What information do you expect to get out of these visits and how long do you expect that to take?

Certainly sounds too rushed to me for anything more than a driveby.

Are you doing something organized at Butler, or just wandering around campus? Should be under 1 hour drive time between the two, so it's certainly feasible. But the Butler campus is not very big and I'd think you'd be interested in exploring the Indy area around Butler.

When we toured colleges with our kids, we met with the admissions department, took a student led tour of campus, and sat in on a class, which would take longer than you're allowing--but maybe you don't want to do all that.

I think you'd have time to visit the Butler admissions office and do a campus tour in 2.5 hours, then lunch (I suggest nearby Broad Ripple neighborhood, if you don't want to sample student union fare) and then drive to Greencastle.

The area around Butler is mostly residential, except for the Art Museum. There are walking paths through Holcomb Gardens into Broad Ripple, but I'd say just drive there since you have a schedule to keep.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes - I prefer to do something organized. We're adding Purdue to the list - so I think we will need to extend to 2 days. I didn't realize all three of those schools were so close to each other. If anyone is familiar with any of the campus, I'd love to hear.
I really appreciate the lunch tip in Broad Ripple, capxxx!

The Purdue campus is muuuch bigger and more spread out than the other two -- so yes, I think 2 days would be needed to fit them all in.

I grew up in W. Lafayette (Purdue), and was a student at Butler back in the day -- what would you like to know?

You would need multiple days.

capxxx - my daughter would like a smaller school. She is interested in something medical/health/sciene - so looking at Biochemistry or some type of pre-professional program. She's not interested in a Greek system - doesn't mind if it's on campus - but doesn't want it to dominate the campus. Since you are from the area - I would love to hear your opinion on Purdue, Butler and Depauw. She's looked at Depauw and really likes the website/brochure info. Of the three schools - do you know which might be more generous with merit aid? She has a good ACT score and GPA - so scholarship is another factor in schools she will consider. Any opinions you have - I would be interested to hear.

I'm wondering why you are even visiting Purdue if she wants a smaller school? Enrollment is 40,000.

She'll have a couple hundred students in her Calculus, chemistry, bio and physics lectures. There is no hand holding of any kind - at least that was my experience.
I think Purdue has a much stronger name in the sciences than the other two, but then I am biased.

If she is interested in Med School she should really look at the records of the universitie in terms of how successful they are in placing students in Med School or dental schools. There can be tremendous differnces - and it might not be worthwhile going for more scholarship now - if it will mean harder to get into Med School later.

Well, it was a long time ago, but lets see....

Butler: I had a merit scholarship to Butler that paid full tuition and housing, so yes, I guess they can be generous. Back then the student body was 1/3 greek, 1/3 nongreek, and 1/3 commuter -- I wasn't greek and didn't have the sense they dominated campus life. Butler has a very well-respected Pharmacy program, and there were lots of pre-med students ... I do have the impression that students were well-connected with thinks like internship programs and such, but it wasn't really my area.

I don't know much about Depauw except the schools are rivals, and they have a beautiful campus. Slightly smaller than B.U., I believe.

Purdue is a big land-grant state university, much larger than Butler or Depauw. A very different experience than the other two, but probably very good pre-professional programs and varieties of opportunities.

The science programs in the liberal arts schools tend to have more opportunities for undergraduates to work with professors doing research -- in the big universities the graduate students are doing the research, and often teaching the undergraduate classes.

If she is indeed interested in Purdue, has she also considered IU? Neither are "smaller schools" of course.

I received my undergrad degree and a good education from Purdue. It was a large school then, even larger now I imagine, but it's like any place you live, in that once you settle in, learn your way around, find your niche and your set of friends and acquaintances, it doesn't seem all that big.

My son was all set to attend Notre Dame when he visited Indiana University with a friend. Despite have already been accepted by ND, he did a 180-degree turn-around toward IU and never regretted it. IU's campus is extremely attractive and, despite the size of the enrollment, its physical layout and more compact nature contribute to its appeal.

My son participated in the 6-week summer pre-college session for incoming freshmen, which featured small classes and the opportunity to become personally acquainted with several professors as well as getting to know a small group of fellow students. By the time fall semester started he was well-oriented and comfortably settled in.

Throughout his time at IU he found the class offerings, study-abroad opportunities and help with post-graduation employment were all excellent. His year in Maastricht was enormously interesting and enriching for him, affording him the opportunity to travel widely throughout Europe, and he graduated in four years with a good job waiting for him in Chicago.

He (and we) have no regrets despite the fact that we live in Oregon and had out-of-state tuition and fees for his four years at IU.

Thank you for the great information everyone. I will be sharing all of this with my daughter. Yes - IU has a great reputation. We will have to look at that a little closer as well. A 6 week summer pre-college session is wonderful!