<p>Thank you all so much for your responses. Jmmom I hear you. D would like to feel as comfortable in sweats as she would if she were dressed to go out. Chances are she will be in the sweats more often! She is a jock who also enjoys playing piano and the arts. She would like a quality academic school but is not wedded to any particular name school. Lots of other schools to consider and it is sounding like two trips! Thank you all.</p>
<p>I don't know that flying will save you that much time if you try to fit all those schools in.</p>
<p>If you drive the western route (Hartford to Harrisburg and down I-81), you can get to northern Va in the vicinity of Washington & Lee in a hard day, perhaps driving a bit further after dinner. From I-81, it's an easy shot down to Wake Forest and Davidson in Charlotte, both of which can be easily seen in a day, with time to press on to Atlanta, if you like.</p>
<p>Coming back, it's easy to see Duke and UNC-CH in Raleigh/Durham area in an afternoon. We did the first tour after lunch at Chapel Hill and then popped over to Duke for an hour or so -- they are very close to each other. Williamsburg and U Richmond could be easily toured in half a day -- they are less than an hour apart. Richmond to Southern Maine can be driven in one day.</p>
<p>We spent the night in Williamsburg, got up at the crack of dawn and spent a couple hours walking around the historic town before the morning info session at W&M. Then, we drove thru Richmond over to UVA in time for the mid-afternoon tour, before going to Monticello for the late afternoon tour. After Monicello, we drove a couple hours up I-81 to Winchester for a fairly easy day's drive back to Boston the next day. </p>
<p>You could easily do the whole swing in a six day loop, five easy days (even adding UVa) if you left the Atlanta part out for a weekend trip.</p>
<p>Something else to consider, if you are putting together a grand tour. Places like Gettysburg and Dickensen are directly on the western route down through Harrisburg. The Philadelphia area schools are directly on the eastern route.</p>
<p>I am not of the opinion that you have to spend hours and hours at every school, especially on an initial survey trip. Take the tour (or not), walk around the campus, grab a cup of coffee in the snack bar. Couple hours gives you a mental image of the school.</p>
<p>I agree with interesteddad here. If you can handle the driving, I'd do it that way. You'll see more and, yes, you don't have to spend a lot of time at each school. We did this (all the way up the East Coast) in just a few days and visited a lot of schools. That initial sampling of schools--some just walking the campus--was really worthwhile. And you could easily do Wake Forest, Duke, and Chapel Hill in the same day, I think.</p>
<p>Now, now Kriket -- they're not all named Peachtree Street. There's Peachtree Trace, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Court and, my favorite, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard</p>
<p>Second to interesteddad's Western Route (I-81 via Harrisburg). We must be the last on the planet to discover this after year and years and years of driving Maine-DC via 95/NJ Turnpike etc. We did it this Xmas and found Western route prettier, seemed unbelievably faster, and cheaper (altho I'd pay a small king's ransom to "morph" myself there instead of fly OR drive). The route bypasses several toll road slowups, Balto and DC (yes, I love those cities, but not when I'm trying to go beyond them).</p>
<p>Iderochi,</p>
<p>I saw your comment about UNC-Asheville... My younger son is considering applying there next year (he's a junior). What do you know about it? Good academics, campus, prof's, etc?</p>
<p>Hi People -- I don't have a lot of first hand knowledge about UNC-A, but a lot of second hand. I have a lot of in-laws in NC, including a brother-in-law who is a professor at a small university in SC and as a result knows a lot about the area schools. He's impressed with UNC-A. Academics are solid, particularly in the social sciences. Hard sciences are good, but not great. It has the benefit of smaller class size, but at an in-state rate -- so even for out of staters it's a bargain. Good teacher-student interactions. Asheville is a wonderful town. </p>
<p>I've heard it's a fairly liberal place, which wouldn't surprise me, given its location in the mountains and the fact that it shares the same city as Warren Wilson College. But seeing as how its a public university in NC, I can't imagine that it's overwhelmingly liberal. </p>
<p>All in all, it's hard to find a public college that functions as an LAC, but UNC-A seems to do that. I suppose that it also has the budget crunches that most public schools are struggling with. There's a lot to like, and it's definitely on S' list for now -- but he's only a Sophomore, so I'm not sure it will make the final cut when it's time to apply.</p>
<p>Thanks, Iderochi - We should make the trip to Asheville for a visit. Sounds like something my s would like. As far as "liberal", I've always been rather fuzzy about what that means in the academic world. I'll display my ignorance in this area by asking... does this mean the professors' & students political views?</p>
<p>People, I'll try to respond, but seems like every discussion on this topic becomes overheated :) IMHO, When I hear that a campus is "liberal" or "conservative" my initial reaction is that a large majority of students tend to be that way, not necessarily professors. As a result, the overall conversation at the college, on the students' level at least, tends to be one-sided. </p>
<p>I'm sure that many people will disagree, but I don't think the political views of the faculty have that much of an impact on the overall "feel" of the campus -- it's the students that really drive that aspect of campus life. As a result, I think it's possible to have a "conservative " campus even though the majority of professors would be somewhat liberal, and vice versa. Just my two cents, I don't want to take this too far off-topic.</p>
<p>people: Nobody asked, but I'll go ahead and put in my 2 cents worth. Asheville itself (the city) is very liberal, and I personally love it. It's liberal politically (a beautiful blue county in an overwhelmingly red state), but also it's like a city filled with old and young hippies--very arty and very laid back. I honestly don't know much about the UNC-A campus, except it's relatively small compared to other campuses in the NC state system; students seem to love it; and I would guess that it's pretty liberal, too, though I'm sure one can find conservatives there...if you really want to...</p>
<p>Thanks to both for your input - I won't take this any farther off-topic than I've dragged it! I do feel a bit more educated, though, so thanks again!</p>
<p>If you are driving from Richmond to Williamsburg, you might want to consider an alternate to the interstates. The normal route would be to take I-95 to Richmond and then take I-64 to Williamsburg (about 55-60 minutes). You can also get on state route 5 in Richmond and take it to Williamsburg. I guarantee you will fall in love with Virginia if you take that route. It is a lovely tree-lined road, and there are many plantations along the route. You might want to take note of some for a leisurely vacation later. And spring is absolutely the best time to visit--dogwood, azaleas, and no humidity.</p>
<p>We did seven southern schools last summer...U of Richmond, College of Charleston, U of South Carolina, Davidson, Elon, Wake Forest (where DD refused to get out of the car), UNC Greensboro in that order. It was a driving trip that was 10 days long. We actually spent four days in Columbia SC taking a day trip to Charleston. It was HOT HOT HOT and muggy (July). But it was a very worthwhile trip. DD still wants to go see Emory but we are going to wait for the SAT scores before scheduling that trip. I'll be interested to hear your reports. I'd be happy to give you our opinions if you email me...</p>
<p>For what it's worth, I highly recommend swinging by Washington & Lee if it's at all possible. If your daughter's interested in or at least not turned off by small schools, that is. Lots of both sweatpants and dress slacks, there, to ease her mind. ;)</p>
<p>Swinging by W&L is one thing. But, I would recommend that a Maine'r think long and hard on that one. </p>
<p>Washington and Lee is probably the most hard-core wealthy traditional "old South" college in the United States, literally the last bastion of the southern gentleman.</p>
<p>While Maine shares many good characteristics with the south, I believe that W&L would be culture shock to the extreme. For example, I would expect that most teenage girls from Maine have actually left the house on occasion without putting on their makeup, something that might be considered "really gross" at W&L.</p>
<p>It's a very good school, the kids are well-bred, and well-mannered. But, there's probably a limit on the amount of culture shock most of us "darned" Yankees can handle.</p>
<p>Interested dad ... hahah.... sounds like you know my daughter! I am very excited to explore, equipped with lots of info from these responses. DD will not have an expensive purse to match each outfit so getting a feel for the South and Southern schools will be important. She can straighten the hair with the best of them but would prefer not to do it daily! I have really enjoyed watching Chris Paul and WF bball team which of course is no reason to pick a school, but does ensure some fun during March! Thanks for all the info.</p>
<p>Funny, during Honor Scholars, I actually met a girl from Maine who was loving her time at W&L. Obviously this has nothing to do with disproving anything interesteddad said, because it's all true, but I think it does show that it's "doable." I met people from all across the country who were having a wonderful time, and I met people from across the country who looked like they should have had an "I'd rather be at Swarthmore/Harvard/etc." bumper sticker on their forehead. </p>
<p>I've never met the op's daughter, so I don't know whether she's someone who could "get used to it," but I thought I would throw out a little reinforcement for others who suggested she swing by.</p>
<p>I guess guys across America just don't act as weird as girls in different regions. ;)</p>
<p>Pattykk - I second state route 5! That is a gorgeous drive, well worth it to see the colonial plantations.</p>
<p>We only live 25 minutes from Maine, in a town where the the voters refuse to pave many of the roads on general principle, so I can probably relate a little bit.</p>
<p>Our daughter completed applications at Emory and Davidson, had some interest in William & Mary and Vanderbilt, and considered Wake Forest.</p>
<p>Emory and W&M are probably the most "yankee" of the bunch. Both have pretty sizeable Gucci-bag and matching outfit populations, but are large enough and draw sufficient geographic diversity to not be excessively alien. Vanderbilt is probably a bit more "Southern", but is large enough and national enough to OK. </p>
<p>Davidson is a very attractive school, but my wife had some reservations just because it is so small, so white, and so wealthy. However, it is very academically oriented and I think would be comfortable enough for an athletically-inclined yankee. I don't think they have "cotillions" or anything.</p>
<p>Whatever you do don't hit the Washington Beltway at rush hour and don't think traffic will lighten once you get to 95 South of Washington, And in case you are wondering rush hour starts about 5:30 AM and ends about 7:30 PM.</p>
<p>Those suggesting taking the western route down I-81 have a point but the truck traffic is just as bad as on I-95 the scenery is a whole lot better. I did once get hosed in an endless traffic jam in Chattanooga. I think it was a freak thing but the geography of the place hasn't changed ant since the civil war. There is no way around it and once you are through it Atlanta is yours for the taking.</p>