<p>Concerneddad, The problem for my daughter is that she mostly rides Western, but after we visited Goucher, she decided that just having access to horses would improve her life at college...even if she did have to switch to English. :) One of the reasons we will be visiting Earlham in the Spring is that they also have an on campus riding /co-op program that allows students to board their own horses on campus (don't know how we'd pack her horse to Indiana but that's another issue). She's been in touch via email with some of the people in Earlham's barn coop and has been very excited about what she's heard so far - sounds like her kind of place with lots of "horse community spirit." (And the co-op is interested in starting up a Western program as well) Both Earlham and Goucher seem to attract a similar student body - kind of laid back, liberal but accepting type of students.</p>
<p>I think Marite's suggestion about waiting until summer to do your visits may be a good one. We found that our daughter wasn't really ready to look at schools seriously until the summer before junior year and even then she felt very out of place as the only "incoming junior" on college tours and in admissions presentations (at a lot of these they ask kids to introduce themselves). Even so, she now wants to go back to Goucher for another visit!</p>
<p>Concerneddad - Now I have a few questions for YOU about our college visit trip to Oregon in January. My daughter, I and her best friend are going together --- since they have somewhat different requirements in schools, we'll be trying to fit in 4 schools over a 2 day trip. </p>
<p>Right now, I'm thinking about staying in Lake Oswego and returning there each night - thought it would be easier to get on the road from there and to the airport on the morning of our departure than trying to drive up from Salem. How realistic would it be to:</p>
<p>Do Lewis & Clark in the morning (9 am tour plus admissions presentation should leave by 12)
Pacific University in Forest Grove (2 pm tour)</p>
<p>then on the following day:
Willamette in Salem morning tour (10 am, should leave by 1 at the latest)
Linfield College in McKinleyville (?) in afternoon (2 pm tour)</p>
<p>It looks like it's reasonable from the map -- about an hour or so from L&C to Pacific? A half hour from Willamette to Linfield? Or is it? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Agree with spending a day at a given place rather than pushing it.....often the info session/tour lasts till about noon or so...have lunch at the school and then spend the afternoon strolling about the grounds and asking questions...forces you to do your homework and narrow the choices but if you can shorten the list you'll get more out of each visit.</p>
<p>From Willamette U. to McMinnville, takes 45 minutes using hiway 221/about the same taking 99W. Becareful of speed traps at Dayton or Amity. As soon as you cross bridges entering each town strickly adhere to the speed limit...STRICKLY!</p>
<p>You will be travelling in Wine Country. (Forest Grove to Salem). I'd stay extra day by checking out of motel-hit Mt Hood and catch early evening flight out, PDX is 45 minutes to Mt. Hood. Rent ski equipment at Mt Hood or Meadows. Lifts are open at 10 closes 7 pm. Or after tours hit slopes. </p>
<p>While in Portland-checkout U Portland and Reed. Similiar sized schools with approx same ambiance. </p>
<p>Itstoomuch - No skiiers in this San Diego family (LOL). But thanks so much for the info. on time. The Linfield website says 30 minutes from Salem but it looked farther on the map so it's great to have a first hand report. We might check out U of Portland for my daughter's friend but it's not a fit for my daughter at all - no art programs. And Reed probably isn't a fit for either girl for a variety of reasons.</p>
<p>Carolyn. I would stay Downtown Portland so that you will know what the largest city in OR is like. Lake Oswego is OK but its a burb of Pdx...not much to do. At least you can walk the bridges, see movie, take a river cruise, ride the Maxtrain for 30 miles for $3. See the zoo. Trolly or bus up/down portland for free. Cost will be comparable.</p>
<p>Don't know how much time we will have -- we fly in Thursday night late, leave sunday morning early. On Friday and Saturday we will be visiting all of the above colleges. I sure would like to get to Powell's Bookstore but doubt my two travelling companions would find that an amusing way to spend an evening. And my daughter's friend is one of those rare teens who drops off to sleep at 8 pm no matter where she is - plane, train or automobile, she's a goner. Guess I will have to plan another trip to Portland with my dear hubby to take in the sights! :)</p>
<p>Well Carolyn, by the time I got here, all your questions have been answered! I would strongly second the caution of the speed-trap nature of Amity in particular. Also, bear in mind that the McMinnville back to Portland route can be very slow going. It is not a freeway, and be quite congested. </p>
<p>The time you have alloted for travel is fine between L&C and Pacific, but I would give yourself an hour and a half between Salem & McMinnville. I will be especially interested in your impression of Willamette for reasons that I would rather not discuss in an open forum.</p>
<p>Also, I would like to wait until Summer, by my daughters' Summer plans are already set in stone, and my wife works at least part of the Summer. I know that lots can change in the 2 next two years, and if necessary another trip will have to be made. However, both girls were very much involved in their brothers search, heard all the discussions, and even visted a few campuses. They also heard so many of his friends say that they did not give themselves enough time to visist all the schools they applied to.</p>
<p>Plus, I think they REALLY want to shop in NYC!!</p>
<p>Carolyn: Powell's is DT, on the trolly line. They close at 10 or 11, Leave kids in room. Ptld is safe. Buses/trolly/Max free and freq. in DT. A lot of restuarants in area. Half hour OK on Sat to McMinn from Slm. IF time permits after Linfield head west to coast (50 miles) You will see why we hate Californians who drive up cost of coastal view property. You got $$, see me.</p>
<p>They have the speed traps in Amity to make sure you stop and buy some of their wine. (My D's roommate's g'parents grow wine grapes in Amity; I've started to buy any wine where they sell to the vineyard (because they grow sustainably, on a farm that's been in the family since early 1900s)---and I've never enjoyed wine more!</p>
<p>I don't agree that U of P, Reed, and L&C are anywhere near the same; U of P is Jesuit; Reed is the last bastion of intellectual hippiedom--with rigourous academics (including the infamous Humanities 110, which is every bit as good/bad as they say); and L&C is a good school with a pretty campus, with frats and a football team.</p>
<p>We just returned from a 10 day visit to the East Coast and since you have lots of good advice about schools I will give you the MOST IMPORTANT tip to make your trip efficient and easy on everyone. Only rent a car with a GPS system. That is it! We had a Neverlost system in the Hertz car we rented and we quickly learned how to use it and trust it and we NEVER looked at maps again. We started in Boston and went thru all those schools plus Conn, NJ, RI, Penn, New York City, Wash. DC and down to Duke. Everytime we made a wrong turn the "purple path" refigured our route and we were never lost. It has most places programmed into it's computer so we just put in the name of the school or the hotel or "Ground Zero" as we did some tourist stuff too. Also this was a slow time of year so we took our laptop and since we had no itinerary ahead of time I went on Priceline every morning and bid on 4* hotels and had incredible success gettting great places from $45 to a high of $95 in New Haven. I can also reccommend the book "Visiting College Campuses" as it had the admissions office street addresses and we just plugged that into our Neverlost and went straight there. My husband says he is going to buy stock in the company tat makes Neverlost! Have fun.</p>
<p>Carolyn, for you Powell's is an ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT MISS. It would be something of a crime against Nature for you to be in Portland and not visit Powell's.</p>
<p>I agree that Portland is much more interesting than Lake Oswego but given your tight schedule and where the schools are, it might make sense to stay in LO. Lots of hotels/motels where 217 and I-5 cross in LO, which is where I'd suggest if you do stay in LO. There is a branch of Powell's just 5 minutes from there - a straight shot on 217 North. It is not like the "real thing" downtown but it is still pretty big, has new and used books, and some people actually like it more. Or you could still get to the downtown Powell's from LO in only about 20 minutes - an easy evening's drive. </p>
<p>I second the comment about traffic and slow roads. Some you'll take are two lane roads that can get congested with trucks, even on the weekend. So allow a little extra time.</p>
<p>I 2nd the neverlost. Several parents last year recommended it and we definitely needed it. We started in Boston and ended up near Lehigh and flew out of Newark. We went the last week of March and found that all the schools we wanted to see were in session except for Cornell. At Tufts it was the first day back and we did the AM session so the campus was really quiet. There also were several large groups and it made the receptionist quite cranky. It had been at the top of the list with ED in her thoughts. After the trip it went off the list completely. I think if we had gone in the afternoon on a different day her thoughts would be totally different. We found the schools were like a ghost town during the early morning.
We also found that it didn't hurt to be flexible. We had our college guide book with us and made several changes along the way from our original route.<br>
Husband and D also did a separate trip where they did DC and some VA schools.</p>
<p>Mom60 - great point about being flexible. We've found that my daughter's eyes tend to glaze over after too many college presentations. Breaking up "college tours" with shopping, sightseeing, etc. is the only way to keep her on track. We've also found that sometimes she has an immediate DISLIKE for a school when we drive up to the front door based simply on location, neighborhood, or some intangible that only makes sense to a 16-year old. We usually don't fight it - just drive around campus a bit and go on to the next school. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the tips about Oregon. I have wanted to go to Powells for years - I have actually interviewed the owner, Michael Powell, for various articles several times and have, of course, ordered more than my share from them online. (It's creepy how many bookstores across the country I suspect have a plaque with my name on it as "biggest spender" hanging out in the back office) I will see if I can't leave the girls to amuse themselves in the room one night and sneak downtown. Maybe I will cut out Pacific U and just go to Powells instead.</p>
<p>Another question re:Powells - is there anything nearby that might amuse two 16 year olds safely for a few hours? Maybe a movie theater? My daughter is used to her mother's bookstore fetish but her friend is, I fear, probably not going to be amused. And, there is nothing worse in my mind than having to leave a bookstore because you're with a whiney toddler...hmmm...I mean teen who doesn't want to even LOOK at the treasure!</p>