East coast school visit logistics...how to get around?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi, all;</p>

<p>We're from the Seattle area. My daughter's taking a class at Princeton this summer, then I'm flying out to meet her to visit several colleges. We'll start in the Philadelphia area and end up in Boston.</p>

<p>I'm trying to figure out the best way to get around. Car rental places want you to return the car to the airport you rented it at, so one alternative would be for me to fly to BOS, rent a car, drive to Philly to pick up my daughter (a whole extra day, it appears), and work our way back. But are there any more convenient options? The train, maybe (but how to get around locally, depend on cabs?) Also, for colleges in New York City, should we plan on staying out of town and take a cab into the city?</p>

<p>Any suggestions from people who've made the trip before, or people in the area, would be appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks very much in advance!</p>

2

<p>Just so you know, for an additional charge, you CAN return a rental car to a different airport. When we did a spring college visit trip with S1 in 2004, we flew to Atlanta, rented a car there, and returned it in Raleigh NC after visiting several colleges along the way. I don't recall the additional $$ being all that much.</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.2000coach.com/schedules.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.2000coach.com/schedules.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Trains both Amtrak and local work from Princeton to Philly.......Dinky. It is called the Dinky...then from Philly you have multiple options to Boston.</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_Branch%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_Branch&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>If you are going to cities, the train is great. UPenn offers an Amtrak discount and perhaps other schools do as well. A lot of people visiting NY stay in New Jersey and take the commuter train, but you may luck out on a good web price for a hotel in Manhattan. Once you get away from the big cities, you may be able to get places by bus or you could rent a car locally.</p>

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<p>It would help to know which colleges you are planning on visiting. The Philly and Boston areas both have numerous schools, some of which are easily accessed from mass transit in the city but others would need a car or cab. As far as the NYC schools, my opinion is that it's worth the cost of staying in the city - 10 or 15 miles outside of Manhattan is not going to be that much cheaper, some of the hotels can be dumps, and New Yorkers measure distance in time, not in miles. We've been to LOTS of schools between Philly and New England, so if you have a list I'll be happy to offer advice. My guess is that a combination of public transportation and local daily or multi day car rentals when needed might be the best strategy.</p>

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<p>Also, Amtrak is offering a great deal on college visit trips - I think it amounts to half-off.</p>

7

<p>Train is the way to go! Cabs around town really aren't bad, and Amtrak has a discount: free ticket for parent accompanying a high school student visiting colleges. Input discount code H647 and see if it gives you the discount - it's limited to certain times of day, I believe, but it worked for us.</p>

8

<p>If money is an issue then I would consider taking a bus:</p>

<p>for ex: NY to Bos is $15.
NY to Dc $20
NY to Philly $12</p>

<p><a href="http://www.chinatown-bus.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.chinatown-bus.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>If you decide to stay outside of NYC, don't take a cab to downtown. That's much too expensive. There's plenty of commuter options. For example, the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City is a few steps from a PATH station into Manhattan. </p>

<p>I think it would help us help you if we had a better idea of the schools you wanted to visit.</p>

10

<p>Wow, thanks for the quick responses! Colleges are:</p>

<p>Swarthmore
Princeton (might bypass this one since she'll have lived there several weeks already)
Columbia
Yale
Brown
Olin College of Engineering in Needham, MA
MIT
Harvard</p>

11

<p>Awww not a look at Penn? Sorry but here is Swat info</p>

<p>
[quote]
**By Train
The College is readily accessible from Philadelphia by train. Amtrak trains from New York and Washington arrive hourly at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. From 30th Street Station, the SEPTA Media Local (R3) takes 21 minutes to reach the campus.

[/quote]
**</p>

<p>NYC to Yale
[quote]
** Metro-North commuter trains run from Grand Central to New Haven around the clock. The train ride from NYC to New Haven is around two hours in duration and costs $14-19 each way. The train schedule and fares are listed at <a href="http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm&lt;/a> (choose 'New Haven' as your destination). You can purchase one-way or round-trip tickets at the Grand Central ticket counter or at automated kiosks located throughout the station. It is possible to purchase a ticket on-board the train, but on-board tickets are substantially more expensive.
3) Once you arrive in New Haven, you should take a taxi to your hotel

[/quote]
**</p>

<p>In addition to the Metro-North, Connecticut Limo offers regular bus service directly from LaGuardia to New Haven. This option is slightly more expensive than taking the train, but it alleviates many of the hassles described above. Please visit <a href="http://www.ctlimo.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ctlimo.com&lt;/a> for more details.</p>

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<p>The Fung Wah bus has a history of spontaneous combustion and falling off the road.
If you are comfortable driving in cities, doing a one-way rental would be alot simpler than coordinating RR schedules, as you are plannning to visit 6 different states (7 if you count the Peoples Republic of Cambridge).</p>

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<p>OTOH, all these colleges are readily accessible by Amtrak. (Well Olin isn't but I'm pretty sure it's easy to get to from the T.) And the trains run frequently. I think it all depends on how much you enjoy driving. I can't say I-95 makes for very pleasant driving. Don't take the Chinatown-bus unless you are seriously strapped for $$.</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.gotobus.com/p2pcirculator/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gotobus.com/p2pcirculator/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This service is all good and reliable. Good value and very nice.</p>

15

<p>Here my $.02 - I think it would be a scheduling nightmare to coordinate trains and school tour times. So I would suggest:<br>
Fly to Newark, p/u car and drive to Princeton
Drive to Swarthmore
Drive to Yale, Brown and Olin
Drive to a hotel outside of Boston convenient to a T stop and visit H and MIT
Drive back to Newark and leave car - take public trans to NYC
Visit Columbia and take public trans back to Newark<br>
Whoo whoo! My first post!</p>

16

<p>Nightmare? Trains/P2P leave frequently. A few stops in cities close together......I've planned 30+days in multiple countries this isn't a major itinerary but oh well. Eight schools is very doable. Most folks in the area would and do use trains for ease of travel.</p>

17

<p>I agree with Soup4u - Working around trains and cabs and schedules and such sounds like a nightmare to me.</p>

18

<p>Okay, I grew up in Phila, lived in the Boston area for 20 years, then moved to Seattle.</p>

<p>1) you can rent in Phila and return the car in Boston. If you're not limiting yourself to cities (and maybe even if you are), this is the best option.
2) BUT be aware the drivers on the east coast are not nice. Unlike Seattle drivers, they don't think other drivers should be on the road too. Take the worst, rudest game-night traffic and imagine yourself driving in that all week. If you're okay with that, driving will be fine.
3) The trains out to Swarthmore and Haverford no longer run frequently. They are a pain in the rear, honestly. (And I grew up in the area, love trains, ride them whenever possible.) (And if you're considering Swat, you really should look at Haverford and Bryn Mawr too while you're in the area.)
4) The train from Phila to Boston is okay, but time consuming. </p>

<p>SO here's my take on it:</p>

<p>Fly into Phila; have your D take the train from Princeton and meet you there. (You don't need to see it if she's been there for weeks. Really. It won't change her opinion, and your opinion doesn't matter.)
Spend a day visiting Swat, Haverford, Bryn Mawr. Consider making it two days and seeing Penn too (you've got most of the rest of the Ivy League, why not?).
Drive to Columbia viciniity in the evening (or at least northern NJ, if you want to save money), visit the next day, and continue on to New Haven. (I would spend a half-day at Columbia, but then, my daughter and I did a lot of two-a-day visits.) See Yale. Consider going on to Brown (see two-a-day?). See Olin. </p>

<p>Then give up the car when you get to Boston. It will cost you about $25/day to park, and you really don't need it. Stay in Cambridge, see Cambridge, and fly out of Boston. It may not even cost you extra to take the car one-way. Call and check with the big car rental agencies. I've done it for free with Hertz.</p>

<p>Etc. You CAN see MIT and Harvard on the same day--they are very close geographically--but IMHO Cambridge itself merits a few days. See the Glass Flowers at Harvard; see the MIT Museum, etc. </p>

<p>No one has pointed out that summers are a terrible time to see colleges. You can see the facilities, but the students who make it what it truly is will be gone.</p>

19

<p>Well for some folks driving in traffic on unfamiliar roads and paying for valet park at a hotel avg.$27 not including tip is enough to get a plan. Add the leisure time to nap and chat on public transport and being tired from touring....all sound win:win to me.</p>

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<p>I just looked at the SEPTA schedule (Philadelphia commuter train line). DMD77 says the trains to Swarthmore from Phildadelphia do not run frequently and are a pain. I disagree - people use these to commute every day. My daughter uses this line to go to Philly from Swarthmore frequently and also to come home, as we live on the other side of Philadelphia from Swarthmore and SEPTA has a station near our home.</p>

<p>The R3 line which runs between Swarthmore and Philadelphia runs every hour between around 7 AM and 11 PM on Saturdays and 9 AM and 11 PM on Sundays. On weekdays, the trains are more frequent during peak hours and run from about 6 AM until 11 AM or midnight. The train station adjoins the Swarthmore campus and the trip is about half an hour.</p>

<p>For Bryn Mawr and Haverford (the R5 line), the trip is even shorter (less than 25 minutes) and the schedule similar, but slightly more frequent. </p>

<p>Here is the link to the SEPTA website - you can check the schedules yourself
<a href="http://www.septa.org/service/rr_schedules.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.septa.org/service/rr_schedules.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>