<p>My son - a junior in HS - is thinking about attending a summer journalism program at Indiana University this summer. We would love for him to go. Does anyone have ideas/suggestions for how to get him there? </p>
<p>My ideas so far:
*One of us could fly with him to Indianapolis and then drive him down to Bloomington (50 miles), then go back home... then come back and pick him up 10 days later.</p>
<p>*Or we fly him there to drop him off, but he flies home alone.</p>
<p>*Or he goes alone.</p>
<p>I'm unsure how to transport him from the aiport in Indy to the university if we do not go along. Ideas?</p>
<p>Oregon Mom, I attended IU a couple of years ago for an exec development class. I flew to Indy and then rental car to Bloomington, less than 1 hour and 4 lane roads. It is no problem. I had also looked into the shuttle which I think works just at well. I "lived" at the IU union for the three weeks. Here is the link to the shuttle.</p>
<p>Your question I think is really up to you, maturity, awareness, confidence, security and complexity of airline connections are all things only you can weigh with your child. From our perspective I have flown all three of our children without us to various places with no problem. With cell phones if there is an issue it can be quickly resolved these days and we went over with them to the point of giving them an earache the do's and dont's and there was always someone waiting at the other end. I never did it though before they were the same age as your child.</p>
<p>You might want to check with the summer program..they may have a way to transport kids from airport to the university. When my DS was in high school, he attended two different summer programs on the east coast and both summers we flew back together, did some college tours and then I dropped him off at the summer program. He flew home on his own. When I was with him, we figured out how he'd get back to the airport on his own so I could leave him worry free(well, at least in terms of transportation back to the airport). You also might check with Supershuttle to see if they run from the airport to the University.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses and PMs. This is all new to us. The option that probably makes the most sense for us, is for one of us is to fly him out there, and then he comes home by himself. I will definitely check out the shuttle. Thanks!</p>
<p>Oregonianmom, If it was my high school junior-to-be-senior, I wouldn't hesitate to let him fly alone and take the shuttle bus. Of course, you should verify the details but at most airports the public transportation is right next to baggage claim so he would just need to find the bus kiosk. There's a good chance that there will be other hs students doing just that. If he has minimal bags, say a duffle and rolling suitcase, it should be very doable.</p>
<p>Our son attended Eastern Music Festival (North Carolina) last year.
He drove himself from NJ and even as a 19 year old college student, I was the anxious mom. All went well.....</p>
<p>I know that there were arrangements that the school would pick students up at the airport, or arrange transportation to/from. I bet many summer programs do the same. With 2 tubas, driving made the most sense for our S.</p>
<p>Our DS went to EMF also. He flew by himself and they had a shuttle. When he went to London, he went without us...but with three other friends who he shared a taxi with. I would venture that not all of the parents who have kids at the IU campus summer programs drive with them...especially those traveling a long distance.</p>
<p>Son's summer program arranged transport from airport at beginning and back to airport at the end of the program. He had flown enough that we were comfortable with him flying alone. He was 16.</p>
<p>DD also flew by herself to summer programs. But she flew without us beginning when she was about 12 years old. She can navigate an airport better than we can (no kidding).</p>
<p>My son has attended many different music programs in many different places. All of them have some kind of pickup from the closest major airport. Check with the specific program at IU. My guess is that they will have transportation available from Indianapolis. It is a great opportunity for teens to travel on their own.</p>
<p>I've taken that Supershuttle from the Indianapolis airport to the IU campus.Its very easy to use,in both directions.
But i echo checking with the summer program office. Yous S wouldnt be their first out of town student,I'm sure they have arrangements.S did a program Summer after his Junior year in Hs,flew from NY to Miami and was met at the Miami airport by a rep from his summer program.He returned at the end by a shuttle from the campus to the airport and flew home,no problem.</p>