<p>Veruca, I just wanted to also point out that there are the Mass. colleges with the very recognizable names, and then there are many other, very good Tier 2 schools that you may also just want to peek at while you are in the area. Your child could love one of these other schools, or qualify for great Merit aid, etc. A general search on colleges in Mass. will give you tons of names. You can check out the websites to see if any interest you. Just thought I would add this because I have come to realize finally that fit is really more important than the prestige of the school, and many of the lesser known schools are like hidden gems!</p>
<p>Get that Falcon, and lash on some 2x4s to replace the bumpers! Plaster on a dozen fake Cambridge/Boston resident parking stickers and you will scare the heck out of everyone!
Be sure you don’t get stuck with extra fees if you rent at one spot and return at another.
Really, it’s pretty easy to get onto the Pike from Logan. ANd, parking at Alewife, or Riverside would work.
A GPS is a great idea. If you own one, program it with the school addresses before you even leave home. (But also make sure to give it time to figure out where it is when you reconnect it!)
ANd, yes - we have a zillion colleges. It’s not just MIT/Harvard, you know.</p>
<p>Perhaps you could take the T in Boston, then stay at a hotel on the city limits and rent car for Amherst from there. The locals would have to do suggestions on towns.</p>
<p>Veruca, My D is a student in Boston now and 2 years ago I was very nervous driving there as I’m from a small state with hardly any traffic. Now I can drive into and out of Boston pretty easily by myself. It turns out the GPS built into my cell phone keeps me pretty sane, even if I miss an exit or a turn. I just type in the addresses I am most likely to visit before my trip, and I’m ready to go from place A to place B. You can also borrow a GPS from a friend, or if you rent a car from Hertz you can get a NeverLost, which is a Garmin GPS. Plan extra time in your trip to get lost (and then re-found) and you will explore Boston in a new way. I know a lot of new streets in Boston that I wouldn’t have seen or traveled if I didn’t go off course a few times, but it was a fun side trip. Once you get into the heart of Boston (near Boston U, for example) and you find a reasonable parking garage near a T, you should use the T as that will end up being faster, but if you are not familiar with the line (green, blue, etc.) at least know which line your schools are on ahead of time. Once you’re done w/ Boston, hop on Rt. 90 West and listen to the GPS so you stay on track for Amherst. Don’t rely entirely on a GPS, so keep maps and other instructions handy in case your GPS dies or you go through a long tunnel. Good luck on your trip.</p>
<p>When we flew in to visit New England schools, we flew into Harford/Bradley and rented a car.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone
So maybe I can find a hotel close to a T with a parking garage</p>
<p>Which particular schools do you want to visit?</p>
<p>Getting out of Boston from Logan is easy-peasy–straight out on I-90. You may face traffic, but you won’t get lost. Getting out from central Boston or Cambridge can be a serious drag. Woefully inefficient to visit the 5 colleges out in Amherst/Northampton/S. Hadley without a car. Bradley airport in Hartford is 1.5 hours from Amherst, Logan in Boston is 2 hours, but with more flight choices.</p>
<p>CRDad is right. If you provide an itinerary of what you want to visit, you can get really helpful advice and an itinerary. Posters on CC were extremely helpful when we were planning a Boston / Western MA college tour a year ago.</p>
<p>We are still discussing which ones to visit
UMass and Brandeis for sure -Maybe Harvard -just as tourists -she would not be able to get in there.
We are up for suggestions</p>
<p>Veruca…My D and I made this trip together several years ago, and like you, I was nervous about driving in Boston. (My DH is from Boston, so I’ve been there numerous times. The drivers can be a bit…uh…competitive (???) as indicated by others who’ve posted. Unlike where I’m from, they won’t “let” you merge in, smile, and wave.) I did indeed manage, though, and we had a wonderful time. We flew into Manchester, NH and saw Dartmouth. From there, we traveled to Williams and Amherst. We then progressed to the Boston schools (for us it was BC, Harvard, and Tufts). We then drove down to Providence, RI (Brown), Yale, Princeton, and Penn. I agree you should definitely bring a GPS. Also, make sure you have a ton of coins – MA has more tolls than any state I’ve ever been to! If I can do it, anyone can. I hope you have a wonderful trip!</p>
<p>Veruca- for what it’s worth, we did an itinerary last year (for twins) as follows:
Fly into Boston
Mon: Tufts AM, Brandeis PM
Tue: Wellesley AM … Drive out to Clark PM … Continue on to Springfield area to hotel
Wed: Mt Holyoke AM … Smith PM
Thur: Left out of Hartford airport in AM</p>
<p>We never stayed in Boston proper; it worked out best for us to stay in Waltham (Brandeis) and use that as our base for Tufts, Brandeis and Wellesley.</p>
<p>Staying in Waltham is a good plan. </p>
<p>Flying into Boston and out of Hartford is also a good plan. </p>
<p>Actually, flying into Hartford and Flying out of Boston is even better. I would think that it’s much faster to rent a car in Hartford than in Boston, it’s a smaller airport. I usually find good one way rentals on carrentals.com</p>
<p>To jc40’s point about tolls: If you live in a state that has an EZ Pass, check to see whether it works in MA. My (Illinois) i-PASS does work with MA’s system, which is a nice convenience.</p>
<p>EZ Pass works in Massachusetts. (And NJ, Delaware and Pennsylvania.) Probably lots of other places too. :)</p>
<p>If you drive with a GPS, lock car doors whenever the car is parked. They’re very popular and desirable among the reach-in-and-grab civilians, everywhere. </p>
<p>Close sunroof, too. S had a GPS taken through an open sunroof even with locked car doors, while away from car for 5 minutes! H.S. kids crawled right over the hood of the car and left muddy footprints on windshield.</p>
<p>Although a car is needed to enjoy visiting UMass and surroundings during college tour, if she attends there as a student she won’t need one. The 5-college bus is free and frequent. </p>
<p>Also, there used to be a private 2-hour bus for 5-college students only, leaaving from UMass Student Center into downtown Boston and back; twice daily. Is that still there (for registered students, that is, not families)?</p>
<p>Since you asked, more Western Mass colleges to consider: Hampshire College (Amherst), Mt. Holyoke (all female; South Hadley and part of the 5-college consortium) or Clark U (Worcester).</p>
<p>Thanks everyone
I feel much better being armed with first hand -info</p>
<p>If she falls in love with the idea of college life in Boston/Cambridge, in addition to the usual attention-grabbers (Tufts, NOrtheastern, Boston U, Wellesley, Boston College, Brandeis…) I think some might like Lesley College or Emerson, depending on their interests.
[Lesley</a> College - Cambridge, Massachusetts](<a href=“http://www.lesley.edu/lc/]Lesley”>Literacy Collaborative - Lesley University)
[Emerson</a> College](<a href=“http://www.emerson.edu/]Emerson”>http://www.emerson.edu/) in a great part of Boston</p>
<p>To me, the chance to go to any college in/near Boston is so appealing that I recommend she have a “Boston Safety” on her list. I’m also a huge fan of Western Massachusetts.</p>
<p>Happy touring!</p>
<p>If you rent a car, you can request an EZ pass. I highly recommend it! You will avoid waiting in some long lines.</p>
<p>As jc40 mentioned, Boston drivers won’t LET you in. You just have to GO! If you hesitate, they will smell blood, lol. It’s the strangest phenomenon. We drive our Tahoe in Boston on purpose. It’s so big that people won’t mess with us.</p>
<p>Be warned that sometimes the GPS doesn’t work too well in Boston and surrounding cities. The roads are so wacky that it’s easy to take a wrong turn. You’ll eventually find your way, but you have to be patient!</p>
<p>DH and I used to get really frustrated whenever we would visit Boston. Now we’ve learned to laugh about it. There’s no point in getting upset!</p>
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<p>When I lived in Boston the rule in a rotary was - “The right of way goes to the wreck!”</p>
<p>I hope you can find that 1960 Ford Falcon!</p>
<p>Good luck! You can do it!</p>