A clarification to the above comment by @SnowballCity: Carleton is on a trimester system consisting of three 10-week terms. There is no fourth component to their academic schedule.
The snow has not necessarily melted by March. I’ll never forget our tour of Macalester during Spring Break last year. It was snowing like crazy. I was also going to suggest adding Beloit and perhaps Knox.
If you are contemplating a point-to-point car rental, check prices first and plug in different airports. I did a road trip with my D last summer and renting a car between Columbus OH and MSP was a lot cheaper than Cleveland to MSP. The surcharge point-to-point can be next to nothing or several hundred dollars. It may be that short regional flights and driving small loops with car rental return at pickup location makes more sense economically as well as less wear and tear on you. I didn’t keep track of mileage but I suspect we logged 2K on the rental car by the time we were done.
I did learn that if you do the full info session plus campus tour and interview, you can cover 2 schools max per day and we found that tiring. One per day with driving and sightseeing was more pleasant.
Have fun! My trip with my D was a great time!
@Veryapparent - Both Lawrence and Carleton are on the tri-mester system, so they don’t start until closer to mid-Sept, but taking a a quick look at the schedules of the schools you mentioned, it looks like St. Olaf and Macalester are starting a bit later this coming school year, in early Sept.
Classes start: Macalester, Sept 5th; St. Olaf, Sept 7th; Carleton, Sept 12th, but Welcome week starts Sept 6th, and Lawrence, Freshman studies start Sept 8th. Grinnnell starts much earlier, Aug 24th, so they will definitely be in session in early September. St. Olaf and Carleton are only 2 miles apart, so those are the only ones I recommend visiting together, in one, day.
Of course, you’ll have to check each school’s visit calendar, to find out when tours and class visits will be available. So it looks like September is your best bet, if you daughter can miss a few days of school. You’ll get the most bang for your buck, in terms of getting a feel for the campuses, and the weather here should be great. They are all terrific schools, and I would recommend any of them to your D!
If you have not already done so, run the Net Price Calculators on each school. Grinnell was pretty close, but Lawrence offered more than the NPC. I presume your D is a strong student, so she should expect good aid from St. Olaf and Mac as well. My S16 did not apply to those schools, but I know from other friend’s experience, that they especially like drawing students who are out of the area.
Mac is the only one that is in a somewhat urban setting, but as you can see on Google maps, the area is largely residential, but with stores and restaurants close by. Northfield, where Carleton and St O are located, is a charming small town, with C 2 blocks from main street and St O about 1.5 miles away. Appleton is a nice large town/small city, with the Lawrence campus within walking distance of things to do. Grinnell is the most remote and more of a functioning small town, and less picturesque than Northfield. My D16 was not super excited, after our Jr year fall visit, but the more reviews he read about the school, and after his overnight/class room visit, he was sold. He is on a budget, so doesn’t mind not having a ton to do in the town of Grinnell. They have tons of activities throughout the year and keep the kids busy, on campus. Also, the G campus is huge for the school population, vs. Macalester, which is very compact. Lawrence, St. Olaf and Carleton are medium sized. Both St. O and Carlton’s campuses are beautiful hilltop top Midwestern campuses, and among my favorites.
Good luck with planning your trip and enjoy the visits! I have a S17 too, and he applied to Lawrence and St. Olaf. PM me if you have any other questions.