<p>As kid says to me, "Well, you had me, before any type of trial visitation, and you had to wait 9 months to see the product with a no return policy! The only thing you had going was a planned reservation and even that was wishy."</p>
<p>You may want to check out GAAP's website for accepted students:</p>
<p>Even with generous financial aid packages remember most of the money that is not directly coming out your pocket (scholarship/grant aid and loans) will probably be earmarked by the school as payment toward your tuition room and board. </p>
<p>Travel expenses, books, misc. items and and any shortage in your base cost of attending college will be picked up by you and your parents. In addition there are "start up incidental costs" associated with going to college- Computers, luggage, clothes, stuff for your dorm, even getting that college t-shirt/sweatshirt (some schools charge for internet, phone services and meals during orientation that are not included in the meal plan)these things are also paid for by you the student and may not be budgeted in your FA package.</p>
<p>This is the reason that it is important if you have a job to start saving now toward your student contribution as you willneed to have money when you set foot on campus because even if you are given work study, it will be a few weeks until you get paid. </p>
<p>I am another who says wait until the offers come out. For example, if you are accepted by Princeton and they fly you in for their admitted student days, you could request that your ticket be open for a few more days and then make the trip to DC. This way your only out of pocket cost would be prom NJ to DC (worse case take NJ transit to PA and catch the amtrak from PA to DC).</p>
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[quote]
The logistics involved in getting my parents and myself over to see the campuses for the first time is the most challenging part, though
[/quote]
Is part of the problem with cost that you want your parents to come, too? Most of the posts here are on the assumption that you will travel alone - and my own kids have done all their college visits on their own. My 17 yo daughter was in Washington DC on her own for a week in September -- she had no problem at all getting around on the Metro, and even found time for a day of siteseeing & museum. Fortunately we had a family friend she could stay with whose home was very near to the American U. campus. </p>
<p>I do think that once you are accepted, a visit can be very valuable. My d. alway thought she wanted to attend school in DC, and visited 3 area campuses-- but her time there convinced her that she wanted to attend school elsewhere. Sometimes it just is the feel of being there -- and I think the fact that she was there alone it helped her to realize that it was not a good fit in a way that might not have sunk in if she had been accompanied by a parent. It wasn't anxiety at being on her own- she since has had much more encouraging solo visits to Boston and NY.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that you would feel the same way about DC -- just that I do think a visit is important and that you should plan to go on your own when it is convenient.</p>
<p>Despite other's advise, do NOT try to book tickets more than 60 days in advance -- the best deals are usually available closer into the time of the flight, though you don't want to wait until the last minute either. You might want to start scouting the various travel/airfare sites to get an idea of what the best fares are, you will know when to grab a good one.</p>
<p>I had assumed that my parents would come along. As had them. I doubt they would let me attend a college that they hadn't "inspected" and approved of.</p>
<p>Tonight we had a family meeting to discuss college matters. My parents agreed to support me as far as Georgetown, and I hope to use these websites to get a cheap travel deal there. We will hopefull all visit in February or March.</p>
<p>However, my mom is suspicious of Princeton, mostly because she is prejudiced against the sort of elitist people she associates the place with. I doubt she will want me to visit. If I get accepted with a great financial aid deal, it may give her pause, however. </p>
<p>My spring break is the first week of April. So, if I find out I was accepted and decide to see the campus, would it be possible to use one of these web sites to book a good deal, and depart just a matter of days after I receive an acceptance letter? I am not very experienced with Expedia, Priceline, or any of these other sites, so I just want to make sure I understand the concepts right. Thanks.</p>
<p>Have you run the financial aid calculators to see what you might expect? Princeton has one on their website. Always factor them to the high side as far as out of pocket.</p>
<p>If you are already accepted at G-towen, then go ahead and book. You should make arrangements to stay in the dorm, and let the family make a vacation. There are so many places to see in D.C. If you are not familiar with booking online, and neither parent is, then perhaps let a travel agent help you out. It will only cost $5 extra a ticket. Generally, I find that only 2 airlines fly the same route, so I check time of week. As mentioned, midweek is always cheaper.
If you are accepted at P, then you could go on admit weekend. Colleges arrange for vans to take students to and fro from airports.
You have some good options. Unlike others, we only visited colleges after accepted. I spent hours on internet, and we flew in and out of 3 cities. We had to make extra stops, but cost under $400. It was intense, but the final choice was clear.</p>
<p>Baird, you can't count on getting a good last minute deal, but very often you can get them. Basically, the way it works is that if planes still have empty seats, they get sold at deeper discounts. So you probably are reasonably safe to wait until you hear from Princeton and then make last minute travel arrangements if you need them, as long as you are very flexible in terms of travel arrangements. The best deals will tend to be during less popular flight times, often on flights that leave very early in the morning (I'm talking 6 am)</p>
<p>Hi, Baird: First, congrats on your EA acceptance to G'town...that's very impressive and you deserve kudos for your achievement. And it also means a trip to DC to check it out makes sense--and it's pretty easy (and not too terribly expensive) to get from DC to Princeton (& back)...</p>
<p>Here are some add'l travel ideas: While you sometimes can meet or even beat travel deals flying into Dulles or National, most of the really good deals are to BWI (Baltimore)...there's an Amtrak train from the BWI airport to Union Station in DC, where you can get a really inexpensive (I think it's $1) bus to G'town...BWI is a "pain" as a "gateway" to DC...you still have an hour of travel when you arrive...Nat'l is the most convenient (and usually the most expensive)...Nat'l is only about 15 minutes to G'town...unfortunately, the easiest and least expensive travel option around DC, the Metro, does not have a stop particularly close to G'town...probably the closest stops are Rosslyn (VA), about a mile and including an "across-the-bridge" (there are sidewalks) walk, or Foggy Bottom (more than a mile, but less than 2 miles) or Dupont Circle (also more than a mile, but less than 2 miles)...</p>
<p>I live in the Washington DC area...if you decide to come this way, PM me and I will be happy to help out w/specific suggestions on travel and on accommodations...</p>
<p>Finally, for some (probably the majority) of students, a campus visit is very valuable--but many (including my S, who's as happy as can be at Cornell) do not "need" a visit...that's a personal decision for you & your family to make...but having lived thru the college app/decision process w/out doing campus visits, it seems to me that you don't "need" to be there on admitted student weekend. You can get a feel for the campus and the city at any time--and my S claims the "feel" is much more realistic if the visit is NOT during admitted students weekend...</p>
<p>Anyway, another website I've used successfully is cheaptickets.com... do check that, and the other suggested websites, not only for flights into DCA (Nat'l) and IAD (Dulles), but also to BWI (Baltimore). Also, check JetBlue, AirTran, and Southwest--all are good discount airlines and at least JetBlue & Southwest are west coast oriented... Indpendence Air no longer flies to the west coast.</p>
<p>Good luck and again congrats on your achievement(s)...</p>
<p>Talk to Georgetown they might fly you in for free</p>
<p>It looks like my family and I will travel out to Georgetown in early March. The GAAP weekends for admitted students are cool and all, but they are probably too much of a sales pitch, so I will go on a more typical day to get a better feel of the place. We've been looking at various discount websites, and there are some useful options. Thanks for pointing them out. Anything like Princeton would have to wait until April, I guess. Also, I did email Georgetown asking them if there were any travel grant programs, but I won't hold my breath. Thanks for all your input.</p>
<p>Sounds good, baird. But if you are travelling all that way in March, why not go to Princeton for at least a day or so - even if you can't stay on campus? Seems crazy not to do that while you are all the way across the country.</p>
<p>One other point: Southwestern and some of the other discount airlines do not participate in the travel booking boards like Travelocity. You need to go directly to Southwestern's site. Flying back east from San Diego, I have found that Southwestern is usually significantly cheaper than other airlines, especially if you are willing to make several flight connections instead of flying direct. I would suggest flying into BWI, where Southwestern has several daily flights from the west coast. from there, it is a relatively short train ride to both D.C. and Princeton.</p>
<p>This site has some great deals/links...worth a look.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.planetickets.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.planetickets.com/</a></p>
<p>Baird17: Did admissions/student financial services respond to your requests for a travel grant?</p>
<p>I'm not sure why you don't want to go to an admitted students event. Yes, they are a sales pitch, but it's also an opportunity to go when the staff has made time to talk to parents about their concerns, to address financial aid issues and planning, and to hear lectures from some of the school's top professors. During March, the admissions staff is usually busy deciding which students to admit and is often unable to answer any of these questions.</p>
<p>dmd77; Maybe you are right. I had received advice elsewhere on this thread to go on a normal day rather than on an admitted students weekend to get a more accurate feel of the campus. Also, during the GAAP weekends students cannot spend the night at Georgetown, which is important for me to do. If I travel all the way across the continent, I plan on spending the night. But if what you say is true, maybe I should go on an admitted students weekend. I don't know. I only have one visit, so I must make the most of it.</p>
<p>tlaktan; Georgetown has not responded yet. Maybe the admissions staff is on break? But Princeton did. Their response was rather unhelpful. They said there was no financial help offered to prospective students, and told me to do the online video tour instead. But all I asked was whether they offered travel grants to admitted students, for an April trip or something. Sheesh.</p>
<p>jmmom; I agree that it would make sense to visit Princeton if I was already at Georgetown. However, my parents are unlikely to agree unless I present a cheap way of travel to Princeton from DC that will not break our budget. What would you reccommend? Would a train trip be the best way, or a rental car, or a plane flight, or something else? I can go with just one adult, if that makes it any cheaper.</p>
<p>You should call Georgetown admissions AFTER the holiday is over and TALK with them about the best time to see the campus. Yes, it's nice to spend the night, but the other information might be more useful. You could extend you stay or arrive early, too.</p>
<p>"However, my parents are unlikely to agree unless I present a cheap way of travel to Princeton from DC that will not break our budget. What would you reccommend? Would a train trip be the best way, or a rental car, or a plane flight, or something else? I can go with just one adult, if that makes it any cheaper.
The cheapest way probably is to rent a car through Priceline. Assuming that you pick up the car at Baltimore Washington International airport, I think it would be about a 2-hour drive to Princeton. No biggie.</p>
<p>The most expensive part of the trip that you're planning is flying the whole family to and from D.C. from your part of the country.</p>
<p>Also check with Amtrack about the cost of taking a train from D.C. or Baltimore to Princeton.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"However, my parents are unlikely to agree unless I present a cheap way of travel to Princeton from DC that will not break our budget. What would you reccommend? Would a train trip be the best way, or a rental car, or a plane flight, or something else? I can go with just one adult, if that makes it any cheaper.
The cheapest way probably is to rent a car through Priceline. Assuming that you pick up the car at Baltimore Washington International airport, I think it would be about a 2-hour drive to Princeton. No biggie.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I second NSM's recommendation; fly into BWI, and get a car in the range of $150-$200. I wouldn't recommend Amtrak, unless you have some major discounts; a roundtrip for three via Amtrak would probably be around $300-400. Not cheap.</p>
<p>If you end up taking on a hotel room at Georgetown, I suggest getting the Leavey Center Marriott at one of its good days. If you can't find a reasonable price there, other alternatives are the Key Bridge Marriott (the GUTS bus can take you to Georgetown, on Sundays the Georgetown Metro Connection -- only $1) and the Best Western Key Bridge (from what I hear, the prices aren't too bad and the quality is good). The M Street hotels are relatively expensive, so unless you know of a deal-clencher, I wouldn't look that way. (Dupont Circle is also another alternative; there's a GUTS station at 20th and Mass Ave., NW.) </p>
<p>Last I checked, visitors can take the GUTS bus, as long as they show valid ID. </p>
<p>If you want to see classes in action (I'm sure the admissions office keeps a list of classes that you can visit...), I suggest you avoid the following dates: March 4-12, and April 13-17. Those are our two spring breaks, and although people might stick around for ... festivities ... there won't be much in terms of visiting classes. This is, of course, if you want to forgo the traditional admitted students weekend.</p>
<p>Re: The travel grants. I don't think admissions is open either. Did you email <a href="mailto:guadmiss@georgetown.edu">guadmiss@georgetown.edu</a> or something along those lines? I don't they think they respond to that email address. Or did you email someone in particular? I suggest you call, as my own track record of emailing admissions has been rather... ahem.</p>
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[quote]
They said there was no financial help offered to prospective students, and told me to do the online video tour instead. But all I asked was whether they offered travel grants to admitted students, for an April trip or something. Sheesh.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A few places do, but I don't think Georgetown is on the list... yet. I don't work for admissions (I work in some other part of the university), but I am doing a tiny bit of semi-official research on fly-in programs for admitted students, and have found that a few (e.g. Vanderbilt, Williams, Bowdoin, Berkeley) provide for transportation costs.</p>