<p>My daughter and I are starting to plan a summer college tour. We will be in Dayton for her Nationals the second week of July and will start from there. </p>
<p>SHe wants to be out of California, and at a major football school, as she wants to twirl for the band. From my perspective, I am looking at where she can have that experience, but possibly get some merit aid as an OOS student or for being in the band. (I'll be happy to post more specifics about her, but my focus right now is really on the logistics of a trip like this!)</p>
<p>Ourcurrent plan is to take 2 weeks and go to the following schools:
West Virginia
Marshall
Univ of Kentucky
Univ of Tennessee
Clemson
Univ of SOuth Carolina
Univ of Georgia
Auburn
Ole Miss
"Bama (maybe just a drive through....not a likely school)</p>
<p>We'd like to spend a day at Dollywood and will spend an afternoon or evening with friends in Greenville. Also, I'd like to spend an afternoon in Asheville.</p>
<p>Can anyone share any insight for me in figuring out this trip? I am feeling a bit overwhelmed!</p>
<p>While I don’t know anything specifically about those schools or the exact distance between them, I will say that 2 weeks ought to give you adequate time to see them all, including those nice side trips you have planned. One really important thing is to not see more than two schools in any day–if at all possible, one per day is ideal. Another thing is to schedule the tours earlier in the day, when possible–it’s going to get hot there and she’s going to get tired as the day wears on. Logistically, try to arrive in each college town the evening before to get a feel for it, and be totally fresh in the morning for campus tour, etc. DEFINITELY keep a notebook or some sort of system for keeping the specifics on each school separate, and if there’s research you can do in advance (e.g. # of undergrads, special majors, etc.) include it so you have to do less of that kind of writing.</p>
<p>We just saw the WVU band and their baton twirlers at a recent game. Despite the rain and cold they were amazing (especially considering they were dressed in barely there outfits!) </p>
<p>Definitely get a GPS unit if you don’t have one. Will you fly and then rent a car or what?</p>
<p>We will be flying to the Dayton area and visiting Purdue first. Then we’ll go to Dayton for a weekfor Nationals and then leave for our trip. We’ll drive and then fly home at the end.</p>
<p>The mileage amounts seem very different than in CA. For example, the mlieage from Athens to Auburn is 172 miles, but per google maps, it’s about 3 hours and 16 minutes. </p>
<p>The trip should be doable in two weeks, especially since many of the schools can be grouped by region/state. Your daughter should make some contacts via e-mail to see if she can speak with someone regarding twirling/band, etc. </p>
<p>As for merit money, you can check online to see what schools offer. I know that Alabama has great merit money based on SAT/ACT and GPA. It and Auburn are separated by about three hours.</p>
<p>Unless she is a tippy top student, Auburn and GA aren’t particually generous with out of state students. I am not sure Clemson is either. Can’t speak to the money for being in the band but if merit money is required you might want to research that before visiting. In a time of declining state revenues, many schools are becoming much more stingy with out of state money. Alabama is far more generous than Auburn, South Carolina much more so than Clemson. If you could knock a couple of schools off the list, you might find the whole thing less stressful. </p>
<p>I would try hard to only do one school a day, while almost all these schools are in the South, some have very different cultures than the others and they are in a variety of locations, ie rural, college town, city etc. </p>
<p>There is no interstate in Athens GA so you have to travel state and local roads to get to the interstate in the metro Atlanta area. US 78 and GA 10 are really just roads, not highways.</p>
We’ve found that you have to take the mapquest and google estimates with a grain of salt. They can be way over or under depending on the actual driving condition (country roads, freeways, mountains, deserts, cities, construction, etc.). My GPS is fairly accurate if it’s freeway miles. Country roads it tends to be over on the estimates. City driving way under. </p>
<p>If you are trying to schedule, you can get some additional idea from people here, but don’t cut yourself too close anywhere.</p>
<p>"Unless she is a tippy top student, Auburn and GA aren’t particually generous with out of state students. I am not sure Clemson is either. "</p>
<p>Not sure what “tippy top” would be. She would likely be eligible for a Charter Scholarship for out of state, but of course, there isn’t a mention of how many are awarded!!</p>
<p>“I know that Alabama has great merit money based on SAT/ACT and GPA”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Alabama isn’t a realistic option for her…We would just visit if we had the time, just as a comparison.</p>
<p>“It’s not the heat … it’s the humidity.”
"I’ll second Mothek’s suggestions … stay overnight near the school you are visiting, and take the morning tour. "</p>
<p>Will do!!</p>
<p>Because its just so different for us, I really feel like dd needs to see the schools to start making decisions.</p>
<p>WVU and Marshall are about 3.5/4 hours apart - WV is at the very top of the state and Marshall is in the bottom southwest corner. I’d go from Ohio, to WVU to Marshall. </p>
<p>But it sounds like a really fun trip and a great way to spend a lot of time with your dd.</p>
<p>I live in GA so lots of kids headed to the schools you are visiting, many very good students and very few get any real monies from Auburn or Clemson. It is worth inquiring about how many.</p>
<p>South Carolina has a fairly generous scholarship program for otu of state students but Clemson doesn’t. Alabama has a fairly generous scholarship program but Auburn doesn’t. (Highlighting how different things can be in the same state.)</p>
<p>I am hearing what everyone says about the money for merit aid…</p>
<p>Not very likely…Clemson, Auburn, Georgia</p>
<p>More likely…Alabama, USC</p>
<p>Does it make any difference where you are from out of state? </p>
<p>For example, for University of Oregon, California kids can’t get the out of state tuition waiver, but other western schools can. Too many kids come from CA.</p>
<p>I;m wondering if that could be true for Clemson and AUburn…kids in neighboring states don’t get OOS waivers, but kids coming from farther away could? (I realize I’m grasping at straws here!!!)</p>
<p>Now, more than ever, most public Us look at out of state students as a revenue source. </p>
<p>Actually, when the HOPE scholarship first started in GA, it was GA kids who were given scholarships to some of those schools because they started staying in-state. Over time, though, this ended.</p>
<p>Most big flagship Us in the South, at least, use OOS tuition scholarships to attract students whose stats are higher than in-state kids. So, for UGA for example, because of the HOPE scholarship, the out of state kids have to have pretty high credentials to get scholarships. </p>