Does anyone in your family drive? It might be cheaper to rent a car rather than take Amtraks and cabs
Depending on the school, yes, that’s what happens. Ivies and large state schools do not track visits. Smaller schools and less-highly ranked ones do. You’ll notice that on many of the web-sign up forms they ask your graduation year and the CEEB code of your high school, in addition to name, address, phone, etc.
Okay I see. Do u guys know about what percent of all applicants actually pay a visit to the schools? I think it would only show interest when most people do not.
Does anybody know about Brandeis, Tufts and Northeastern? Are they all like match or high match for me? By the way, I’ve always heard that Northeastern is not actually that good as its rank shows. Just several years ago it was only like top 100.
Northeastern has become increasingly popular because of its co-op program. It gives you academic credit for working full-time for six month blocks of time during the year. You can see why this might be very appealing n uncertain economic times. Brandeis and Tufts are more conventional universities. No Boston area college is a slam dunk, just as I wouldn’t call any selective college in New York City a slam-dunk. These are very popular destination towns. I would call them low reaches, just to be safe.
For schools that track interest, when you arrive at the tour- you check in with admissions and the mark down that you were there. For schools that do not track interest (like Ivys) you arrive and they don’t want your name at all. They don’t care if you visit or not (for purposes of admission).
Random question but does anybody know which prep book is good for the new AP US history exam?
Do you predecessors think that the location of the college especially LAC is crucial? What are the pros and cons for different locations? Thanks
Since you are an international student, access to an airport is somewhat of a consideration.
For Eastern LAC’S, Lafayette is probably the best because it is pretty close to Newark International Airport. Swarthmore and Haverford are close to Philadelphia Airport. Philadelphia is a good city to visit.
I personally think Bates and Bowdoin have the best mix of location. Proximity to an airport, mountains, the Maine coastline and a great small city called Portland. I prefer Portland as a student-friendly city over any Eastern city. Bates and Bowdoin are also close enough to Boston for a weekend trip. The weather is also milder than Middlebury, Colgate or Hamilton. Middlebury is pretty close to Burlington but not by major highway. Burlington is like Portland but smaller.
You will spend most if not the vast majority of your time on campus, so location is probably most important for you in terms of travel.
A practical itinerary could include 2 colleges per day (one in the morning, one in the afternoon).
Example:
Day 1
Morning: UMCP (then drive to Baltimore, ~1 hour)
Afternoon: Johns Hopkins (then drive to Philadelphia, ~2 hours)
Day 2
Morning: Swarthmore or Haverford (then drive to Allentown, PA, ~1 hour)
Afternoon: Muhlenberg (then drive to NYC, ~2 hours)
Day 3
Morning: NYU
Early Afternoon: Columbia (then drive to Clinton, NY, ~4 hours)
Day 4
Morning: Hamilton (or Colgate in Hamilton NY)
Afternoon: drive to Middletown CT, ~4 hours
Day 5
Morning: Wesleyan (then drive to Amherst MA, ~1.5 hours)
Afternoon: UMass (or Amherst)
Day 6
Morning: (drive to Boston area, ~2 hours)
Afternoon: Boston College
Day 7
Morning: Tufts
Afternoon: Northeastern or Boston U.
Day 8
Morning: Holy Cross or Clark
Afternoon: Brandeis
This 8 day trip would expose you to a variety of schools (public and private, big and small, urban/suburban and rural, universities and LACs, match to high reach). However, you’d need a rental car to manage this route (unless you limit it only to major cities and use taxis within cities). You’d be spending a lot of time traveling between schools, especially in the first 4 days. In the travel hours above, I’m not including parking time, the time it takes to get in and out of hotels, etc. Two colleges in one day is plenty.
The trip to Hamilton or Colgate adds a lot of driving, so you may want to eliminate that leg. You could add Princeton, Yale, or Harvard to this plan easily enough, but admission to any of these schools would be a very long reach.
@OnTheBubble Thank you! Do all of those colleges have easy access to a mall and a supermarket? And does location matter in terms of internship or job opportunities? My friend graduated from Dickinson college several years ago and she said it was hard for her to find jobs due to its location.
Yes they do. Not sure why you need a supermarket because your meals are provided and food at the schools I mentioned is quite good with excellent variety. Colleges also have stores on campus and cafes to buy food. Your ability to cook in a college dormitory is virtually zero. Stick with the meal plan.
Location does not matter with respect to career opportunities after graduation. You could go to school in Maine and get a job in Seattle. Or upstate NY and settle in Florida.
Part-time jobs can easily be gotten on campus and they pay well and are very convenient. Most students intern during the summer and where you go to college does not matter very much. It all depends how much work you put into looking. I am not a big fan of students interning during school, save it for the summer.
My son goes to school in Maine and has a paid internship in New York this summer. He is the only rising sophomore in the program.
@OnTheBubble Thank you so much! I learned a lot. What schools on the east coast enjoy a fairly mild weather? I don’t like having cold winter for too long. And from your perspective, what should my college selection be based on as an international student? Do you think having too many Chinese or international student is a disadvantage? Thank you!
Why don’t you take a victory tour of the schools you get into that are of most interest to you.
@ClarinetDad16 I haven’t got into any school yet. I am a junior and I will be applying next semester.
“The weather is also milder (at Bates and Bowdoin) than Middlebury, Colgate, or Hamilton.” (#48)
Average January Low Temperature (Fahrenheit)
Clinton (Hamilton College): 13.1
Lewiston (Bates College): 11.7
Brunswick (Bowdoin College): 11.7
Hamilton (Colgate): 10.3
Middlebury: 10.3
(Sperling’s.)
@jackwang0703 At a given latitude, weather will be milder along the coast, with fewer extremely cold days and its common to have periods of very warm winter weather as weather systems move from the south to the north along the coast.
Also, in the Northeast you will have more sunny days along the coast than inland. In some places the difference is substantial. For example, in Lewiston and Brunswick Maine sunny days average 200 days a year, compared to 160 days in Middlebury Vermont and 158 in Hamilton, NY where Colgate is located.
You might have 50 schools of interest at this time, of which you might apply to 18 and be admitted to 3-5.
Taking the victory tour is an efficient use of your time and money next year as you live in China.
Not schools in upstate New York and New England.
Boston is similar to Beijing in its average January high/low temperatures.
However, Boston is wetter.
Even the Washington, DC area got one ~75 centimeter snowfall this year (although that was close to a record.)
If mild weather is what you really want, then your route should point in a different direction.
Consider starting in the Washington, DC area (Georgetown, George Washington, American, UMCP) then head south through Virginia (University of Richmond, William & Mary), into North Carolina (Duke, Davidson, NC State), and maybe as far as Georgia (Emory) or Florida (University of Miami).
You also might want to consider a West Coast tour.
Or take ClarinetDad’s advice and do all your research on the Internet, then do a “victory tour” in the Spring.
Agree that if you don’t like cold weather and long winters, you can write off any schools in the Northeast and Midwest. In addition to the schools mentioned above, look at UNC, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Rice (though that is not on the East Coast).