I have researched and scheduled college visits for the Boston area for Nov 8-11 as follows:
Nov 8 - arrive in town via car from NJ
Nov 9 - BU 9:30am; Northeastern 1:45 pm
Nov 10 - Tufts 9:30 am; BC 2:00 pm
Nov 11 - MIT 10:00 am; drive home to NJ
Was considering staying in 1 hotel in Somerville or Copley Square area near subway. Public transportation for BU and NE on Thurs, drive to Tufts and BC on Friday, lastly drive to MIT on my way out of town.
Might try to add in Babson somewhere.
Any advise on plan adjustments? Any suggestions where to stay?
Thanks for any and all suggestions.
Wow, your minds will be spinning after that trip. Keep notes on each school. Last year someone posted after their trip that they really like BU because it had a mostly defined campus and was across the street from the Museum of Fine Arts. They were thinking of Northeastern.
@nina0514 We made a similar trip a couple of years ago except we were flying in so relied upon the T. I would consider BC and BU on the same day, then on the second day head to Tufts and return to Northeastern for the afternoon tour. When we went we stayed at the Marriott Copley Place. For visits to follow we’ve stayed at the Boston Park Plaza, Hyatt Cambridge. We’ve stayed where we were able to get a good rate. Since you will have a car, you will want to consider the parking fee. Check to see if any of the schools have worked out any deals with the local hotels. There are also hotels that may have better rates in Brookline.
Great advice posted above about taking notes on each tour. Take some pictures too. First pic at each school should be something with the school name to help you identify the pictures easier.
A few years ago, we toured BU and Northeastern on the same day. I don’t remember the details but we were able to take a school shuttle from BU to Northeastern.
This past summer we toured BC in the morning and then Ubered to BU for the afternoon tour. That worked out well too.
It’s hard to do two schools a day but sometimes you have no choice. In addition to the above suggestion of taking notes, also take lots of pics to help you remember.
I think 2 a day is doable. We did it a lot but I did have the kids fill out a sheet on each school immediately after to record their thoughts on various criteria.
Since there will be at least 2 of you, you might consider Uber/Lyft instead of the T.
Re: Pairings of BU/BC and Tufts/Northeastern, that would be very tough without driving, and then you’re driving in the city. I think the original plan is better, as Northeastern and BU can even be walked to in 30 minutes which would give a good feel for the neighborhood around both, if people are okay walking. You can also take the T as well, but I would actually suggest the walking if time and energy permit.
We flew in to Boston and relied on the T for our tours so it is doable. Just a matter of preference.