<p>We are traveling from the Midwest to visit Primceton and Upenn. Would it be possible to visit bith in the same day? We would arrive the night before and start at Princeton with a self tour and information session. Would need to be to Upenn by 1:00 for their information session. Are we trying to do too much in one day?</p>
<p>Yes you are trying to do too much. But if you don’t insist on making that 1PM session you can still get a sense of both schools in one day.</p>
<p>What time is the info session at Princeton?</p>
<p>Yes too much, You really should take more time for each school. Made that mistake with my first college bound child.</p>
<p>If the Princeton info session is in the early morning, then it is logistically possible. If you are doing the self guided tour at Princeton, can you do that the evening before when you arrive? Also, that evening you can walk around the downtown area adjacent to Princeton’s campus and get a feel for the night life. After the info session, you can head over to Penn for the afternoon info session and tour. </p>
<p>They are only about an hour apart and you won’t be driving it during rush hour. During the ride, in between the two write down your thoughts and notes on Princeton, then do the same after Penn so you don’t mix up what you liked and didn’t about each school. Of course if you can do one a day you can spend more time, but those two schools are close enough that you can do it in a day if pressed.</p>
<p>Being tight on time like this, you might want to grab lunch at one of the food trucks at Penn when you arrive rather than stop at a restaurant.</p>
<p>Driving between Princeton and Penn is about 45 minutes, but I would plan on an hour-plus given the need to find parking, and possible traffic, etc. So the two questions are: (1) Can you leave Princeton before noon? and (2) Do you have to go to the 1:00 information session at Penn?</p>
<p>You ought to be able to see Princeton in 3 hours or so. It’s actually pretty compact (and also really beautiful). I would definitely recommend taking a tour if you can rather than self-guiding. The information sessions are really generic – if you are going to miss something, miss that, although the tours are probably scheduled to lead into or out of the info sessions.</p>
<p>You can also see Penn perfectly well starting at 1:00 or 2:00. Again, a tour is a necessity with Penn, because you will want to see lots of the nooks and crannies that aren’t obvious, and if you don’t see those you may think Penn is just a noisy, traffic-laden urban campus.</p>
<p>That’s not to say that you won’t have information overload trying to see two major universities in the same day. You will. It’s not the optimal way to see them. But if it’s what you have to do, I think it’s do-able.</p>
<p>I have to agree with JHS regarding the tour vs. the info session. I always found the tours more beneficial than the info sessions. The tour guides and web page can cover most things discussed in the info sessions but to get a feel for the school the tour is better. </p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for the responses. Would like to have more time at each, but only have so much time during the trip. So, either need to just do one or try to fit both in the one day. The schedules for each are as follows:</p>
<pre><code> 10:00 Princeton Information Session
11:15 Princeton Tour
1:00 UPenn Information Session
2:00 UPenn tour
</code></pre>
<p>If we tried to do them on the same day would either need to skip the Princeton Tour or UPenn information session. From what has been posted, would probably skip the UPenn information session and try to catch both tours. We will have some time the night before to explore Princeton if we decide to try for both. Would also have a few hours at UPenn after the tour. Although, it may be an information overload.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Honestly, this may be an unpopular opinion, but after having gone through undergrad and applying to grad school, I would say you really only should feel compelled to visit a place if you think you might apply ED. The reality is that is so hard to predict where you will be admitted anyway. It can be helpful to visit, but I think it is more efficient to visit after you get admitted for the preview days.</p>
<p>Skip the Penn info session. The student guide will tell you most of the info any way on the tour and you can get the rest of the info from the website or brochure, or even here, on CC!</p>