Summer college tour including Williams - what's possible?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
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<p>Hello, we are planning a tour of colleges this summer. We live in the Southeast, and D is very interested in exploring Northeastern schools. Not being familiar with the geography or terrain, I was wondering how realistic it would be to visit Yale, Williams, Dartmouth, Amherst, and Colgate within a one week span. If we fly in or out of Boston, we might add Harvard just to see it, although Harvard is not currently on her list.</p>

<p>We are open to flying into one airport and flying out of a different airport.</p>

<p>D is still early in the process, so this will be the first major exposure to small liberal arts schools. We are new to the college tour experience, although we were able to visit UVA (this is probably as large as she is willing to consider) and Georgetown in the fall while visiting family in the DC area.</p>

<p>Any advice on logistics would be appreciated. I have learned a lot about specifics of what to look for on tours from a recent thread in the parents forum.</p>

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<p>A week is pushing it for that list. The endpoints of Colgate and Yale make it a stretch, but realistic enough. </p>

<p>Adding Harvard is fine if you visit during the day and then drive straight to Amherst that night, then Williams, Dartmouth, Colgate and hit Yale on the way back to Boston. The Colgate to Yale is the longest drive - probably 4.5 hours. </p>

<p>Another way is to do this is: Harvard, then Yale, then take the long drive to Colgate and work your way back to Boston via Dartmouth, Williams, and Amherst. </p>

<p>Good luck on the trip.</p>

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<p>Is your one week five days or seven days? If the former, you will be pushing it, especially if you want to do scheduled info. sessions, tours and interviews (if available) at each school. If you start in Boston, I would suggest this order: Amherst, Dartmouth, Williams, Colgate, Yale. Flying out of an airport closer to New Haven (LaGuardia or Bradley) would help. Actually, flying in and out of Bradley might make the most sense, unless Boston is a must-see.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much. This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get. </p>

<p>We might save Yale for another trip (possibly look at Yale, Columbia, Princeton in one trip).</p>

<p>Your suggestions for alternative airports opened my eyes to new possibilities. We will fly through Atlanta, which has direct flights to most airports.</p>

<p>If we remove Yale from this visit, we could add on Middlebury and do the following:</p>

<p>Fly into Burlington, VT, and start with Middlebury (Monday) , then Dartmouth (Tuesday), Amherst (Wednesday), Williams (Thursday), Colgate (Friday), and fly out of Syracuse.</p>

<p>If we decide not to add on Middlebury, perhaps we will start in Boston and work our way to Colgate.</p>

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<p>Timing depends on the depth and breadth that you want to cover at each school (and, as noted, the number of days).It’s fairly easy to schedule two a day in this region as distances are not that great. You can make a tentative schedule based on where you think your daughter would benefit from spending the most time. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about the most efficient order. To cover New England and upstate New York you’ll end up doing a good deal of criss- crossing and doubling back.</p>

<p>We found the best way to make the itinerary was to choose the places where we wanted to spend the nights and go from there. Also, your daughter might want to interview on some of the campuses (that was a positive for my son) so make those appointments in advance. Some schools offer Sunday tours etc., some don’t.</p>

<p>If your daughter likes the idea of LACs, some others that I would suggest would be Hamilton (very close to Colgate), Wesleyan (near Yale) and Middlebury. Nearby schools that might qualify as safeties for your daughter would be Smith, Holyoke, Skidmore and Conn College.</p>

<p>I would skip Harvard (and Boston/Cambridge) this time and head directly out on your visits. </p>

<p>This book was very helpful in putting the geography in perspective. Be sure to double check the times, though, as schedules change.
Visiting College Campuses, 7th Edition (College Admissions Guides) </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Visiting-College-Campuses-Admissions-Guides/dp/0375764003/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398814620&sr=1-3&keywords=guide+to+visiting+colleges”>http://www.amazon.com/Visiting-College-Campuses-Admissions-Guides/dp/0375764003/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398814620&sr=1-3&keywords=guide+to+visiting+colleges&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Hartford, CT (BDL) is a very easy airport to fly in and out of, and would be a good launching pad for a tour of some great northeast LACs. One clock-wise loop that is very doable would be Hartford -Middletown, CT (Wesleyan) - Poughkeepsie, NY (Vassar) -Williamstown, MA (Williams) - Middlebury, VT - Hanover, NH (Dartmouth) - Amherst, MA - Hartford. Pretty straightforward as a 6 day itinerary, with drive times that are reasonable.</p>

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<p>It’s good that you have only one college visit per day, but 5 days is a lot. I found with my own daughter, 3 days was about her limit. Too many, and they start to run together in your mind,</p>

<p>Are all these schools in session when your visiting? It’s pretty depressing visiting a vacant campus.</p>

<p>My D would email and call her department of interest in advance and set up meetings/tours with the department and schedule a class. Both Amherst and Williams were very accommodating - Yale, not so much. We also tried to find student activities at night such as theatre, improv etc… </p>

<p>Have her jot down notes and impressions during the visits - it will help her later with supplemental essays and applications. You should also do the same - your recollection of her impressions may also help her with writing supplemental essays. </p>

<p>Enjoy the trip. </p>

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<p>Yes, trip is much easier with Harvard (and Logan) out of the loop. </p>

<p>I still think Colgate is a hike though, and if you add schools then Colgate or another school or two become a rush job. Not sure how much that helps taking a decision. </p>

<p>@‌arwarw The schools are not in session, but there are campus tours. We did our tours when schools were not in session and that was fine. </p>

<p>We did find that 3 days was our limit also. But, if traveling from a distance, then need to make do. </p>

<p>Great suggestions from the posters above, and the Bradley Airport is much better, by far.</p>

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<p>Colgate is not in session during the summer although there are about 100 undergraduates doing research projects. Freshmen arrive on 23 August so you might want to arrange it for later in the summer if you want to see how their orientation- and that of their parents- is conducted and how students settle in. The campus is breathtaking and well worth the drive from points east.</p>

<p><a href=“http://colgate.edu/academics/academic-calendar/2014-2015”>http://colgate.edu/academics/academic-calendar/2014-2015&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Good luck with your college tours!</p>

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<p>You might consider your Yale/Columbia/Princeton trip for the summer and a New England LAC trip in the fall, when school is in session.</p>

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<p>Your comments have got me thinking. Maybe we should do our NE group of schools during spring break - early March for us- which would give a realistic view of campus during the doldrums of late winter. We could add on Yale to this trip, although Yale’s spring break coincides with D’s.</p>

<p>I like the suggestion of Bradley International. @CodyChesnutt‌ - your itinerary makes sense and covers a lot of ground. Might be wise to go to Colgate on a different trip.</p>

<p>Top on the list are Yale, Williams, and Dartmouth, mainly because of familiarity with other students who have gone there. D’s mind is open to learning about new schools.</p>

<p>The 3 day rule is a good one. However, when traveling this distance, we need to cover some ground.</p>

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<p>We also did it during spring break. Smith and Amherst on the front end; then took a break to ski and reflect then visited Williams and Bard on the back end; then flew back home from Albany NY to Atlanta.</p>

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<p>Just to add, our spring break was also early March. We spent the night at a hotel on Williams campus, where we were pretty much snowed in. We did the tour, ate at a restaurant on campus and attended a student play. My daughter also attended a class and met with a professor. Despite the heavy snow, the vibe on campus was, I dare say, festive. You could really feel the faculty and student energy there. Williams was one of my daughter’s favorite college visits - and she went in to it thinking - no way, it’s too remote. Williams really changed her perspective on what was important to her about a college. Had Williams not been in session, that epiphany would not have occurred.</p>

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<p>^^ Good points! Williams is a great place when one sees it in action. The remoteness does fade into the background for many.</p>

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<p>Two weeks in the summer was our only option for school visits so we made the best of it. The campuses were quiet, but they were leafy, lush and beautiful. It was a great trip.</p>

<p>We visited Williams in the midst of a torrential downpour. Despite the rain the tour guide (umbrella-less) just kept talking and walking backwards un-phased by the weather. You get a lot of weather in Williamstown so it seemed like a good indication of how kids dealt with it.</p>

<p>If your daughter thinks that small LACs are the right choice for her, be sure to visit some of the less selectives as well. Often kids have LACs as their first choice, but big State U’s as their safeties, which can lead to some anxiety between December and April.</p>

<p>Small LACs have distinctive personalities and even if classes are not in session, the differences come across clearly in the information sessions and the tours. This helps a lot in formulating the apply list and even if colleges claim not to take visits into account in admissions, I have to believe that it helps to show up, for nothing else but for material for the “Why X?” question.</p>

<p>I’d say visit New England in the summer, take some time to enjoy the experience, and try to fit in some less selectives while you’re there. Once her acceptances come in she can revisit her top choices.</p>

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<p>I totally agree with the idea of making sure to visit some less selective colleges. Williams, Amherst and Dartmouth are all very tough admits. If you are going to Colgate, you should visit Hamilton College as well . It’s only 30 minutes away and is a great option as a slightly less selective option for someone who likes the feel of Williams or Middlebury especially. We did a driving trip and visited Bucknell, Vassar, Skidmore, Hamilton and Colgate in 4 days. That was during spring break, the weather was iffy but students were there. We visited Middlebury, Williams, Wesleyan and Connecticut College in 3 days in Aug. The summer visits were fine and the only students we saw were the tour guides. For that trip, flew into and out of Albany (also considered Bradley but the fares and times worked better for Albany). </p>

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<p>The spring of my junior year, we flew into Logan saw BC, drove up to Amherst, Williams, Colgate, Midd, Dartmouth and Bowdoin before coming back down to Boston. The drive from Bowdoin (where I go now) to Boston is only 2 hours. </p>

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<p>@barvoets‌ The itinerary that you did is resonating with D. Is this the order in which you visited the schools? Since she is focusing on the NE, I think this might be one of several trips up there. I have no idea how she will react to Liberal arts colleges, but this will definitely give her exposure. Did you feel this was a lot to cover over the span of a week? Debating whether to save Colgate for another trip.</p>

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<p>On my NE trip, I visited Williams on Saturday morning, spent the rest of the weekend at Yale, toured Yale Monday morning, Amherst Monday afternoon, Dartmouth on Tuesday, and Bowdoin on Wednesday. </p>

<p>I would recommend doing Colgate on Friday, Williams on Saturday, Yale/Amherst on Monday, Dartmouth on Tuesday, and Harvard on Wednesday. You could feasibly fit in a few more schools in that week (Middlebury before Williams, maybe), Bowdoin after Dartmouth, etc. It’s pretty easy to do a college a day, and I honestly didn’t feel rushed. I would recommend staying the weekend at your daughters first choice school (for me that was Yale, so we hung out at the Yale Art Gallery/Peabody Museum, and checked out some of New Haven’s restaurants). Make sure you find a school you can visit on Saturday (I think the only one is Williams, but I’m not sure) – this will help you make the best use of your time. And Yale/Amherst on the same day isn’t that much of a squeeze, it should be doable (Yale has a morning session and Amherst has a late afternoon session).</p>

<p>Something else to consider - tours are very useful, and info sessions are very infrequently useful (though I did go to an info session at every college I visited). You’ll find that you’re receiving the same info over and over again (“We practice holistic admissions” blah, blah, blah).</p>

<p>Do another trip for the mid-Atlantic. I did JHU/Georgetown in a day, Haverford/Swarthmore in a day, and Penn the next day (on another trip). You could easily add in Princeton, Columbia, and Duke on the two sides of that trip. Also maybe combine Bryn Mawr with Penn, if your daughter is interested at all in women’s colleges.</p>

<p>Let me know if I can help at all! (Having made a similar trip in the past — I can also recommend some cheap (but nice) hotels to stay at in the areas of all those colleges – and some not to stay at). </p>

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<p>@Faulkner1897 This was the order that we visited schools. You could split them up to two trips and perhaps do Middlebury Dartmouth and Bowdoin since those are the northern new england schools and all others in another trip. We simply drove through Williamstown to get a taste of Williams since we had just come from Amherst and we thought that Amherst and Williams were similar and it would be better to tour a school like Colgate that was more of a safety and a slightly different feel perhaps. </p>