<p>My parents dont have off on spring break so me and a good friend who is also a junior decided to plan a mini road trip. I have a problem convincing my parents to let me go. Now ive made this trip as responsible and safe as possible. We would leave around 8 am and visit 2-3 colleges a day for about 3 days. So we would probably be gone the whole day and come back at like 8. I live in Chicago and me and my friend planned out an efficient way to visit colleges in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana. Problem is my parents cannot be convinced. Their problem involves us driving 5-7 hours each day. Ive told them id call every time we enter a new state and get to the campus but my dad wont budge. Any adivce? My dad's really strict but I can see that hes worried about me and my friend driving ourselves to indiana and wisconsin on the highway. Ive already told him we'd be home each day. =[ The cost would only be like 60$ combined so. Please help! I really want to go.</p>
<p>I agree with your parents. I think that students who are high school juniors are too young to be going on that kind of trip without responsible adult. There also are many problems that could come up that one would need to be of legal age to solve. This even includes being able to get hotel rooms or medical treatment in case of a serious emergency.</p>
<p>Yeah, as a mom I would not like my kids as juniors driving around like this either. It isn't that you are immature etc., but you guys can't have had much experience driving on freeways and finding places. Believe me some colleges are not always easy to get to. It is at these times (where you are unfamiliar driving - looking for signs, etc) that you are at the biggest risk of getting into an accident.</p>
<p>You would also probably not be able to get to three colleges either. Perhaps wait until summer when your parents would be able to go with you or perhaps they would let you check out one or two colleges that are closer to home for the day (like maybe two hours or less away)?</p>
<p>Good luck & remember many kids don't get to look at the colleges where they are applying because of cost or travel time. Ask questions on these boards there is a lot of information.</p>
<p>Your plan is very ambitious. Visiting 2-3 schools per day is 1-2 schools too many, IMO. If you start your drive at 8 in the morning and plan on being back by 8 pm with 6 hours of driving time, it leaves you with only 6 hours to eat, rest and visit the colleges. Too much to do in a short period of time, which might mean speeding and taking shortcuts. Is this what your parents are concerned about?</p>
<p>Well the farthest drive is to notre dame and thats only about 3 hours away. My friend is 18 btw so. I mean i see their perspective but its not like wed be staying th enigh tor anything. And i was just wondering, we were only planning to take alike 1-2 actual college tours during the trip. Can you just walk around campus without taking an official tour? Cause thats why we put 2-3 colleges a day, hoping we weould only actually tour 1-2 and just privately tour the rest.</p>
<p>Yes, at most colleges, you can walk around a college without taking a tour.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Well, I'll take a different point of view.</p>
<p>Seems to me you are being responsible, you've planned this well, and so forth. That's just my opinion, of course, and my opinion doesn't count; your parents' does. </p>
<p>Is there any responsible adult you could grab to go along with you? Or, barring that, any current college student? Maybe an older sibling of one of you? That would help your parents become convinced.</p>
<p>I wouldn't have let my daughters take such a trip. As responsible as they are , it is the interstate driving that would be a problem for me.
It wouldn't even be allowed for that many kids to be driving together in the state we live in. Driving in unfamilar areas can be daunting for the less experienced driver ( and even those who have been driving for many years )
Is there an adult who can take you in your parent's absence ? I also don't think you will get much of a visit by walking around a campus without a guided tour. Believe it or not, they do have value.</p>
<p>Are there any groups or clubs on campus planning a tour of colleges that you can join? There's a group here that takes a group cross country for college visits and its led by a former teacher.</p>
<p>I wouldn't let my junior daughter go on a trip like that. However,, I think it's important to use spring break of your junior year to see colleges. If your parents can't get off from work, is there another adult who can accompany you? I know when my parents couldn't take me on a college visit during my junior year, I went with my grandmother, aunt and cousin (my grandmother is a trip, so the trip was a lot of fun). Do you have a relative who could take you? How about your friend's relatives? Any older friends your parents would be comfortable with? Do you parents have other plans for you to visit colleges?</p>
<p>Do you know anyone at the colleges you are planning on visiting? It might help your parents if they knew you were meeting someone so that they could make sure you knew what you were doing once you got to the school. </p>
<p>and yes, you can go around campus without a tour, but taking a tour is more informative. Or try to get a current student you know to take you around.</p>
<p>Is it legal for you or your friend to carry passengers younger than 20 years of age? It's not legal in California.</p>
<p>We parents here don't know how long you've been driving, how good a driver you and your friend truly are, how experienced you are with driving in bad weather, or even what schools you're planning on visiting. Let's give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume both you and your friend are excellent cautious drivers. </p>
<p>As a parent, I'd still be concerned. Here are some things that might help your case:</p>
<p>1) Be willing to pay for/rent/borrow a GPS unit.<br>
2) Cut way down on the number of schools you visit per trip. Start with those that are the shortest drive away, located on well-maintained roads.
3) Cut way down on the number of trips. Start with one day trip. If that goes well, you can negotiate for more.
4) Find out about using the train or bus to visit one of the schools.<br>
5) Find out about where parking is, if you have to sign up for tours, how you get from the train/bus station to campus, an emergency plan, anything else that shows foresight and planning. We parents are suckers for that. Talking about specifics of what you hope to see is also good politics.
6) Make sure you aren't whining when you talk to your parents. We hate when our kids do that, it just makes us dig our heels in more.</p>
<p>Again, I don't know how truly responsible you are as a driver, so all of the above might be for naught. In that case, I'd push on option #4.</p>
<p>Take an adult. This isn't a trip that I'd be comfortable with my junior kids taking.</p>
<p>I agree. If a responsible adult can't be along to do the driving then there is no way that I would feel comfortable with my 16½ year old daughter going on a road trip with a friend. Now if they were taking some type of public transportation I would feel better. But how can they stay in hotels at that age without an adult? This just doesn't feel good to me.</p>
<p>Tha being said, I'm taking my daughter on a cruise during Spring break. I had booked it back in 2007, totally not thinking of college visits! If we have time, we might stop by USC on the way back from the cruise. It will have to be summer, otherwise. Also, we really can't afford to fly to some of the colleges back East that she's interested in.</p>
<p>Well, I did allow my son to make some long drives as a junior and senior. He was an "older" junior so he'd been driving for a while as too his friends. Drivers in the midwest do alot of driving, often in adverse conditions. You would have to prove that you had the finances to pay for the gas, food, etc. and you would have to allow me to "inspect/approve" the vehicle you would be driving. From my perspective, if you were my son and I felt that this was a well thought out plan, I would probably let you go. If I felt that the plan was shaky, the finances weak or the vehicle was questionable or I felt you did not have enough experience driving in comparable conditions (highway, rural, weather) then I would probably veto the trip. On the other hand, when my oldest son started doing the road trips, I had at some point to "let go emotionally" alittle which is very hard for parents. When my second son (a junior) did his first 2.5 hour drive this winter, I was a wreck until he arrived at his destination so please understand that all parents hit these letting-go milestones at different points in time. I've also been to two funerals this year for young kids who died in car crashes on iced roads. So if your parents hold firm in their "no-go" please try to look at it from their perspective, it really shows their love for you and the fear that comes with letting your kids out into the world</p>
<p>I'll join in the crowd lauding your efforts.</p>
<p>However, to move the needle with your parents, you will need to understand what is driving (no pun intended) their decision.</p>
<p>Like everyone else here, we are not familiar with you or your friend or your friend's driving record and experience on road trips. Are there negative experiences that are throwing up red flags?</p>
<p>I mean if the longest trip you or your friend has taken is Racine, South Bend is a big stretch at least in their minds. It takes a lot to focus on driving on longer duration trips (trust me, I do 2100 mile weekend trips several times a year). It took my SIL quite a while to get used to her daughter (my niece) making the 100 mile trip (easy interstate driving with no significant traffic) to the school in our town where she goes and she is a college frosh.</p>
<p>Perhaps breaking the various college trips down from shortest and easiest drives (are you looking a Beloit? - I am assuming here you live in the western suburbs) to the longest to gage whether your parental objection is more about distance and length of day (you do get tired driving in the evening - an ever present danger) than the whole package. </p>
<p>You may get approval on a single short trip with a review for longer trips if all goes well with this strategy. </p>
<p>However, if the issue is supervision, you may well be stuck with bringing along a "responsible" adult, so if this is the issue, you will want to ask for a suggestion of whom you should bring along to make the trip acceptable. Put the ball in their court in this regard. I doubt they are against you touring schools and probably want to encourage your college selection experience, so they should be motivated to help in this regard.</p>
<p>And if this is the case and you can find a "responsible adult" who is acceptable, I would encourage you to discuss (no guarantees here) that you ask about the concept of sharing the driving (if there isn't an insurance issue) to gain valuable road experience that you will need if you are to attend school away from home and hope to be able to drive back and forth for breaks.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>With all the Mapquest type websites, you could print out a door to door itinerary. Ask if your parents' credit card has roadside assistance that would extend to you or if they have AAA where you could be added.</p>
<p>Go to a bookstore that has good state and, if possible, local maps.</p>
<p>Google the large chain hotel/motels to get locations really close to the colleges.</p>
<p>Give them a truly detailed plan.</p>
<p>FYI, kids in the SouthWest drive long distances as a matter of course. </p>
<p>I visited colleges at 16 by myself in 1967 even though it entailed multistate flights and using cabs, staying at hotels etc. </p>
<p>How many times have your parents had something "major" happen on a domestic trip? </p>
<p>I'm nearly 60 and I can count the number of "scary" trip events on one hand not counting the tumb and little finger and those were in NOLA, Peru and Bolivia.</p>
<p>If your parents cannot be convinced (and there is NO WAY my very responsible kids would have been able to convince me to say yes to a trip like that at 17), try to see if anyone has an aunt, uncle, or older cousin who can accompany you.</p>