouth. Those 2 schools are only about 90 minutes from each other and are further north than other schools on your list.
For your 4 day trip, coming from Hartford airport, visit Amherst and Hampshire (although I agree it has a different vibe than the other schools on your list), Williams, Skidmore, and then Union, in that order or the reverse. You could definitely do 2 schools on some days, scheduling the earliest tour and info sessions at one and on the later side at the second school. The driving distances aren’t super far between some schools. I found it easiest to spend the night in the area of the school you are visiting the following morning to avoid any stress or rushing around in the morning to allow for a more leisurely morning and breakfast.
Should you want to add another school or two to your list, Wesleyan, Vassar, and Connecticut College aren’t too far from Hartford.
Try to schedule interviews at schools that offer them while you are visiting.
Middlebury is a long drive from central Massachusetts much of it on Route 7, at best a slow 2-lane road. Passing the invariable slow vehicles takes time. Logistically given your priorities and time constraints you should be able to visit Amherest and Middlebury and possibly one other college. I recommend you pick Williams. it will help you put Amherst in perspective. So a trip Hartford-Amherst-Williams-Middlebury-Hartford is possible. Pay attention to the duration of the drive back to Hartford. It can easily be 5 hours.
It might be better to do Middlebury, Skidmore and Union together. Fly in to Burlington, rent a car and fly back from Albany. You could even come further south and see Lafayette and Lehigh and leave from Newark.
Middlebury, Union and Skidmore are pretty close to each other.
Do Williams, Amherst and Dartmouth together.
Is this before school starts because some of those school are very sleepy during the summer? You might not really be able to get the full vibe.
Also - work on those plan B schools too
Cross Williams with Hampshire and you get Wesleyan, about 20 mins. south of Hartford. You may want to add it to your list.
If you’re flying into Hartford, why no Trinity? It’s right there? Middlebury and Williams are as close to each other as Midd and Union.