Agree with @OHMomof2 about the parkways. Much nicer. The thing with tolls? IMHO avoiding them in the area around the NYC metro area isn’t worth the trouble or even possible in most areas. The car companies have transponders to deal with it, or sometimes you can make a lot of work for yourself and pay them online (I know they do that in CA for the GGB-- though I tried to do that and the charge still came through the car company-- whatever).
Most tolls today are assessed electronically. Make sure your rental car has an EZ-Pass, and then you don’t need to worry about your route and whether or not it has tolls.
@college_query - Don’t worry unless you don’t want to include tolls in your budget, that is. Some (not so much the ones in upstate NY and the Mass pike) are pretty expensive - crossing the Hudson near NYC for example.And a lot of rental companies charge a daily fee for use of their EZ pass on top of that - from $4 to $21 a DAY (for the entire rental, not just the days actually used) Plus the actual tolls.
@donnaleighg If you use the ez pass without an account from Dollar or Thrifty, for example, crossing the GW Bridge will cost $40. Even with an account NYC to DC is almost $100 in tolls with some companies.
The doc linked here is a real eye opener and necessary reading for anyone who is on a budget on a trip like this -especially in a rental car.
https://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/documents/Fast_Fees.pdf
Personally I own an ezpass and bring it into rental cars with me. But I doubt someone coming from Alaska on a short trip wants to bother with that, indeed you can lose money if you are only using it the one trip as most top-up automatically.
@Dustyfeathers - The two kids my son knows best who are attending Ithaca College each are doing so on a merit scholarship that covers four years not only of tuition but also of room and board, plus major-related equipment.
If the OP is the strong student the list of other colleges implies, it is possible that the OP may receive a merit scholarship.
I agree that need-based aid is better elsewhere.
That is nuts. When we let Alamo bill us for the GGB in California, I think they tacked on something like $4 to the toll. (Of course the GGB, like more and more bridges in the NYC area, doesn’t have a toll-booth option). I do recall when we went through the Alamo kiosk at SFO we spent a good 5 minutes declining every possible thing they wanted to upsell us on. It got to be a bit hilarious after awhile. Do you want a baby seat? A ski rack? A trailer hitch? A bike rack? GPS? Sirus Radio? A discount on drive-through McDonalds? (That last one is a joke).
Man I love my Hertz Gold membership @donnaleighg - go to the lot, pick whatever car I want and don’t speak to anyone!
(I suspect they kill it on the ezpass fees also, but as I said I have my own).
I was in SF recently and did the GG bridge which is on a different system than the east coast and also has no toll booths and I just got a bill in the mail. The Mass Pike works that way too now, but to get to Amherst it’s easy to avoid if you want to. IMO 2 is much prettier, I take it a lot just for that reason when I am up there.
Sorry, but what are Parkways? And how would I know I’m driving on one? Modern urban life is too much for this small town girl! I will investigate using Google maps without tolls though. If avoiding tolls takes longer but the drives are less stressful and prettier, I’m all for that option. I guess if I do end up on a toll road, I’ll just pay the fee through the car agency and not stress it.
We won’t be going into NYC at all. Some day I’d like to visit there again, but will use public transport plus taxi or whatever and not drive. All of you who do drive there will thank me for not doing so! I visited years ago, in the scary 80s and stayed at the YMCA in Manhattan. I remember riding the subway out to the bronx to visit a friend, and when I got down to the station, I couldn’t figure out where to go because the wall maps were all defaced! I also remember stepping over sleeping bodies lying on the sidewalk downtown.it was all sort of an apocalyptic nightmare, especially after living in Europe and traveling to France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Italy without fear or any real difficulty, except occasional catcalls. Great signs to help, friendly people everywhere, just all really civilized. Then coming back to the U.S. and yikes!
@granolakrunchr I’m NYC-area born and bred.
- Why do you want to avoid toll roads? On the east coast, all the way down to Florida, it is normal. Not at all "1960s." To avoid them will be WAY more trouble than it's worth. You have too much else on your mind. The NYS Thruway, which is the road you'd travel to/from Skdmore/toward NYC, is a toll road. I would not recommend driving NYC/NJ to Saratoga any other way. Just pay the toll. Bridges have tools too. Earlier you said you were willing to take puddle-jumper flights from place to place. That would be WAY more expensive than driving and paying tolls.
- It will be worth it to sign up for a New York State EZ Pass account. Put it on the dashboard or your rental car. You can use it in Massachusetts, NJ, CT, and PA too. https://www.e-zpassny.com/en/home/index.shtml
- Upthread you said you'll be the only one driving and navigating. Why? What about your son? Can he drive? It is A LOT of driving for one person. Plus, the navigating. If your son does not know how to read a map, read road signs, use a GPS, I suggest he start learning now. If he's qualified for these schools, he is capable. It will be too much for one person. I am a very experienced driver all up and down the east coast, cities and rural areas, and I would not want to do it without a passenger helping me navigate unfamiliar areas. (Combined with avoiding toll roads -- which are the EASIEST roads to navigate -- not a great idea IMO).
- Parkways are limited-access roads that do not allow trucks. They are prettier than your typical highway, and many of them are very narrow. Google Robert Moses and you will know what a Parkway is. They are only in the NY area, not other areas of the east coast. Examples of Parkways are: Taconic State Pkwy, Sprain Brook Pkwy, Bronx River Pkwy, Grand Central Pkwy, Garden State Pkwy. (And a bunch on Long Island, the Parkway capital, but you won't be going there.) Lovely to drive on (except one section of the GSP), but often narrow and curvy. Also note that the words Expressway, Thruway, and Turnpike mean a highway that allows trucks.
- You should know that the Tappan Zee Bridge is now called the Mario Cuomo Bridge. You may see signs referring to it by either one of those names.
To clarify, we won’t be driving near, into or out of NYC, NJ, or PA. My plan is to fly into Albany, and visit Skidmore, Amherst and Vassar. I thought about Ithaca College, but it is expensive without the prestige of the other schools, so imo not worth spending our savings for, when a western state school may be just as good and cheaper. Plus it’s another day of driving.
That’s about all we will have time for at this point, since we’re making a stopover in the MN area to look at several schools there, including Carleton and Macalester. I’m sorry to skip Haverford, but it’s just too far. He may still apply, but we will figure that out later on.
I think we may be able to stick to minor roads and if they’re more scenic than bigger busier roads, it’s worth an extra half hour. I don’t mind narrow and twisting, it’s the quick lane changes at 80mph I’d prefer to avoid. With a rental car a 17year old cannot drive, so I’m the only driver. And this kid definitely doesn’t know how to navigate. It’s not a skil, you learn here! If he matriculates at a northeast school and stays In the area after graduation, he will have to learn then. That won’t be the only big city skill he would have to learn. Things like personal security, locking residence and hotel doors, knowing where not to go in a city - these are things we don’t have to think about. I have confidence in my kids’ ability to adapt wherever they go, it’s just what you do!
Both my kids know how to build a fire, dress for minus 40, deal with a five day power outage, use an outhouse, how to behave when confronted with a bear or moose…at least they won’t be the ones taking suicide selfies next to wildlife in a national park! But cities…they have a lot to learn. I don’t have to teach it all.
Ah – totally forgot about the rental car issue! Check into whether ZipCar will allow him to drive the care. Another bonus would be no additional fees for returning it to a different location. And a lot cheaper overall.
The drive from Saratoga to Amherst on non-toll roads will be beautiful!
We aren’t supposed to drive 80 on a lot of these roads. It’s 65 max.
Some of your alt routes will take about the same time off the toll roads. But you can go bonkers stopping at red lights every so many miles.
Can you give the order in which you want to visit colleges? And realize you sometimes can’t do 2 tours in one day, depending on hours and distance.
Ack, every time I think I have a plan something doesn’t work. I want to try to do this right; we didn’t do it right with number one son, and he’s unhappy at his choice, which we never visited. So hoping to do better this time.
It turns out that both Skidmore and Amherst are closed when we are able to visit, during our spring break. The only other option would be summertime, when everything is closed, or at least not regular students and classes in session. We may just visit both anyway and self tour. But meeting some students would sure be nice.
Our parameters are so narrow it’s kind of challenging to find appropriate schools. Son is transgender male, so an accepting environment generally is vital. Of course there will be homophobia everywhere but need the overall atmosphere to be supportive. Hoping for challenging academics, kid is 5th in their class with 4 APs right now. Not too big, no frats. Absolutely no frats.
Please don’t chime in with suggestions for frat schools. I know people mean well, but honestly, how many frats say “we welcome transgender members!” It’s just not going to work. If we’d have to take a safe state school, then frats are inevitable at most larger schools, but that’s a last resort.
All that said, other schools in the area must now be considered since we can’t see two on our list.
What do you mean by “closed”? Not giving formal tours or info sessions? School is on spring break?
Also, FWIW, how much research have you done on the potential comfort level of transgender students at Amherst? The sports teams there essentially function as frats and everything that goes with that.
What possible major?
Amherst does have the reputation of being a gay friendly school.
Major may be English, creative writing for drama or fiction, or biology.
@granolakrunchr I’m NJ born and raised and the Garden State Parkway is Exit 0 Cape May (beautiful) and top of the state is Exit 172. Yes it is busy especially in the summer (as I get older I avoid summer parkway driving). And I have a family member who takes routes to avoid tolls!
Spring break is a busy college visit time for most colleges, with or without classes going on. March 9-18 there are no official tours or sessions, that’s true. You canself tour and they have maps and stuff, but I get it’s not the same.
But, Amherst does not “close” - many students leave for spring break but some also stay - they don’t close the dorms or dining hall. Probably better than summer, when there are also some students around (working, doing summer research) but also a bunch of high school camps and whatnot.
I was the sole driver for last summer’s college tour trip with just my son. He didnt have his license at the time and has a horrible sense of direction. It’s a great bonding time! We drove from NoVA up through DE to PA, up to upstate NY for RPI over to RIT, down to OH then 10 hours home after that. It’s not the most relaxing but can be done.
PA -getting in/out of Philly -was my least favorite part and an EZ Pass will make your life so much easier. Upstate NY was gorgeous in July! Check on rush hours where you might be driving. Some areas start earlier than you’d think. Plan breaks and have something to look forward to in places along the way. We enjoyed finding and trying local restaurants.
S19 saw Carleton on a separate trip and it’s one of his favs. Being on trimesters is about the worst I’ve heard about it. S was surprised how his opinions changed once he visited, even during the slow summer.
Good luck with your search!
I think avoiding driving wastes too much precious time that could be spent visiting colleges. Amtrak is expensive slow and most often late.
For the most part I like @millie210’s instructions though I recommend flying to Hartford if Amherst is your first stop, it’s about an hour closer. Bradley International Airport in Hartford is a major airport that you can certainly get to directly from which ever hub your Alaska flight goes into, whereas Albany has unreliable puddle jumpers and you might need a third leg.
You live in Alaska so you’re going to need connections and a one way rental. Fly to a big city Hartford or Philly, get a one-way rental on carrentals.com and follow the instructions given by @millie210.
Don’t let people scare you about the driving. I live in Boston and yes if you have to drive through the streets of Boston it can be shall we say entertaining, but you will be driving from Airports mostly on highways. While Boston drivers are terribly aggressive and often less than skilled, even if you flew into Boston and headed out the Massachusetts Turnpike, you will not experience Boston city driving at all. Driving through New York on the Saw Mill or Henry Hudson parkway is not that bad, and going over the George Washington Bridge from the Henry Hudson parkway is usually not that bad either. For a Boston driver like me, driving in Philadelphia is just not competitive. The Philadelphia area has very courteous and patient drivers. Philadelphians wait in line in the correct lane without cutting through the left turn only lane to go straight. I mean, really, who does that?
“…without cutting through the left turn only lane to go straight. I mean, really, who does that?”
Shaking my head…eyes rolling back in my head…popping aspirin now.