<p>This is actually a godchild of the last thread. My daughter is an incoming freshman, coming from New York. As someone else mentioned, the transportation thing seems way more challenging than Paris, more like inter-gallactic travel (isn't NASA working on a shuttle for Mars?!). I never would have thought of flying my D from Portland, were it not for the last thread, for instance.
So here's my question for all you veterans: Do students typically leave early for Thanksgiving, ie Thursday night, skip Friday classes? And is everyone really, really back that Sunday? Is there any chance of getting a ride to Seattle or Portland? We are just beginning to learn what we don't know!Thanks.</p>
<p>Here's this (last? ;)) year's academic calendar.</p>
<p>2007</a> - 2008 Academic Calendar</p>
<p>As you can see, Thanksgiving break lasted from the 16th (the Friday before) to the 25th (Sunday after). The dorms remain open for that break, so students can leave whenever they want. </p>
<p>With that much of a buffer (6 days to get there, 3 to get back), it hasn't been a problem for me to get home for the big dinner and then get back in time for class.</p>
<p>As shown in the link from the last reply to the other thread, there are two way shuttles to Portland, Seattle and Pasco. With three airports possible, several days to allow for travel, and months to get tickets, I really don't think it'll be a problem for your daughter to get home for Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>One other advantage to flying in and out of Portland is that the drive to campus is actually shorter than from Seattle and this winter I-90 was closed sooooo often for avalanche control while I-84 along the river has very little snow.
My suggestion - buy the bus ticket for Thanksgiving so that you know she's set and can make the plane reservations early; then see how that goes before deciding about Christmas. Lots of students come from the Seattle area so there's a good chance of finding a ride.</p>
<p>The shuttle buses to Portland really do work well and after the first year the kids have an amazing network of ride-catching with each other. My son is finishing his second year and it all seems to work smoothly somehow. And they really are so busy on campus that there doesn't seem to be a lot of need to get out of town except for the major breaks. Winter and spring breaks are also lengthy enough that it seems worth it if they do come on home.</p>