<p>Our son went to school a 20+ hours drive away and 2 flights (when they were flying). It was not at all convenient. We live in VT and we traveled to the Great Midwest every Thanksgiving and Christmas, partly because my Mom was out there. My amazing H did the driving on terrible roads. Our son picked the right school for him. We just had to deal with the weather and travel stuff. I’d say it was worth it, but I didn’t do the driving.</p>
<p>First and foremost, with few exceptions for specialized programs, there is usually no perfect school and most schools will work for most kids. </p>
<p>An overnight visit for a well-run accepted students program can be great. For my oldest, it helped him feel more comfortable even though the overnight itself was not that much fun (during the week, kids he was staying with was studying). </p>
<p>Travel should be a consideration. If cost is a factor, flights are often much more expensive at peak student travel times like Thanksgiving or spring break. Driving 5+ hours each way can end up taking a lot of vacation time for parents. My son chose a school that was far away, but also had train and plane service. A lot of kids take cheap bus service in the northeast. Coming cross-country for Thanksgiving can be tough with a 4-day break. Our rule has been within driving distance, unless there is something so special it can not be found in that radius. </p>
<p>The other issue with distance, if this is important to your kid, is that there will be fewer college friends in the area. I was very surprised at how few students from our state ended up at his college. OTOH, kids that went to private colleges within a few hours of our home ended up with friends in the surrounding area. It also can make a difference when looking at alumni connections post-college, especially for unpaid internships.</p>
<p>Looking at the overall school culture is important. Read the fine print in the college guides - is the school very preppy and your kids is not? May not fit. We visited Syracuse and the info session focused highly on basketball and the athletic facilities, which totally turned my son off. For others, this could be a big draw. A conservative kid at a small, liberal LAC may find it harder to meet like-minded kids. It is not always easy to figure out from an overnight visit, but lots of guidebooks give this information.</p>
<p>To help in her decision, my D is interested in re-visiting some of the schools that she was accepted to, and in one case visiting a school she hadn’t visited before. Spring break timing is unfortunately early this year, the week before April 1. It would be much more convenient if spring break was after April 1, so she would know whether or not she got into the remaining schools. It will be difficult to fit in visits post-April 1 and pre-May 1, especially with so many AP exams coming up in May. I hope her remaining schools will release decisions well ahead of the April 1 deadline.</p>
<p>tougis is right, a direct connection is the most important thing. I had a nephew who ended up at Rice instead of Cornell partly because it was easier to get to from DC. (There were other good reasons as well.) We found the Carnegie Mellon (close to a 400 mile drive for us) was the limit of how far we’d be willing to drive. We delivered and picked up belongings the rest of the time he flew. Younger son is half that drive and it really is much pleasanter all around. He’s also within an hour of lots of relatives. A three hour time difference really isn’t a problem for phone calls. You just have to remember to be considerate. We have more issues with the 8 hour time change for our kid who is doing a junior year abroad in the middle east. It doesn’t help that his weekend is Friday/Saturday and ours is Saturday/Sunday. Neither of our boys is interested in talking more than once a week anyway. We have a usual time set up and then they let us know, or just don’t answer, if it’s not convenient.</p>
<p>Yes, and kids do get sick. We got a Skype call late at night from our son asking what temperature was worrisome enough to go to the hospital. He did eventually go on and get various shots and pills for what appears to be a case of the flu. Not sure what language he did the negotiating in, but I was glad he’d been in the country in the fall and was now reasonably comfortable speaking Arabic.</p>
<p>For my daughter, we kept her scope to the east coast. This was great in theory, but we live in a part of the country with no Southwest and few direct flights. She is still 10 hours by car… We are in the midst of the process for my son, still keeping the East coast rule but am trying to choose cities with airports vs small towns with none!!! </p>
<p>My dauhter has a close friend who is a celiac, the school allowed her to move off campus her sophomore year so as to accomodate her condition.</p>
<p>DH’s senior year spring break was late March. In his situation (April booked solid with school, state competitions, etc), there was no choice except to revisit the CA near top-choice college before knowing for sure if he would be accepted.</p>
<p>GPA requirements for scholarships & programs. Of the schools that D2 has been accepted to, the renewal requirements for her scholarships/programs range from a 3.0 to a 3.8. Now the kiddo has only ever gotten one B, and she isn’t going to be a STEM major, but that 3.8 gave me pause. Another parent asked about that in a session & we were told that since there are so few students in that program, and since their intent is to work with them for law school, med school & nationally competitive awards, they coach them & assist if they look shaky & the 3.8 has never been an issue. </p>
<p>Travel: agree with all about the connecting/multiple flights. There’s always stories around winter break here of some student who missed a flight & ended up in an airport for 24 hours. D2’s top 2 schools are direct Southwest flights of less than 1 1/2 hours, which is way easier than the 3 1/2 hour drive for D1.</p>
<p>Weather: D2 insisted she wouldn’t cut a school just because of weather, but now that decision time is getting closer, and the #2 school has exceptional weather, being cold for 6 months is looking less than appealing.</p>
<p>Definitely visit the career placement office. While internet searches can be done by anyone, anywhere, every internship interview my D has gotten has come through on-campus recruiting/her college’s job board. Make sure there are companies who hire in your child’s field who come to campus.</p>