DD2 is a good test taker, in the IB program at our school, and has excellent grades as a sophomore. We are doing a college tour next month, and she has chosen some high profile schools. I’m not thrilled at the number of reaches, but here’s her plan, which I am willing to go with. She is also looking for schools that would have a good art program (she’s a classical painter), but is likely going to be a science major. And yes, she understands that many of these schools are crap shoots, and financially we are willing to fund them if she were to get in. Marist is on the list as her only safety/match at the moment
Fly to Albany from So Cal - rent a car
Visit Williams - stay in Williamstown
Visit Marist - stay in Poughkeepsie or Milton
Visit Vassar - stay in New Haven
Visit Yale - stay in Provincetown
Visit Brown - stay in Provincetown and work way up with sister from Boston toward Logan
Leave from Logan after a couple of days.
I LOVED my college tour with D1, and I want to make sure we have fun. Any suggestions for restaurants/fun detours/hotels etc? Our plan is to not make non-refundable hotel reservations in case she changes her list midway through like D1. For example, if Williams is too small, may abandon Marist and Vassar and spend more time visiting Tufts and Brandeis. This will be her first official tour except for visiting MIT, which she hated. She has toured BU when her sister attended.
I think you mean Providence, not Provincetown. Also, Vassar could be a good fit. So I would not be so quick to abandon it if she doesn’t like Williams. Williams feels more remote than Vassar.
The end of your trip is confusing. Providence is only about an hour away from Boston, and Logan is the name of the Boston airport. I just checked - Providence to Boston is 50 miles. I’m not sure why you would spend two nights in Providence. I would tour Brown, then drive to Boston and spend your time there. Unless you really do mean Provincetown which is way out on Cape Cod and not at all convenient to Brown, but could be a nice place to spend a couple days.
You are right - I meant Providence. We visited Provincetown last summer and really enjoyed it. Must have had it on the brain!! And Dolemite, Brown has been her dream school since she began high school because of RISD and the open curriculum. That said, she’s a Caucasian kid from a middle class school. The scattergram at our school shows that a student gets into Brown some years, but not every year and we have a stellar IB program. I think she’s realistic that her chances are limited.
Sorry - I meant Providence. D1 lives in Boston, and since there are no college tours at the schools she likes on the weekends that weekend, I am going to let D1 plan where we go . She doesn’t have a car, and the coastline is so beautiful - open to suggestions! I am guessing that she would prefer outside of Boston since she spends all her time there, but open to ideas! D2 isn’t currently into Northeastern, Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BC, BU, or Simmons so we aren’t likely to do many "drivebys’ in Boston itself unless she eliminates schools as she goes. I would have preferred she look at more matches along the path, but we haven’t found any that she is interested in so far.
Newport is always beautiful and different and you are very close when in Providence.
Also, when visiting Williams check out Amherst and some of the other quaint Berkshire towns and maybe see something at Tanglewood or Jacobs Pillow etc. Maybe a future trip but Skidmore is a good school for science and arts and Saratoga Springs very nice to visit.
I agree with the suggestion above that you visit RISD (my daughter graduated from there). It is literally just down the hill from Brown – the campuses border one another. The Brown-RISD dual enrollment program is a tough admit, since you have to meet the requirements of both schools including the portfolio requirements of RISD. But I think the combination is awesome. Our favorite restaurant in Providence is New Rivers Bistro (it’s pricey but terrific).http://www.newriversrestaurant.com/
IF you like quirky 1920’s houses (and I get that not everybody does…), Vassar’s [Alumnae House](http://alumnaehouse.vassar.edu/) is across the street from Vassar, and you can stay in it as an applicant. It’s not the cheapest place to stay, but it is fun and handy. And quirky: you get breakfast vouchers for either Babycakes or the Greek diner (both down at the gates of Vassar) and they have an odd way of booking, but I love staying there. If you like sushi, there is a super place (Tokyo Express) about a block or two away that you wouldn’t find unless you were looking for it (collegekid laughed when I asked her the name b/c she doesn’t see it as the kind of place most parents go- but she took me & their sushi is great and you asked for fun things).
Yes, Tufts does have an agreement with the MFA. I thought it would be a great spot for her to investigate, but so far it isn’t “lighting her fire”. Hard to judge fit on paper…
Hi! My D17 is also an artsy scientist and we’ve looked at some of the schools on your list I would second the suggestion to have another look at Tufts, as they have an arrangement with Schol of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (and I have also just recently learned that Johns Hopkins has an arrangement with MICA which we are also going to further investigate.) We haven’t been to Vassar yet, but it’s been suggested to us several times as well.
If your D is at all open to looking at any of the women’s colleges, my D enjoyed her tour of Smith very much - they’re strong in science and offer engineering as well. She is also probably going to look at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) as a safety option as they are strong in both science and art and offer pretty nice merit.
You should also look at Amherst then, and Smith is almost open as well and they’re 20 minutes apart. Both are basically on the way from Williamstown to Poughkeepsie.
If you are flying into Albany you can see Union College. It is very selective but not a crapshoot and quite lovely. It is less than 15 miles from the airport.
It takes a pretty broad interpretation of “on the way” to put Amherst and Smith on the way from Williamstown to Poughkeepsie. It takes an hour + to drive from Williamstown to Northampton or Amherst, and when you get there you somewhat farther from Poughkeepsie than you were when you left Williamstown. They are on the way from Boston to Williamstown, but the OP is flying into Albany. But . . . yeah, it’s only about 80 minutes of extra driving (on what would have been a 2-1/2 hour trip to start with.
In the spirit of such “on the way”-ness, it may also make sense to check out Wesleyan between New Haven and Providence. (It really is on the way, although not on the quickest, most traveled way.) Wesleyan is meaningfully larger than Williams or Amherst, and its strong programs in ethnic music draw lots of musicians and create an exciting music community. It also has good science facilities, and it’s slightly less of a lottery ticket than Williams.
I concur with the recommendation that you consider Amherst College. It’s “on your route” between Williamstown and Boston. And for a somewhat less competitive place with a different culture, you can swing by Hampshire College which is also in Amherst, MA.
Skidmore or Union could be visited if landing in Albany. They are 30-40 minutes apart. Saratoga is very nice, though crowded during the August racing season. Many nice restaurants. I would not go out of my way to hit Saratoga if you are not interested in Skidmore as it is not on the way to Williamstown.
Williamstown has a lovely art museum called the Clarke.
I third the suggestion to walk through New Paltz if you have time. It’s about 20 minutes from Poughkeepsie.
Amherst and Smith would be great to visit, but they are not on the way to Poughkeepsie from Williamstown. If you wanted to skip Marist/Vassar, and just head from Williamstown to Yale, you could hit Amherst and Smith, which would sort of be on the way.
Depending on when you are travelling, some of these drives which look like they are under 2 hours, could be longer. I think I-95 near New Haven can get busy so check your maps for traffic conditions.
I would second the suggestion to have another look at Tufts, as they have an arrangement with Schol of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (and I have also just recently learned that Johns Hopkins has an arrangement with MICA which we are also going to further investigate.) We haven’t been to Vassar yet, but it’s been suggested to us several times as well.