<p>I would stay in the vicinty of either Secaucus or Ft Lee New Jersey with free parking. Just find a major hotel chain. That includes East Rutherford, Ridgefield, Teaneck, Englewood, etc.</p>
<p>There are a lot of major corporate centers nearby; there are some nice hotels.</p>
<p>fogfog - Newark NJ - ugh. It’s the only place I’ve ever been where murder suspects are arraigned in traffic court! Well, 'nuff said about that. If you must stay in Newark, please stay in an airport hotel!</p>
<p>As for your travel, a case can be made for all train, all auto, or some mix. Do you have an effective mass transit system where you live … one like the DC Metro or the Bay Area BART? Or is there no train service in your home area? If either is true, there’s a risk that the train service you’ll encounter in the NJ/NY/CT corridor will be a lot different than you anticipate. Plan accordingly!</p>
<p>Whatever you decide, I’m sure the trip will be memorable. Good luck!</p>
<p>Parking at Columbia is easy and fairly reasonable. Riverside Church abutting Barnard’s campus and right across the street from Columbia, has parking underneath it, and we have often found parking right on Broadway.</p>
<p>Agree that Metro North is great; Amtrak more expensive. Worth traveling to Grand Central to save that money any day. I like to drive, but then, I like to see the countryside and drive around schools rather than walk them. May change when my hip is replaced this month.</p>
<p>I don’t know if a weekend is involved; the Friday at Columbia is the stumbling block.</p>
<p>I would rent a car, start at Penn, go to Princeton, drive north to Yale and end up at Columbia on Friday and fly out that night.</p>
<p>See Penn, stay in Philly. See Princeton the next day. Stay in Princeton. Travel to Yale (by the means you choose). Travel to NYC. Stay one night. See Columbia. Fly home.</p>
<p>A bit out of order because of redoubling travel time to and from New Haven, but I think that would make the nicest trip, leaving you on Friday at Columbia, which is the only day you can’t change.</p>
<p>If all will be via train/public transport…and money is not too tight…I would stay in NYC. Should be able to find something reasonable with hotels.com. Also try VRBO.com.</p>
<p>Alternative…may not work out because of days you say you can tour schools (Yale doesn’t offer tours every day???) would be to stay in NYC to visit Yale and Columbia. Then go to Princeton, head down to Philly, and stay in Philly. Could take public transport back up to Newark to fly out. (May also be able to arrange to fly into Newark/JFK/LGA and fly out of Philly for no more money than round trip to a NY airport. Depending on where you’re coming from, Philly is often less expensive than the NY airports.)</p>
<p>I live in Philadelphia and most of the last 8 years I worked in NYC. I now work in central NJ. I commuted to work in Midtown from Philadelphia for almost 2 years (some of which time I had an apt in Midtown). I have traveled extensively in the NE corridor on Amtrak, and I am familiar with local rail. I think rail travel is easy and relatively hassle-free. An advantage for me is being able to work online with my laptop and PC card (and uninterrupted service). </p>
<p>Having said that I recommend:</p>
<p>Fly in and out of NYC or Newark. Do exactly what EC1234 recommended:</p>
<p>Stay in NYC Day 1 for your visit to Columbia. Using taxi or subway service is fine. It actually would be a good idea for your kid to learn how to use the NYC subway system since he’ll be using it alot if he attends Columbia.</p>
<p>Stay Day 2 in Princeton using train to get there from NYC. You will not need a car. You can stay near campus.</p>
<p>Stay Day 3 in Philadelphia near the UPENN campus. There are several good hotels in the area, my favorite being the Inn at Penn. UPENN is very close to PHL’s 30th St Station.</p>
<p>Take the Acela from 30th St Station to New Haven for Day 4. It’s about $100 per person for a one-way trip but it is comfortable and fast (about 3 hrs). If money is an issue, use Amtrak regional rail for your trip to and from New Haven.</p>
<p>Return by Amtrak to Newark Airport (where there is a shuttle bus that will take ou to the airport) or to NYC where you can catch a taxi from Penn Station to the airport or choose to stay an extra day to sightsee in the city before returning home.</p>
<p>Four colleges in four days in 4 different states is an ambitious undertaking. You will definitely be worn out. But it is doable. Let us know what you decide.</p>
<p>One positive of taking the train is that your S will get to see how he will be able to get around the east coast and to and from the airport from the different colleges. This itinerary is definitely doable by train, since there are a lot of trains per hour so you shouldn’t have to care too too much about the scheduling (if you miss your train, it won’t be long until the next one).</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all this help—
We live in FL were we use an SUV to get everywhere–however for the first 7 yrs after fcollege I lived in DC and used the metro…
Last spring our student and I did schools in the Boston area–using the T for most (only renting a car for Holy Cross and saw BC in the afternoon) We also used the very convenient bus to Dartmouth from Boston–</p>
<p>I’d like our student to get a good lay of the land … I don’t mind doing the drive thing --I would like to keep the expenses down as much as possible-- Our spring trip last yr was a Sat to Sat and included BU on Mon, Holy Cross and BC on Tue, Dartmouth on Wed, MIT on Thur, Harvard and Tufts on Fri-- I had him write down thoughts on a little form each nioght–and we made notes on admissions handouts–By Fri even we were “done” but learned alot…what I thought he’d like–he didn’t–(Holy Cross, BC, Tufts) What I thought he woudn’t like–he did (BU, Dartmouth, Harvard and MIT). Go figure. </p>
<p>So while he believes he likes urban schools–each is different and he may not like UPenn or Columbia. He has been to Princeton for sports camp and loved the feel of the campus…we’ll see if its a match. I think he will like Yale as well. </p>
<p>I am wondering if I should just have us do Columbia when its convenient for us and not worry about the engineerng tour unless thats only Fridays…if its one that stays on the list we could go back–the problem with that is the cost of these trips, time etc…and he has to narrow the list a bit now…</p>
<p>Summer may be crammed again with a nationals sport camp and we have a family trip in late summer–then he’s back in the saddle as school is back in session late Aug…he does not have free weekends and I hate to pull him from missing any classes…too much happens everyday in these APs etc… </p>
<p>We haven’t even looked at anything in the mid-atlantic states yet…instead concentrating on the northeast which he seems to prefer…</p>
<p>thanks for your thoughts about these cities–
connecting them by car-- staying in each city one night is more conveneint IF I don’t get lost on the roads and we don’t hit major arteries during rush hour… ;o)</p>
<p>The subway might be too much immersion for a first trip. Columbia has a really very awesome orientation that immerses kids in the city. They can’t get through it without a lot of subway action, and they go with their friends. It’s a week + extravanganza and at the end, they had been dang near all around the city. For example, one year there was a swing party on The Intrepid, at the docks. Another, a party at Ellis Island. There were many additional venues too.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t necessarily insist my kids do the SEAS tour at Columbia, but the students are different. I would sit in or near a class and listen to the conversation of the kids versus the CC kids because you can’t apply to both. If he <em>knows</em> he wants engineering and is applying to SEAS, I think it’s a must to distinguish the SEAS experience from the CC experience because they are going to be markedly different in some outstanding ways:</p>
<p>Male/Female ratio
Diversity
Conversation and interests of the students</p>
<p>I think SEAS is a wonderful school but without the core (may be a big plus for your son) it is definitely not Columbia college.</p>
<p>Hi Mythmom
Please tell me more about that</p>
<p>Our son does definitely want engineering…
Several schools require a core-- and some of the APs might help–other schools say ok its great you did APs but you still have to do core…and there is alot of controversy there</p>
<p>but we’d love to hear about the dif between cc and seas</p>
<p>If you drive, you WILL hit traffic, rush hour or not. Connecticut is a minefield, I would definitely take the train to New Haven unless you can drive really late at night. New Jersey can be really bad too. Will it be winter? Some states don’t treat the roads adequately even though they get plenty of snow and ice. </p>
<p>And if you do drive, try to beg or rent an EX pass transponder to make the tolls a bit faster to traverse.</p>
<p>If you drive, buy or rent a GPS, to avoid getting lost. Make sure you have maps also though, because sometimes it is difficult to get the satellite reception when in a city with tall buildings.</p>
<p>When I did a college road trip with my S last year, our routine was to drive in the evening and stay at a hotel close to the next school. Then in the morning there would be a very short drive to the school, so no big traffic problems. Then we could adjust the afternoon/evening drive time as needed to avoid traffic.</p>
<p>I am not sure if OP will read this, given the large number of posts, but I think I can offer much…</p>
<p>I am a student that lives on the NE corridor in NJ, went to school in Boston (thus took the Amtrak constantly) and commutes to Columbia every day now. I love the train and public transportation. You are doing your kid a favor by going this route, since he will likely be befriending public transit as a college kid.</p>
<p>Point One: Your 4 schools are close… but not super close. My recommendation is that you dedicate one day per school. </p>
<p>Point Two: DO NOT MAKE NEWARK YOUR HOMEBASE. It is something like the 3rd most dangerous city in the US. Newark is not safe for people unfamiliar with it. I live in the state and refuse to go to any part but the nice Iron Bound district (contains NJPAC, the museums and the hockey rink). </p>
<p>Point Three: Newark Airport is connected to the train by monorail, therefore take the train to a better location, I would recommend either staying in NY or in Princeton (very nice places, makes getting to one school easy). I recommend NYC personally, but I know hotels there can be expensive.</p>
<p>To get to UPENN, if money is not an issue take the amtrak to Phili (NJ transit stops at Trenton and you will need to transfer to a SEPTA train, it is longer). Look up how to to get to UPENN via public transit before you leave as well.
Getting to princeton has been mentioned before, you need to take the “dinky” it is not big deal and runs frequently. If you take NJ transit from NYC, you might even catch an express to Princeton Junction (yay!) which makes the trip about 30 minutes faster. Princeton is a BEAUTIFUL town and has many great places to hang out during the day.<br>
To get to Columbia. TAKE THE SUBWAY. Taxi will cost way too much. If you get a hotel on the west side you take the 2/3 to 92nd and transfer to the 1. Columbia is 116th street. The subway exit is about 5 feet from the main gate. It is easy-peasy and super safe. If you stay elsewhere, get to the 42nd street/times square station, it is the big hub in manhattan first. The 2/3 stops at this station.
To get to Yale you take the amtrak to New Haven (metro north will probably go there as well, metro north leaves from Grand Central). I forsee this trip as the most difficult because trains are unrealiable in Conn due to historical bridges and gaps that require deisel engines instead of the standard electric.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I say kudos for recognizing that these ivies are all located by trains and thus you do not need a car. Parking would be easy for all the universities except Columbia (where you should park down by time square and take the subway up), but what you are planning to do will make it a better experience (and greener!)</p>
<p>Baked Potato, the Metro north train service from GCT to New Haven has one of the highest on time performance records and greatest customer satisfaction of any system in the NY Metro area. Where do you get your information about historical bridges making train service to New Haven unreliable? And why would you disseminate such information?</p>
<p>Trains were somewhat delayed last week due to snow and ice. But road travel via private car was much more delayed and statistically, much more dangerous. And I’m not sure that historic bridges played a part.</p>
<p>And park in Times Square? Are you joking?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the help! We will be traveling in late March–but who knows what the weather may bring then…</p>
<p>we’ll plan for cold and layers…and pack an umbrella (unless the airlines take that too)</p>
<p>I am all for research, research, research when it comes to travel/planning…makes the on the ground experience a more postive one! ;o)</p>
<p>I would rent a car. Parking shouldn’t be a problem in all the campuses you mentioned. There are campus parking lots for visitors. Having a car would enable you to look around campus, sample the restaurants etc. and in addition, you won’t be lock into a schedule. If something strikes your fancy, you can linger, talk to students, etc. Having to make all the scheduled public transport departure times would be really stressful.</p>
<p>We’ve visited all the campuses you mentioned years ago by car, it’s very doable and we flew to Philadelphia first and rented a car there.</p>
<p>parking in times square is easy- the port authority is right off of the tunnel, so you don’t actually have to deal with city traffic. You can go right downstairs and hop on the 1 up to columbia. And the rails in Connecticut are having problems right now-- they are doing track work causing the trains to have to travel slowly through the state. The last time I was on a train though new haven, we were traveling maybe 25 mph due to “wet leaves on track” (it wasn’t raining at the time).</p>
<p>edit: not that I’m saying taking the train to new haven is bad, just that it might take a bit extra time. The itinerary is totally doable by train, and possibly easier by train since the state of connecticut also sucks in terms of traffic.</p>
<p>Thanks so much
I am going to sort through
-train fares–amtrak vs commuter
and comparable travel time
-hotels at each local vs staying in one place and day tripping by car
-taking a car from place to place
and also see if flying rt into newark vs jfk or laG for example makes a difference…</p>
<p>better get cracking…spring break is coming</p>