<p>This is one of those 'different strokes for different folks' sort of things, but I am just curious.<br>
I am finding myself frustrated in the college search when we find colleges that sound good, but where transportation seems to be a major hurdle.</p>
<p>Those schools that are getting crossed off are the ones that require too much coordination of transportation...</p>
<p>Still on our list are schools that are a direct flight and then commuter rail, or established shuttle to the college.</p>
<p>Off the list are schools that would require a flight with a stopover or 2, and/or then having to figure out a way to get another hour or more from the airport to the college, or in some cases less distance if there is no reliable transportation from the airport provided. </p>
<p>What have you decided is reasonable, as far as transportation, in your search?</p>
<p>I don’t know that you can separate this question out from the other factors: size of school, where it lies on the rural-to-city spectrum, reputation of school, household wealth, COA, region of country, local weather, legacy, etc.</p>
<p>And sometimes airlines pull out of markets or change their schedules. In our case, getting to the school was the biggest strike against it but my son decided it was where he wanted to go even though he started the search not wanting to look at schools that require flights. I encouraged him to check out a few anyway and so here we are. </p>
<p>Personally I think it’s good to keep all options open because you did not really know what will happen come April. Also coming from farther away might be of help in admissions if it creates geographic diversity for the school For my son, he has really enjoyed getting to know a different part of the country.</p>
<p>But that’s us and other families have different approaches. </p>
<p>Transportation costs can vary. Holiday time (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc) can be very pricey. Plus, you often also have to pay for shuttles going back and forth from campus to airport…those can add $50-100 per trip.</p>
<p>This is total personal preference/tolerance. But sometimes there are ways in place to make transportation easier than it may first appear. If there is a school that otherwise seems perfect, you can do some research or even inquire to admissions about transportation options. Two examples…my D’s school is not on an established bus/rail line but they do have charter buses which take students back to my area (and others) for school breaks. And my S went to grad school at a two flight away college, but he found he could fly into Chicago and take a bus between the campus and the airport very easily (still a long trip, but this made it much cheaper and gave him/us much more flexibility in booking flights).</p>
<p>D hates to fly because of ear pain so drivable distance is a big factor. (Although she may end up at UA which would be a flight away, so we’ll see).</p>
<p>@happy1, I hadn’t really thought about asking the schools if they offered shuttles that weren’t mentioned. Most of the schools seemed to have pretty detailed info about getting to campus. I thought surely they would mention it if shuttles might be provided. Hmm…there are a couple schools I may contact about that…but a few just seem like they’d still be such a trek…from home driving to the airport, then flying, then arranging transport from there. It seems like a lot to deal with. Of course…personal preference…and maybe a matter of what you are used to. We are not travelers. It’s been a few years since we’ve been on a plane.</p>
<p>I know U Pitt & Penn State offer buses to a Philly suburban bus station during peak travel dates. UA told us they do a shuttle to the airport and that they are convenient to an Amtrak station. </p>
<p>This is definitely worth asking about. Depending on the part of the country you are in, some of the discount bus companies like Bolt Bus and Megabus might have cheap connections for part of the route.</p>
<p>Unless your child has a health issue that makes travel through airports a big challenge, one change really truly isn’t that big a deal. I wouldn’t eliminate any place from the first list if the only issue is changing flights. </p>
<p>@shoboemom - Two quick comments…in both cases I noted the transportation was not a school run shuttle - - one was a private bus and the other was a commercial bus – but in both cases she school did know that it was available and widely used. </p>
<p>However, if you and your family are not comfortable with that type of distance/difficulty of trip, that is totally fine. You can decide to keep within a certain distance/transportation and stick to it from the start of your search. My S’s guidance counselor wisely suggested that it is good to set these kind of parameters up front and then don’t even look at schools that don’t fall in your guidelines (because inevitably your child will fall in love with that school). And I will admit that when my S was in grad school far away (a flight and a two hour bus ride) we had to think about making his arrangements coming home, traveling to campus was very time consuming, and one year he almost didn’t make it home for Thanksgiving!</p>