Hello, I am trying to put together a trip to look at the following colleges with my son. University of Pennsylvania, Lehigh, Franklin, and Marshall. If possible, maybe Skidmore too. (and if possible maybe Cornell and Syracuse.) My son has a tournament in Baltimore. So we want to fly into Philadelphia, visit the colleges, and somehow wind up in a place to take a train to Baltimore. Oh, we live in California. So we will fly back to CA from Baltimore. We also need to keep in mind to return the rent a car back to where we rent it from. Suggestions??? we can spend 7-10 touring colleges if needed.
If you haven’t bought plane tickets yet, Philly and Baltimore are less than 2 hrs apart. It might be easier to fly into and out of the same city, either Baltimore or Philly, and rent a car to use during the tournament and to visit colleges. That’s what I would do as it seems easier to me than renting a car in PA, returning it, getting to train station, renting another car, etc.
Are you set on those colleges or open to others? There are other PA colleges you could visit and colleges in the MD/DC/VA area that would be easier to get to than going up to Skidmore. But perhaps you are trying to squeeze it in while your on the east coast, which is doable.
Thanks for the advice about the car. He also wants to see University of Richmond.
In addition to Dartmouth, which I don’t think is near. I am really really really bad with geography.
Dartmouth isn’t super close to the others. How many days are you allotting to college visits? Is that the 7-10 referenced in your first post?
So doschicos, what order would you recommend seeing the colleges in? University of Penn to Franklin& Marshall, and then to Lehigh? How would Richmond fit into this? (if Richmond would be a possibility)
Yes 7-10 to see University of Penn, Lehigh, Franklin& Marshall, and ??? whatever else makes sense. (Not including the tournament)
If you fly in to Baltimore, and want to hit the Pa and Ny schools, I would go F&M, Lehigh, Cornell, Syracuse, Skidmore, Penn and back to Baltimore. Not sure about Richmond.
It should be doable. I did Massachusetts to Penn, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt and back in a week. Your distances are much shorter.
Theretheygo when you say Massachusettes, do you mean U Mass?
^That would work.
You could take a day trip from Baltimore to visit URichmond.
Other schools in PA that you might want to research to see if they are worth a visit since you’ll be so close by: Bucknell, Dickinson, Haverford, Swarthmore, Villanova. The last 3 are right outside Philly and very easy to squeeze in if you are visiting UPenn.
Losinginla, no. We live in Massachusetts. It was a haul but a good trip.
Skidmore, Cornell, Syracuse and Dartmouth are for another trip. Way too far from Baltimore and Philly unless you have a week (I didn’t understand the “7-10” in the OP; 7 to 10 schools? Hours? days?). Richmond is 2-3 hours from Baltimore too, but the other direction from Philly. A lot has to do with traffic. I would drive as the train is going to take you City Center to City Center, and then you’ll still have to get to the schools.
I agree to fly into Baltimore, rent a car, and just drive.
I’d add some other Philly/Eastern Penn schools, or add a Baltimore day or a DC day, depending on the type of school you are looking for. Baltimore - Hopkins, Loyola, Goucher, Towson are all in the same area. DC- UMd, American, Georgetown, GW.
Thanks Twoianddone. More like 10 days to look at colleges. Thanks.
OP has 7-10 days for college visits so it is all doable. It’s a lot but we did similar when traveling to other areas to visit schools. I understand the need to squeeze them in when you are traveling so far. Perhaps URichmond and any other MD/DC/VA schools can be seen on the opposite end of the tournament to break things up a little.
Let us know if any of the other schools might be of interest and we can help with itinerary. Also, if you and son are foodies like me, I can recommend a few dining options in areas I’ve been in. We always liked to combine our college visits with some good eats.
we could take off the new york schools and do that on another trip. could Amherst fit in? (Sorry I am really bad with geography!!!) and what about Dartmouth?
Amherst (MA) and Dartmouth (NH) would be farther than the NY schools, actually, yet the two of them are closer together than they are to the others.
Amherst is probably about a 5-6 hour drive from Philadelphia, if traffic is good and you’re not stopping much.
I would just like to say thank you to all of you who replied. It is really nice that you would take the time to make suggestions, and I really appreciate your input! It is wonderful that there are still people in the world who like to help others. >:D<
doschicos, so amherst and darmouth are close to each other. (just to clarify) :o3