Hi experienced parents - we are beginning to plan a summer college tour trip and am seeking some advice and suggestions from this group. My son is a current junior in California, looking at some schools the VA, DC, MD and PA area. First, we are discussing how to fly in and out. My thought was to fly into Richmond and out of Pittsburgh, but my husband thinks flying in and out of DC makes sense, and our road trip resembling a figure 8. We will have 10-12 days, would like to add some historical sites to our trip (Monticello, Civil War battlefields, etc.) and will be dragging 2 younger siblings along. Any thoughts??
You are likely to get more comments about visiting during the summer, than logistical aid, especially without specific school names. Maybe you can give more details and people can give you their thoughts on visiting each individual school during the summer. The more preferable time to do it is when schools in session, although that is not always possible. Perhaps this is the case with your family.
It’s going to be hot.
Like sticky, sweltering, you’ve-never-felt-humidity-like-this-in-California hot.
So you might want your in-between activities to be mostly indoors, in nice, air-conditioned museums. DC has plenty. So does Philadelphia (are you going to Philadelphia)? Or maybe your family would enjoy a waterpark (if you’re going to William and Mary, you could go to the one in the same town). Or a cave (if you’re going far enough into Virginia, there’s an interesting one).
The last thing I would want to do is walk around battlefields in the DC area in the summer.
If you tell us what schools you plan to visit, people here will probably be able to give you a list of nearby tourist attractions.
Hi Leafy, It depends on which colleges in Virginia, DC and MD you want to see… there are many more close to DC such as GMU, GWU, American University, University of MD, etc, than Richmond and Richmond is at least an hour from DC. So I’d fly in and out of DC, unless you have a strong interest in VCU or University of Richmond and other colleges in the Richmond area. Monticello is well worth a visit, and of course you have the National Zoo in DC for your younger children to enjoy (pandas). The Civil War battlefields might be boring for your younger children unless they are particular interested in that part of history.
Bear in mind that attractions like the DC museums or Monticello can get pretty crowded in summer.
I’m sure you will get more specific help if you post a list of colleges you want to visit. I don’t know whether those smaller airports have direct flights to CA, something else to consider.
Which schools are you planning on visiting? You can fly direct to Dulles, which is about 2 hours from Charlottesville (UVA). Manassas battlefield is about 20-30 minute drive from Dulles, and it’s next door to the Air and Space Museum annex where all the big planes are (shuttle, Enola Gay, Concord, etc.)
Gettysburg has a really great visitor center (fairly new) that has AC, and you CAN drive a lot of the battlefield in your air conditioned car. I agree that it will be beastly hot. It is the walking on the college tours that I would hate. Sounds like you will have 2 adults and 3 kids – I’d plan for one adult to take the younger sibs someplace else (not the college tour) whenever possible.
If you want to know what the battles of Gettysburg or Bull Run (Manassas) were like, imagine those Union and Confederate troops in their woolen uniforms fighting in the fierce July heat. Going in the summer will give you a taste of what it was like for those men who fought and died there.
Business, LAC, Engineering? Rural or city? Big or small? What’s you SAT range? Walking DC’s mall with three kids in the summer wiped me out. Suggest the Supreme Court tour as an alternative.
Should you make your way to Williamsburg (DD went to William and Mary, and her best friend was from CA!) there is plenty to do. The College itself is a historic attraction, and of course Colonial Williamsburg across the street is a great place to visit. Jamestown, Yorktown, and Busch Gardens are all within a half hour. Have fun planning and visiting!
Fly into Richmond. See William & Mary, UVA, Washington & Lee, Virginia Tech, JMU then head north. A lot depends on your child’s stats.
Robert E Lee and his horse are buried below the Washington & Lee chapel.
The weather might not be that hot in June.
^^ Those schools alone will take 5-6 days, not including the sightseeing.
If your child is seriously considering attending school in this part of the country (I live in NoVA), it is not a bad idea for him to experience the hot,muggy weather.
Fly wherever you get the best combination of direct flights & decent fares. Watch for rental car penalties for returning to a different location. Avoid driving in DC at all if possible and certainly in rush hour.
Hi all - thanks for the responses thus far. For reference, my spouse and I are both from the East Coast, so our kids are familiar with July and August heat and humidity in Virginia! Skipping DC tourist sites as we have already done them. I purposefully didn’t list particular schools, because someone will look up my post history and point out that they think my kid will never get into XX school. We have a good counselor who is advising us, and I believe we have realistic expectations. There will be some reaches and high reaches on our tour, and some tours will be for our second child’s benefit more than the first. One school mentioned above will be on our itinerary although I think it’s a terrible choice. As my husband joked, taking a kid to a bad match and proving yourself right is priceless! Mostly, I want this tour to have moments of real FUN for all of us.
If the schools you want to look at are mostly in the PA/MD/DC area, you may want to look into flying into BWI - Balt/Wash airport - if fares are comparable to Dulles or National. Easier to get around to PA and VA from here. Without knowing the schools, or even the number of schools you plan to visit in each state, it’s difficult to suggest a realistic itinerary.
I love BWI, too. It’s so easy to get in and out of there. But it may not be the most convenient airport for this itinerary.
Well you could just post the itinerary and ignore all the posters who find it necessary to stalk all your other posts and answer questions you didn’t ask.
If you are going to Pittsburgh, it would not really make sense to fly in and out of DC. That is a lot of driving (unless the price is much lower to do so). However, it is impossible to give you advice without some info on which schools or at least which cities you are going to. Start south, go north, then west and end up in Pittsburgh and fly home from there.