Planning a college tour of the West/Northwestern?

Parents Forum
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<p>Hi,
I'm planning to look at several schools in the W/NW U.S. this summer, so we figured it would be best to plan a driving trip and hit all the schools that way. The problem is, we're not really sure how it will work out logistically. The schools in this part of the country I want to look at are U of Montana (Missoula), University of Utah, and University of Washington and something in California (either UCB or Pepperdine.)</p>

<p>Any tips on how to logically plan this trip? How much time should be spent at school? Are there any "along the way" colleges we should look at?</p>

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<p>You might also want to look at Western Washington University -- only one hour north of Seattle. Much smaller than UW (about 12,000 students, I think), beautiful campus looking over the bay in Bellingham, great welcoming feel to the whole place. What areas of study are you looking to pursue?</p>

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<p>Oh, heck, skip U. Wash and California. Take the extra time and explore Yellowstone on your way down to Utah. </p>

<p>If you're really gonna drive, you need to allow a LOT of time, as these places are very spread out, and the areas are just too interesting to just speed by. And UCB and Pepperdine are only about 6 hours apart by car, if you drive at the right time of day. Wrong time? Could be 10.</p>

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<p>U of Montana (Missoula), University of Utah, and University of Washington and something in California (either UCB or Pepperdine.)>></p>

<p>How much time will you have for this trip? Is the purpose of the trip strictly to look at colleges or also a family vacation? </p>

<p>It will take at least 15-18 hours to drive from Seattle to Southern California or from Montana to California. From Montana to Seattle alone is going to be about 10 hours.And none of these estimates include stopping along the way to take in the sights. Salt Lake City to Seattle will be a similar driving time, although you could probably make U of Montana in less than 6 hours from SLC. </p>

<p>Unless you have at least two weeks, it would be a better idea to fly between these places rather than try to drive. Go to Southwest airlines and get an idea of prices (they are not on travelocity). They are usually cheapest, followed by AmericaWest. </p>

<p>If the purpose is strictly to visit colleges, however, concentrate on visiting the areas that have the largest number of potential schools in the smallest distance. Montana and Utah have very few other schools to look at, so I'd concentrate on the west coast as follows:</p>

<p>Start at LA and see Pepperdine, the Claremont Colleges, Occidental, UCLA, USC, maybe Chapman or Loyola Marymount. Then take a 40 minute flight to Oakland, see UC Berkeley, Stanford, and possibly the University of San Francisco or Santa Clara. Then take about an hour an a half flight to Seattle, see UW, Seattle U, University of Puget Sound and within a four hour drive from there you can also visit U of Oregon, Willamette, Lewis & Clark, Reed, U of Portland. Fly home from Seattle or Portland.</p>

<p>If you insist on driving, you could do this:</p>

<p>Day 1 - Fly to LA
Day 2 - Visit two central LA schools such as UCLA, USC, Loyola Marymount, Occidental, Claremonts.
Day 3 - Visit Pepperdine in the morning then stop at either Cal Poly or UCSB on your way north. Stay overnight around Cal Poly.
Day 4 - Drive from San Luis Obispo to Silicon Valley. Visit UCSC or Santa Clara in the mid-afternoon.
Day 5 - UCB
Day 6 - drive from SF to Eugene Oregon
Day 7 - Visit U of Oregon in morning, see Willamette in the afternoon, stay in Portland.
Day 8 - see either Reed, Lewis & Clark, or U of Portland
Day 9 - visit UPS in morning, arrive in Seattle in evening.
Day 10 - Visit UW.
Day 11 - fly home. </p>

<p>Obviously this schedule could be much shorter if you don't visit all these schools, but it seems silly to spend the money to come to the west coast and at least not check out more than Pepperdine in the Los Angeles area. I suppose you could do:</p>

<p>Day 1: fly to LA
Day 2: See Pepperdine in morning, drive to Oakland in afternoon (about 6 hours)
Day 3: See UCB
Day 4: Drive from Berkeley to Eugene Oregon (about 8-9 hours)
Day 5: See U of Oregon
Day 6: Drive from Eugene to Seattle (about 5 hours)
Day 7: see UW
Day 8: fly home OR
fly to Salt Lake City (if you get an early enough flight you could see U of Utah in the afternoon)
Day 9: drive to Montana (I'm guessing 6-8 hours)
Day 10: see U of Montana
Day 11: fly home. </p>

<p>I'd personally save Utah and Montana for another time, unless you want to take in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.</p>

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<p>Just checked on mapquest - it is 7 hours 45 minutes from Salt Lake City to Missoula.</p>

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<p>You would have to REALLY like being in the car and driving, driving, driving, driving to do such a trip by car. Second carolyn's idea of Southwest airlines, altho not everyone likes college-hunting as much as carolyn ;), so use your own level of interest to decide how many to see.</p>

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<p>Pepperdine and UCB are totally different schools and usually attract very different calibre students. Before driving across CA, I guess I'd want to better define what you're looking for. Also, to get into UCB as an out of state student, you need amazing, ivy level stats. So consider which schools are most likely to be real options.</p>

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<p>Day one: fly to Missoula
Day two: visit uni, then go to western bbq
Day three: drive to Mammouth Hot Springs at Yellowstone NP. Get cottage with hot tub (been there, done that..). Soak and discuss the philosophy of college education with favorite drink in hand.
Day four: Watch wolves chase buffalo.
Day five: Old Faithful...</p>

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<p>Also, to get into UCB as an out of state student, you need amazing, ivy level stats. So consider which schools are most likely to be real options.>></p>

<p>Zagat, excellent point. If you have the stats for UCB out of state, most people would also probably not have U of Utah and U of Montana on your list, because they are worlds apart in terms of selectivity and academics. You're also right on target about PEpperdine and UCB - two totally different worlds. By the way Wolfpiper, if I remember correctly, you have difficulty with mobility - Pepperdine would present huge problems in that case as it is extremely hilly.</p>

<p>And Jmmom, you're right about me and college trips - in fact, I'm leaving tommorrow to take D. to Earlham and then will meet up with my son to take him to Franklin & Marshall for CTY. I'm already strategizing which colleges I could drive by between Indiana and Pennsylvania. :)</p>

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<p>I'd lived in Utah most of my life, so no need for Western sight seeing (though we will stop to see old friends in UT). I figured it might be easier to drive than fly, but now that I'm hearing about it,; I'm starting to think the opposite. We live in TX by the way.</p>

<p>UCB and Pepperdine:
UCB is because, well, Mom is enarmored with the school. (Actually, she seems enarmored with the state in general), but I'm not. Still, she thinks I would like California because its filled with "nice hippies" and because UCB was the starting place of the disability rights movement.</p>

<p>Pepperdine sounded nice, but hills... Ouch. I guess its out.</p>

<p><<zagat, excellent="" point.="" if="" you="" have="" the="" stats="" for="" ucb="" out="" of="" state,="" most="" people="" would="" also="" probably="" not="" u="" utah="" and="" montana="" on="" your="" list,="" because="" they="" are="" worlds="" apart="" in="" terms="" selectivity="" academics="">></zagat,></p>

<p>I just wanted to say this comment really offended me. For all you guys preach about fit; you don't seem to stick to it much... I know UCB is tough school to get into (and if I applied I might very well get rejected), but I'm not a bad student (4.0, 33 ACT, 6 years worth of Japanese at graduation, etc.). I want to look at those schools because they have programs I want (Japanese and health sciences) in an area I like (the west) at a price I can afford. Or does fit only apply to LACs and other tiny, uberexpensive schools?</p>

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<p>Wolfpiper, I don't think Carolyn meant to offend. There was no indication why you were interested in these specific schools, and there is a definite variation in the statistics required for admission to Berkeley and Montana which would be puzzling to someone reading one of your posts for the first time. From reading other posts by you, I would guess that you have the stats/ECs to get you accepted anywhere. I hope you have an interesting trip, and please report back about the colleges you visit - I'm curious to learn more about them.</p>

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<p>Thanks, fireflyfan. I didn't think carolyn intended to offend; it's just that her post rubbed me the wrong way. Sorry if I was a bit harsh...</p>

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<p>Berkeley or Pepperdine? Could the same kid be happy at either? I guess that's what visits are for - to start learning the culture of each institution.</p>

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<p>Wolfpiper, As firefly said, I didn't mean to offend --- however, I think few would dispute my statement that UCB attracts an entirely different caliber of student than U of Montana and U of Utah. I was not implying anything about YOU, just speaking in generalities. UCB does stick out like a sore thumb on the list of schools you mentioned --- The fact is UCB is just a very different type of school from the others you mentioned, in terms of selectivity, academic quality and culture, and, in my mind at least, "good fit" requires a fit on all three. Pepperdine and UCB in particular are about as different as can be --- but, as you now have mentioned it is your mom's idea to include UCB that makes more sense. Hope you understand what I meant now and are no longer offended and upset with me. You might want to take a look at the Claremont Schools, in particular Pomona.</p>

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<p>I also didn't mean to offend. Your list is unusual and I haven't read your other posts. One thing though, for out of state students, UCB costs as much as most private colleges, almost $40K/yr. This will be for all years as out of state students never qualify for residency. Also, the graduation rate in 4 years is about 60%, making it more expensive than most private schools.</p>

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<p>If I was going notrh out of san francisco..........visiting colleges.....I would have to stop in Arcata California and visit Humboldt State......its not a great school but it is a wonderful place to go to college</p>

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<p>Once at Univ. of Washington you should check out their honors program. It is quite good, but more selective than most of the Ivy's. Out of state tuition is not too bad, which makes it quite the bargain. Given your interests, you should also visit Reed College as long as you are in the neighborhood.</p>

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<p>wp:</p>

<p>unfortunately, Berkeley ain't flat either. It's a nice uphill hike up to many science classes and Haas. If your stats are such that you could get into Berkeley OOS, you would also be a serious candidate at Stanford (flatter, but much more spread out). </p>

<p>I also second Carolyn's rec about the Claremont schools since they ARE on flat land.</p>

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<p>ahh berkeley is very uphill (and..downhill) and reed has no japanese program- you have to take a bus to lewis and clark for that so maybe l&c instead if you're interested</p>

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<p>Univ. of Washington anything but flat as well.</p>