<p>Yes, I mean "hard-to-reach," not "reach." The school is Whitman, which is in Walla, Walla, Washington. I just spent about an hour looking at flights for my daughter, who wants to visit Whitman and also SoCal, where her sister goes to school, during spring break. I'm feeling discouraged by how inconvenient it is to get to Walla Walla. There are only two flights a day two and from Seattle and Seattle appears to be the connecting city for all flying to and from Walla Walla. Is this enough to discourage my daughter from attending? My other daughter lives half an hour from an airport, and even in her case, traveling home is time consuming and often expensive. Thanks.</p>
<p>With my d it was Cornell that we scrapped from the visit list because of travel logistics. She decided that if she didn’t get into her EA choice she would apply and then visit if accepted.</p>
<p>I recommend doing one area at a time - SoCal during this break, and the Pacific Northwest another time (summer maybe?). If she’s interested in Whitman there are probably a few other Pacific Northwest LAC’s that she’d like to look at. Perhaps you could make a family trip this summer.</p>
<p>My d lives 30 minutes by subway from the airport and only comes home a couple of times a year. Once you get to the point of flying it’s too expensive and time-consuming. For that matter, my son lives an hour’s drive away (and has a car on campus) and only comes home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. His life is on campus now.</p>
<p>Transportation * was * a criteria we considered when looking at colleges.
Not just logistics of getting there, but getting around the town itself.
( Neither of my kids have cars)</p>
<p>My oldest briefly considered Whitman- ( we are in Wa), since she would have gotten a governors scholarship to attend- however she had studied the Whitmans apparently ad nauseam in middle school & she never wanted to hear their name again.
Whitman is also closer to several airports than Sea-Tac. According to this thread from Jan/11, it is easier to fly into Pasco or drive from Portland, than make the trip from Seattle.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/whitman-college/1066867-driving-walla-walla-april.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/whitman-college/1066867-driving-walla-walla-april.html</a></p>
<p>Walla Walla is a nice little town, but IMO there are several Lacs that would also be similar and easier to get to.</p>
<p>( However- they also have some of the happiest students according to those rankings & it is a very good school which may offer some merit aid which makes the out of the way aspect more palatable)</p>
<p>Hi megdog, I’m the mother of a Whitman student, and yes, transportation involves some work. That being said, it’s a terrific school and there are ways to work it. There are more flights options into Pasco which is an hour away from Walla Walla. A regular bus called the Grapeline ([Grape</a> Line - Travel Washington - Bus Service from Walla Walla to Pasco, WA](<a href=“http://www.grapeline.us/]Grape”>http://www.grapeline.us/)) runs from the Pasco Airport and goes to the Walla Walla transit center, and is widely used by Whitman students. The transit center is a 5 minute walk to campus through charming downtown Walla Walla. It’s really quite easy.</p>
<p>If your daughter is visiting the LA area anyway, You might consider having her go there first. I’m including a link to a previous discussion about great airfares from LA to Pasco; <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/whitman-college/993526-transportation-walla-walla-la.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/whitman-college/993526-transportation-walla-walla-la.html</a>.</p>
<p>I can understand how daunting it looks at first, but there are multiple solutions that people come up with when the kids are students. At holidays and breaks the school runs shuttle buses to Seattle and Portland to get students to the airports. There are many students living in Portland and Seattle who drive. Arranging rides with them to campus becomes another option.</p>
<p>The hardest trip to figure out is the first one. Then all the various methods reveal themselves. Is it worth it? We think it’s completely worth it, and seeing it makes the decision much clearer.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your daughter in the college search!</p>
<p>Thanks for the great thoughts and suggestions! I really appreciate your help.</p>
<p>Since you consider the school, “hard-to-reach,” we used a different approach. In our case, it was worth risking the application and reporting fees and planning a visit if my son got in. I would approach it differently if the schools was a possible reach, but for a hard to reach some choices had to be made. Visits involve a lot of time as well as money and if the shot at admission isnt that great, than maybe applying first is the least possible evil.</p>
<p>Actually, she has applied and has a very good chance at admission, based on the usual stuff (stats and where she has already been accepted). I’m thinking at this point that maybe we should wait until April and see where else she gets in. If there are schools higher on her list, then a visit won’t be needed.</p>
<p>^^That makes sense, and any merit aid that will be offered, there or elsewhere, will be known at that time, too, which might figure into the decision.</p>
<p>Son now attends the school that was too much money and distance to visit. He applied and interviewed when admissions staff were on the east coast. When he was accepted, he went to accepted students weekend to check it out.</p>