I doubt I will fly her home for Thanksgiving. She’ll be either in NY or DC and we’re in CA. The flights will be expensive and not really worth all that travel for a few days. But at the same time, I hope she finds somewhere to go because I don’t want her to spend it alone.
@itsgettingreal17 we are only doing flights for Thanksgiving right now as they will be the most expensive and hardest to get. My mom has gifted us some of her FF miles but we will use them for winter break or spring break once we know the schedule better. We will drive for orientation and drop off.
@Mommertons I’m thankful that ds won’t have school on the Wed before Thanksgiving so he will travel late on Tuesday giving him 4 full days at home before going back on Sunday. I think I will need him to come home then as much as he will need it.
Hotness was not a factor when D17 was looking at schools, either in terms of the crowd she’ll run with, or the guy she’ll date.
One person’s hot is another person’s plastic and fake. I really wouldn’t worry about what’s going on on the outside of kids at Vandy or MIT-it’s finding someone you mesh with that will be more of a consideration.
Another thing to think about is that the people we know who went to MIT were very focused on their careers. Many of them were not interested in dating or other kinds of emotional relationships because they didn’t have the mental energy to give to them. They’re doing super well career-wise, but marriage and kids was not a priority for them, and some of my peers who went there (three that I know of) are still not married because they are “too busy”.
Vandy used to be a place where the rich girls went to get their Mrs. degree, but it’s changed so much so fast that I think that perception is now invalid.
@payn4ward I would’ve liked it if you had requested your ds 27K award to be forwarded to my son’s acceptance 
That would’ve made NEU more appealing for sure. I’m happy he is going but he also turned down some decent offers from other schools so he could attend there at full price. It’s definitely not worth the full price $$ there for the education, so hopefully son17 maxes out his opportunity there and makes the best use of the co-ops and all of that.
Son17 will not be home for Thanksgiving. But he will be back the first week of December for a nice long winter break.
We hope to fly over there a bit to see him in London at some point.
No schools are closed full week for Thanksgiving?
@srk2017 Both the schools my DD is considering only have Wed-Fri off 
When our ds was about a 10 hr drive away, we drove there for Thanksgiving. It was easier for us to travel there with a flexible schedule than for him to figure out to get home and back for that short of a break.
I paid a $650 deposit for D’s school this also allowed her to register for housing. They will apply the $650 i to the fall bill.
The flights and hotels for move in and orientation were booked in February to insure a good price. It was $62.00 for D and I to fly one way for move in on SW. I am stalking SW waiting for them to release fares for December so I can book those flights at a good rate.
D will not be flying home for Thanksgiving and she is fine with that. She can stay in the dorm, and they will have a dining facility open.
Congrats to all those who have reached a decision!
<:-P
For those still deciding good luck! For my D the decision was based on where she would be the happiest. I could tell from the moment that she arrived on the campus BU was her school. Thankfully they also offered her nice package to make it possible. :">
Thanksgiving travel - D’s school claims to have classes Monday & Tuesday the week of Thanksgiving, but in IRL not much happens, and most Tuesday classes end up cancelled at the last minute. Find someone who currently attends the school to get the real scoop on what really happens that week.
We flew D home freshman year and it was about double the normal cost. She stayed on campus for her sophomore year. This year we may fly her home but it’s a long trip, typically involving a red eye, and she comes home for winter break 2.5 weeks later anyways, so I don’t think it is worthwhile. Plus all that air travel exposes them to all kinds of germs, and in fact freshman year she DID get extremely sick after flying - just in time for finals. Flight time for S will be in the 2 to 3 hour range, and he will come home.
For those of you with future Trojans, please know that Pres Nikias and his wife host a wonderful Trojan Family Thanksgiving event at their home in Pasadena (they set up huge wedding style tents on the grounds). All students who are staying on campus are invited and it’s quite an event. Even though D was hesitant to attend, we asked her to go anyway and she ended up having a great time. Usually there is a big football game on Saturday of the T-day weekend which brings kids back to campus early. However, this year it’s their bye week so it will be much quieter.
D gets a full week off for Thanksgiving and will be coming home.
DS also gets full week for Thanksgiving, but I am not saying which school yet 
I will note, yeah, at many schools not a lot gets done the classes immediately before Thanksgiving, but a few ridiculously evil professors (ahem) just might be a little more direct in telling those students who bother to attend those classes about specific information that just might show up on the next exam than they would be inclined to be on other days of the academic year.
Just saying, from the point of view of a college professor, that it might happen. Certainly not that it does, of course!
@srk2017 —that one was not too difficult to look up!
My older son can take a bus or grab a ride with a friend, and because of this, exercises a complete absence of advance planning. Increasingly lax with each passing year but he knows that if all else fails, there is the somewhat-dreaded charter bus.
Younger son will mostly likely attend school along the Metro North line, so I have not investigated break schedules.
I’m only buying flights for orientation/move-in right now because D17 insists she doesn’t want us coming out for family weekend in October and she isn’t coming home for Thanksgiving. Yesterday, I had to let my sis-in-law know that D17 doesn’t want their family of 4 to visit during the fall semester - sis-in-law hasn’t responded, I’m afraid she’s offended. DH’s family is loving and well-intentioned, but they are a little too close (even DH thinks so). D17 wanted just immediate family to celebrate her 18th BD in March, but sis-in-law invited her family of 4, which led to inviting all of the in-laws. When I told D17 about sis-in-law’s intention to make a fall campus visit, D17 said “Why do you think I’m going 2,000 miles away for college”? It’s possible once D17 is on campus and the weeks start ticking away she’ll change her mind, but she’s very independent, so it’s possible she won’t. So no additional flights for now.
@itsgettingreal17 I did get D’s ticket home for winter break. I still may purchase a r/t for myself to visit in early November if I can get a great price. I still have to purchase her round trip ticket for her to back for second semester, but it’s a bit early for that. That one will be going in Jan, coming back in May.
@Mommertons No flying home for Thanksgiving here. That might be sad for us. But I agree, she’ll be home a few weeks later for winter break.
TRIP IT is the best app!! I’ve been using it for a few years and it’s free!! Once you have an account, you can easily forward all of your flight, hotel, or car confirmations to plans@tripit and it automatically uploads into your plans. You can also manually add plans for each day on your trip. I love it.
D15 has classes through Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, and only some of them get cancelled, so we’ve never been able to count on it. Freshman year she flew home, but last year she stayed with her godmother over the holiday. D17 will have only a part week at either place. I haven’t told my family but if D17 picks UMD, I might try to get H to go out to Maryland for Thanksgiving, since both girls will be there. Of course, our parents would have a heart attack…
As for booking flights, we drive D15 to drop-off in August, and then I wait until Southwest has a great fare and book flights home for every other day during exam week, along with her return flight in January. Once we know which December flight will work best, I cancel the other flights and use the credit to book spring break. My H thinks I’m a little crazy, but it works out well!
I haven’t even booked move in and you all have me thinking of Thanksgiving!!
D15 comes home for TG because she has a week off (private school). Her flight, much like @dfbdfb’s daughter, takes all day 8-10 hrs) because of location and regional airport; however, she will be studying abroad this year, so she won’t be home until Christmas time.
S17 only gets 3 days off I believe (public school). We will have to see how long the flight is and decide if it is worth it for him to fly home. We’ll also need to see how many weeks of school will be left between TG and winter break. If it’s only two, then it might not be worth it.
Reading all of your plans makes me wish I knew where D17 was going! I did pay a refundable housing deposit at Cal Poly so she’s not at the bottom of the list for dorms, it was 2k!
Just looked up the calendar and it appears Chapman gives the whole week for Thanksgiving. They also have a 4 week “Interterm” from 1/2 to 1/26 before Spring semester starts 1/29. I guess it gives an opportunity to squeeze in an extra course or a study abroad experience, albeit a short one.