<p>S has been accepted to The Ohio State, very excited! Trying to figure out the best, easiest way for MA or New England students to travel back and forth…(school breaks, home visits…) Does OS offer any bus service to major airports or train stations in Ohio?</p>
<p>I can be a little helpful. I am going to guess - I do not know - that it will not be difficult getting from the Columbus airport (Port Columbus International) to Ohio State. My son attends Ohio University which is 90 miles south of Columbus, and the university offers an airport ride. He also took a cab once. Ohio State is closer to the airport than Ohio U. We live in Virginia (DC area) and were clueless when we first started considering transportation. We flies Southwest BWI-CMH. You could do Southwest out of Bradley-Hartford (BDL) with a connection at BWI. My daughter goes to UConn and will visit her brother that way in April.</p>
<p>Flights out of BDL, to my knowledge, will always have a connection.
Flights out of BOS, most likely will too.
No problem getting from airport to campus.
Train service not an option- nothing like in the NorthEast.
Google Ohio State Transportation, I bet something will come up.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at OSU now and we live in NJ. He has flown to and from OSU via Columbus Airport twice now. There are local COTA bus routes to the Columbus airport, but my son has either been able to get a friend to drive him to or from the airport or taken a taxi–it’s less than a 20 minute ride from campus and about $20-$25 each way. He even split a taxi with another student coming into Columbus at a similar time from another city. Flights from Newark Liberty in NJ are frequent, and he does have friends who have caught flights to Columbus from the CT and MA areas with connection in Newark. Hope this helps! And congrats to your son, my son absolutely LOVES Ohio State, couldn’t be happier :)</p>
<p>Tedysmom:</p>
<p>My DS is a 3rd year from the west coast at The Ohio State so he uses the airport a ton. During school breaks Ohio State runs a shuttle from the dorms/campus to the airport and back. Here is the schedule and route. <a href=“http://www.cota.com/assets/Riding-Cota/Schedules/Current/052.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cota.com/assets/Riding-Cota/Schedules/Current/052.pdf</a> All COTA and CABS buses are free to Ohio State students as long as they flash their buck id (which your son will get at summer orientation). The pdf I gave you gives the dates the shuttle runs.</p>
<p>A cab to the airport is easy to catch and costs about $25 one-way. My son would just call it to come pick him up from his dorm. By my son’s sophomore year his friends with cars would give him rides to the airport. </p>
<p>The best airline for a college student is Southwest. More flexibility with fares and no charge for up to two suitcases. When I took my son out freshmen year we each had two suitcases filled with his things and I had a suitcase that could be carried on the plane that way we maximized the free luggage. We used two duffle bags so that my son could easily store them in his dorm and I brought back the extra suitcases. </p>
<p>A couple of cost savings tips:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Save up those Bed Bath and Beyond coupons you get in the mail. Over the summer you can go to BBB and pick out what you want for the dorm etc. BBB will ship it to their store on Lane Ave for free. The Lane Ave store is very close to campus and they accepted a ton of our saved coupons when we went to pay and pick up the items. A nice way of not having to hassle with figuring out how to ship things bulky like pillows and blankets. </p></li>
<li><p>The Container Store ships to their store in Easton Mall for free too. Our Container Store had a “college night” event over the summer. We received a 30% off coupon to use that night. They had dorm room displays and giveaways plus refreshments. They would announce where everyone was going to college. We picked out things and paid for them that night and The Container Store shipped them to their store in Columbus which is about 20 minutes from campus. (Easton is a great mall by the way). Again it saved us a ton on shipping things. Anything that didn’t work out for the dorm room could be returned to both stores. In April sign up on Container Store’s website for their college related mailings. </p></li>
<li><p>Be sure your son signs up to be an “OWL” Ohio Welcome Leader. [OWL</a> Move In Details : University Residences and Dining Services](<a href=“Articles : Housing and Residence Education”>OWL Move In Details : Housing and Residence Education) OWLs are incoming freshmen who get to move in 3 days early at no additional cost. They have their own special orientation and programs. Their main job is to help other freshmen move into the dorms. My son got to operate the elevator including having President Gee ride the elevator with him for 15 minutes. Our regional admission rep told my son that out of state students should always be OWLs because it helps them adjust to campus easier. You get to move in without the huge crowd and you usually get to pick the desk/bed you want. The transition is just easier and their are plenty of OWLs so you son will not be lonely. My son’s best friends at OSU are still the students he met in OWL. Look in April on the housing website for the OWL application. If you son wants even more involvement on the cheap he can also participate in Camp Buckeye (you sign up for it on the first year experience website). </p></li>
<li><p>If you are going to take him to campus then be sure to reserve a hotel early since the better ones around campus then to fill up. Also the best advice I got was to reserve a vehicle big enough for all the suitcases and things we were picking up. I reserved a small suv and it helped so much since my son’s things would not fit in what I had planned on reserving. </p></li>
<li><p>Sometimes it costs more to bring a bike from home then to buy one at Columbus. We found bikes were reasonably priced at “The Bike Source” which is on High Street and about 5 minutes from campus. If your son has a bike (which I highly recommend) then be sure he registers it with campus police and gets a chip (acts like lowjack) for his bike. [Ohio</a> State University Public Safety: Police, Security and Fire Prevention](<a href=“http://dps.osu.edu/police/programs/]Ohio”>http://dps.osu.edu/police/programs/)</p></li>
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<p>As others have mentioned there is no train service in Columbus. I don’t know about bus service but Southwest was always cheap and ran at good times. Get to know the best routes and always put your son on them (we avoid Chicago Midway at all costs). </p>
<p>Good luck and welcome to the Ohio State family.</p>
<p>WOW…Thanks so much for all of the info!!! Lots to learn about OHIO…Looking forward to it :)</p>