<p>I think you do need to have your parents on the interviews.
Only a few schools will interview in the summer.<br>
You could do SPS and Exeter in the same day.
Then Andover and MDX the same day.
Deerfield is about 2 hrs from Boston but I dont know where Choate and H is.</p>
<p>Probably, but I’ll see if I can make an exception. Although, I have no idea how to get from the train station / airport to these schools.</p>
<p>Choate is in Wallingford, Connecticut and Hotchkiss is in Lakeville, Connecticut.</p>
<p>My daughter and I interviewed at Hotchkiss and Choate the same day. But you have to allow for at least two hours driving time between them. We scheduled our Hotchkiss interview as early as possible and our Choate interview as late as possible. I don’t see how you could possibly accomplish this without a car - and without an adult to drive the car.</p>
<p>So we’d need to rent a car at the airport (maybe train station, if they have it there?), and spend atleast three days for touring and interviews.</p>
<p>Am I able to do Deerfield, Choate and Hotchkiss the same day?</p>
<p>Choate and Deerfield in the same day would be relatively straight forward. Both schools are minutes away from major highways in CT / MA, about 1.5 hours almost straight north from Choate to Deerfield. Hotchkiss is very isolated in the far NW corner of CT – close to an hour travel on local roads just to get to a major highway. On the otherhand, if you want to tour Taft, Hotchkiss, Berkshire, Salisbury, Kent, Trinity Pawling, S Kent, Gunnery, Canterbury, I believe they are all relatively close to each other, all in the NW corner of CT, or just over the border in MA or NY.</p>
<p>Side note: Groton is also quite close to Andover.</p>
<p>Yes, I also saw Andover and Groton on the same day. Very doable.</p>
<p>We toured/interviewed at Choate, Miss Porter’s and Loomis Chaffe in one day. During the summer we had a similar trip that included a tour of Choate, (tour and interview) Miss Porter’s and (tour) Taft. You need to schedule your appointments now so you can get the slots that will allow you to visit multiple schools.</p>
<p>If I am interviewing in November or December should I schedule now also?</p>
<p>Yes, you should schedule your interviews as early as possible to ensure you get the dates you prefer.</p>
<p>I hope I can do Choate, Hotchkiss and Deerfield in the same day, I’ll need a three day weekend in total. I hope there’s still interviews available!</p>
<p>Back to the topic about unaccompanied minors travellling on planes. . . . Does anyone have any advice for what a 14 year does upon landing? I looked at the policies, and other than JetBlue which allows 14 years old to travel without special conditions, it looks like most of the major airlines require them to have an adult stay with them at the gate until take off and another designated adult meet them upon landing. Which to me means, even with ID and paying the fee, D/S cannot just get off the plane and then exit to wait for the school’s airport shuttle. Any experience on how school helps them upon landing?</p>
<p>You’ll have to talk to JetBlue on this one. </p>
<p>IIRC, TSA does not allow anyone past the metal detectors, even an adult to supervise the loading or unloading of minors on the plane. That would be left to airline employees.</p>
<p>My guess is that the minor will have to make it from the metal detector to the plane and then from the plane to the baggage claim by him/herself, if the airline allows unaccompanied.</p>
<p>Most schools pick up and drop off curbside at fixed locations (outside a particular terminal). In an unfamiliar airport it is best for the student to ask airline or security personnel for directions to that location.</p>
<p>Choate, Hotchkiss and Deerfield in one day will not work. Maybe, possibly, you could fit any two of those into a day, with a tight schedule. Are you overseas? You could look at Google maps to see what would be feasible.</p>
<p>Goaliedad- are you sure? Unless the policies have changed, I got a special pass at Bradley Airport to get my 14 year old on and off a plane, right to the gate, a year or so ago.</p>
<p>I have talked to the airlines and it looks like an adult has to get the special pass and walk them to the gate. And also a designated adult has to meet them, either at the gate or security. I am not worried about D/S getting lost at airport. I am worried about how D/S can get to the shuttle/cab line or other way back to school. What I don’t get is what happens when they arrive at school. The shuttle can’t meet them at the gate; we don’t have relatives nearby that can go to the airport. How do schools work this out for its long distant students who are not yet 15?</p>
<p>Erlanger- again, I can only speak from my experience at Bradley airport, but when you get down to the baggage claim area after a vacation there are drivers standing there with signs “Choate”, “Loomis”, “Yale”, “Wesleyan” etc. You need to call the “parent relations coordinator” or whover fills that role at your child’s school to see how they handle the unaccompanied minor thing. Where is your child going again? Andover?</p>
<p>as an unaccompanied minor (14), i made an international flight without having an adult right at the gate (i also made a connection in Denver) with United. i’ll have more info when i’m back, then i’ll ask my mom.</p>
<p>erlarger: If your d is an unaccompanied minor, you will need an adult to drop off and pick-up at the gate. The airlines will provide a special pass for the adult on both ends. The adult will have to sign documents at drop-off identifying the specific person who will be picking up. Only the adult identified will be able to pick-up the child and will have to sign additional papers when picking up.</p>
<p>Some of the suggestions I have received: 1) Have a local parent or adviser met them at the airport. 2) There are some car services in New Hampshire/Boston that will perform this service for you, but at a hefty price. Contact your school for recommendations. 3) Be prepared to travel to and from school with your child. 4) Coordinate travel, if possible with older students, as long as they are with someone 16 or older, for most airlines, they can travel with another student. 4) Limit travel to the airlines that allow your child to travel as an unaccompanied minor, Southwest allows children as young as 13 to travel by themselves. </p>
<p>These are the options I have been able to come up with, let me know if you can think of something else.</p>
<p>The best thing to do really is to use an airline that allows children over 12 to fly with no special accommodation. I used United all last year to avoid this problem. Otherwise I know that Exeter (for example) will not meet an unaccompanied minor at the airport, you must make arrangements yourself and there are escort services that will do it for an exorbitant fee. Therefore, even if United or another airline with a loose policy is more expensive, it will end up being cheaper than paying the extra fee for the unaccompanied minor charge and then paying the escort fee. Of course, your particular school will have more information on their own policies, I am just familiar with Exeter’s policy - basically leaving it in the parents laps to figure out.</p>