<p>Planning on going over spring break (D-hs Jr) to see Tufts, BU, and Brandies. Thought we could do Tufts and BU in one day, then Brandeis next day before driving home. Any thoughts on this as well as good place to stay over night? Thanks</p>
<p>We visited BU and Tufts last summer. If I had to do it again, I would definitely go when the schools are in session. Seeing the students and interacting with them are very important. We did BU one day and Tufts the next. You can probably do them the same day if you do the a.m. session at one and the p.m. session at the other. Check the web sites to see when the tours/info sessions are offered (assuming that's what you want to do). Tufts is a very quick car ride out of Boston (if no traffic), we found. We stayed at a hotel near the Boston convention center and found that it was too large and too frenetic an environment (and parking was $39 a day). Maybe others will have better suggestions! And the colleges' web sites usually have lists of nearby hotels.</p>
<p>Another tip: For any school visits, make sure you go to the college's web site beforehand and print detailed maps of where you want to go. I don't have such a great sense of direction, I admit. We were able to get TO Tufts from the highway exit following small signs, but we got totally lost trying to retrace our steps after our visit. So we saw more of Medford/Somerville than we had planned (which is bad only if you're running short on time). It's great you're planning ahead!</p>
<p>When we visited Brandeis we stayed at a hotel in Waltham, where Brandeis is located. It may have been a Best Western. Much less expensive to stay in the suburbs, of course, rather than Boston.</p>
<p>My sister stays at this hotel when she's in the Boston area visiting her husband's mom <a href="http://www.hoteltria.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.hoteltria.com/</a></p>
<p>It's located right at the end of route 2 where it enters Cambridge (the Alewife rotary), very convenient to the T (Alewife stop is about 1/2 mile) and to Route 2. Rates are reasonable.</p>
<p>I used Priceline for Boston hotels when S moved into his BU dorm. $75 at Hyatt Regency Cambridge, right across the river.<br>
When I returned to Boston after a quick trip down to DC, I stayed at the Doubletree on Soldiers' Field Road for $70. </p>
<p>The previous summer, we stayed in Boston-- expensive, we stayed at the Radisson downtown, but it was our first trip to Boston and we were staying four days, wanted to be near the sightseeing and action. We toured BU one day, and then took a cab to Waltham to see Brandeis the next day. The cab wasn't cheap, but we took the commuter train back to the city. The train station is right next to the campus.</p>
<p>I'm a student.</p>
<p>I would highly suggest only seeing one school per day, if possible. There is more time to see each school, of course, but it also helps in that the schools don't get mixed up! Seeing a lot of schools in a short period of time makes it more difficult to remember each one; the info sessions and tours start melding together.</p>
<p>The train station for Brandeis is on the commuter line that goes through Porter Square in Cambridge. Porter Square is on the Red Line and is only one stop from Davis Square and the Tufts campus.</p>
<p>I just did this visit the first week of december to see if i wanted to apply to BU or Tufts. Really, really nice city. We stayed at the Hampton inn(pretty generic but extremely cheap when we went.) at the end of the green line(I forgot what stop?). Anyway it was like a hundred feet away from the T and very convenient. Seeing the students in session is alright, you can kind of get a feel for what kind of kid is going to these colleges. I decided that both schools are not me(even though I love Boston), but I hope you have good luck with your search.</p>
<p>another vote for the Hotel Tria referenced above. Its reasonable, very close to Tufts (one or two T stops), you can also take the T from Alewife to BU, and theres a starbucks and whole foods next door, and Summer Shack is good seafood right down the road. good call!</p>
<p>Hampton Inn usually offers free internet also.</p>
<p>This is common knowlege I think if you know Boston, but I wouldnt recommend taking a car at all. The roads are very confusing if you are not familiar with the area and parking is expensive if you can find it. Also cabs are extremely expensive - the T and walking is the best way to go IMO.</p>
<p>The Hampton Inn is a good choice if you have a car and are visiting MIT. Free parking, walking distance( if you like to walk) to campus and reasonable rates.</p>
<p>macnyc: How true that you cannot merely retrace your steps when leaving Tufts! I swear that of the dozens of schools we've visited, Tufts is the most difficult to find and to leave. (And did I mention that my eldest is a student there so we've had plenty of practice?!)</p>
<p>We stayed at Amerisuites in Medford (near Tufts). Very nice. They offer a "Tufts" discount (rooms were $99) but that might only be for parents weekend, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. (My niece is at Tufts)</p>
<p>Daughter auditioned on double bass last year at BU. We wanted a room large enough to let her practice and close enough so that we could walk (with the bass) if the weather in February happened to be nasty. We wound up at the Hotel Commonwealth, which was very nice. They had a special that included a very large room with two beds and valet parking for something like $170 per night. It was a splurge, but worth it for the peace of mind going into the audition.</p>
<p>AKGIRL the Hampton inn is also very close to the T and you can take it to the airport(if you dont mind bringing luggage on the T).</p>
<p>Doing two colleges in the same day is exhausting (especially if you have to deal with Boston traffic), and the second college you visit always suffers as a result. </p>
<p>If at all possible, I would do one a day. Then you can do the info session and tour plus maybe visit a class or two, hang out in the caf or campus coffee shop to eavesdrop, talk with students or coaches or professors, check out the book store or college art museum or running trails or whatever, catch some lunch in a local eatery, etc. Otherwise you get a pretty superficial view of a place where your daughter might be spending four of the most significant years of her life.</p>