I am planning a trip over April break with my junior to check out some schools. Schools on our list include Macalester, Carleton, St Olaf, Grinnell and Lawrence. Not sure if all of this is feasible. We are flying in from West Coast and driving between schools. Looking for a driving/timing itinerary and possibly other school recommendations. I have a high stat musical (not majoring) students hoping to score well in merit aid department (I know Carleton has none). She is interested in smaller LACs that are academically challenging (science focus) with access to a decent music department (orchestra). Would appreciate any advice!
I’d start at Grinnell and finish in Appleton if you are driving. Appleton is a good 5 hours from Mpls.
That’s really a lot of driving. I’d probably drop either Grinnell or Lawrence from the tour.
I don’t know when your Spring Break is. The third week in March and the second week of April can be two different seasons in Minnesota, and either can be snowy. Check out when the state basketball tournament is as it is guaranteed to snow that week. Always does.
Good list, looks very doable. I’d fly in and out of Minneapolis. Start with Mac. Then maybe St Olaf & Carleton on day 2. It is about a 5 hour drive to Lawrence from there, and Lawrence to Grinnell is about 6 hours. And 5 hours back to the Minneapolis airport from Grinnell. A plan depends some on what you want to accomplish. My kids liked to go on the tour, sit in on a class, and eat on campus if they could. They didn’t get much out of info sessions.
Look at the cost of a one way car rental so you could fly into Minneapolis and out of Des Moines (or vice versa). Even if there’s a surcharge, the time and cost savings in driving and maybe an additional hotel stay might be worth it.
Looks doable if you have four or five days.
Grinnell to Carleton/St. Olaf is 4 hours
Carleton/St. Olaf to Macalester is 45 minutes
Macalester to Lawrence is 4 and 1/2 hours
Lawrence to Grinnell is 5 and 1/2 hours
I’d treat it as a circle loop. You could fly in to any city on the loop (Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Green Bay, Madison). If you need to see two colleges in one day, that would be feasible with Carleton, St. Olaf or Macalester. If you have more time and are looking for other LACs, a possible addition is Beloit. If you have more time and are looking to combine it with general tourism, check out the Twin Cities, Wisconsin Dells or the Amana Colonies in Iowa.
We did a similar loop in New England with my son over Fall Break. We drove in the evenings when possible to maximize time at the schools. Also stayed in hotels in cities in between the colleges to break up the drives a bit. I’d recommend checking college schedules and hitting them when students are on campus if possible.
Keep in mind that March/April is the ugliest time to visit the Upper Midwest. The snow has melted but spring has not arrived yet. You’ll be seeing things at their worst.
I’ll add only that according to your child’s interests, St. Olaf should be your top focus: great music programs, for majors and nonmajors, and good science programs.
Totally feasible. We drove up and back in the same day from MPLS to Ames and had 6 hours of activities at Iowa State. The drive is flat and easy, and I hate to drive. We also drove from MPLS to Michigan Tech which is a lot longer and I don’t really recommend. Definitely look at the one way car rentals. Some cities are more forgiving for that. I had $19 rental in MPLS so drove back and forth, but I’ve done one ways across the USA and some places is not too much more. Have fun. As mentioned March is yuk in Midwest. We went in June and it was about the loveliest weather ever. So not all mo the are misery.
If you have time, seeing an event on campus is a unique way to get a feel for the school.
St Olaf has many student theater, music and dance groups so you might luck out and have a performance coincide with your visit:
http://wp.stolaf.edu/theater/theater-season/
http://wp.stolaf.edu/music/ensembles/
http://wp.stolaf.edu/dance/eventsperformances/
I recall seeing quite a few student musical performances on Macalester’s spring event calendar too.
Lawrence also makes sense – they have a conservatory but non-con students can readily participate, and they give good merit aid. They are particularly strong in Physics if your kid is interested in that particular science.
I am not looking at a map, so not sure how Earlham would fit in?
Excellent track record in sciences, lots of music ensembles open to nonmajors, and they offer merit aid.
BTW, Carleton has at least a couple merit scholarships if you happen to fit the niche.
Wisconsin Dells isn’t near any of these schools. In the winter it is casinos and indoor water parks.
Milwaukee is a bigger airport than Green Bay or Madison. No need to return to Grinnell from Appleton. I would either fly into Milwaukee and end at Grinnell (fly out of Des Moines), or do the reverse. There are one way car rentals. You also might find a cheap fare from Minneapolis to Des Moines, so it might be easier to just fly that section (or fly to Appleton from MSP).
It’s easy if it isn’t snowing. It is often snowing for spring break in Iowa, Minn, Wisc. Driving across Wisconsin isn’t on an interstate. Can be easy, can be a nightmare. Lawrence is a beautiful school.
The drive from St. Paul (where Mac is, not Minneapolis wink) to Appleton, WI, isn’t terrible and though it’s not on interstate, it is on a good US highway. Still, weather in spring is totally unpredictable, and if you’re not used to winter driving, plan to take longer than Google maps might tell you. (Snow tires on your rental would be advisable.)
Personally, I’d definitely leave in Lawrence and maybe toss in Beloit, if you were okay adding in another 3 hours or so total driving.
Also, if you go to Grinell, you might consider Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA, about 90 minutes away. Nice little school on the block program (one course at a time). I don’t know how impressive the music offerings are, but I know there are many opportunities for non-majors in ensembles.
@alooknac, Earlham is very far away from the Twin Cities (9.5 hours or so) in Indiana (between Indy & Dayton). If OP wanted to go there, I might suggest a totally different itinerary to include Wooster and any number of other LACs in the Ohio area. This would be instead of the Twin Cities trip, though.
"The drive from St. Paul (where Mac is, not Minneapolis wink) to Appleton, WI, isn’t terrible and though it’s not on interstate, it is on a good US highway. "
Driven it many times (on Hwy 10, not 29; I even know where the bar signs change from Leinenkugle to Point) and it is very hilly, usually single lane past Eau Claire. It’s fine for Cheeseheads, but for a Californian (not sure where OP lives) used to interstates, not used to snow or cars pulling out onto the highway, it’s different. If she drove it at night or even twilight, it would be challenging.
I just did a search for plane tickets between MSP and Appleton and the fare was $300, but to Milwaukee on a random date (picked 3/23) it was $64. There is also Amtrak from Redwing to Milwaukee for about $50. Maybe an adventure?
Thanks all. I am a transplant on West Coast (WA) originally from New England area so as long as I am driving during the day I should be fine. I’ve come up with 2 ideas. One is to fly into Des Moines see Grinnell then drive to Minneapolis area. Then to Lawrence then fly home from Milwaukee. The reverse would work too except I’m having a little trouble finding flight s that would work. Also would consider a $64 flight between Minneapolis and Milwaukee so thanks for that tip!
Fair enough point, @twoinanddone. Boy, a quick flight to Milwaukee from MSP (especially if you’re out of the Humphrey Terminal and aren’t checking bags) would actually be a great idea, even with a car rental (assuming car rental prices aren’t completely through the roof).
I gotta say – I’ve absolutely LOVED college visit trips, even more than my student, actually - haha. Now that our trips are pretty much done (she’ll take one or two more overnight re-visits without me), I’m a bit sad. Only a couple more years until my current HS freshman and I can hit the road – I’m sure he’ll be THRILLED. 
It sounds like your D is looking for similar types of schools as my D was last year. My D wanted to double-major in performing arts and STEM. You might find the posts I did on LACs and STEM useful"
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1883153-data-comparing-liberal-arts-colleges-in-the-sciences-p1.html
Particularly you might find this table useful. This has info on how much merit aid is given.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19801988/#Comment_19801988
This one breaks down some info on strength of the different hard sciences depts
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19805249/#Comment_19805249
One school that wasn’t on my radar is Oberlin. Obviously I’d heard of it, but didn’t realize they gave a lot of merit aid and were particularly strong in STEM and the performing arts. Too far to visit on this trip, but if it is not on your list to consider, you might add it.
Thank you! Very helpful. We are going to Oberlin in February for junior visit day. It’s my DD #1. Our February trip is Case, Denison, Kenyon, College of Wooster and Oberlin. Thank goodness for airline miles. Also if anyone has a school to suggest for that trip I’d appreciate it. We do have a little extra time since most are clustered close together.
^We did all of those in August. Actually, we only drove through Gambier out of curiosity. If your D is at all interested in Earlham, you should definitely add it to this trip. Richmond is only about 1.5 hours west of Columbus. When we realized that, we added it on.
@mnparentof3 I agree–the college road trip was the highlight of my summer last year with S18. He was lukewarm initially but we had some crazy adventures. Starting in Colorado, I stopped at a dispensary to see if a certain tonic would help me sleep (thank you, menopause)–it didn’t, but it made me behave in a bizarre but memorable fashion. We stayed at a roadside motel in Colorado Springs that could have been a horror movie film set, and where I’m pretty sure there were people paying by the week and making their living doing things that might not be legal (yes, some things are still illegal there). Then we got stranded for 3 hours in Milwaukee waiting for AAA to arrive after having a blowout on the highway (I didn’t have a spare, don’t ask). When the tow truck guy finally arrives, he’s got the charisma of…(wait for it): Ted Nugent. Finally, on our last day, we scored an online deal and ended our trip in St. Louis at an historic Art Deco train station turned hotel…where my son got to watch the broadcast of an Arsenal game he’d been freaking out about, and I people-watched in the grand lobby while sipping a martini. If this doesn’t provide material for a creative writing class, I don’t know what will! Have fun, OP. Lawrence is great–don’t take it off the list.
It sounds like a great trip. Definitely compare/contrast car rental prices from various airports. We found car rentals at Des Moines to be dirt cheap compared to say Chicago or St. Louis and although a one-way car rental was more expensive, it was well worthwhile.
Also brace for very very boring landscape. If you’re expecting it, it won’t be bad – just about managing expectations.
Also pro tip for flying in to Des Moines: Although that’s where we’ve found the best prices and highest availability generally, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are the same distance from Grinnell as Des Moines, and can be options in a pinch. (They may be further from other destinations, but depending on your trajectory, that may not matter.)
Finally, if feasible, if you have a choice – all else being equal – between starting or ending with densely packed visits or starting or ending with schools on the safetyish end of the spectrum vs. reachiest, I’d err on the side of starting with densely packed (while you have energy) and safetyish (while you have an open mind) rather than vice versa.
Can’t wait to hear back.