What a wealth of choices your daughter has! You must be very proud of her. I am not going to worry about your trip; obviously no matter WHAT happens she has a bright future ahead of her.

I just wanted to emphasize that no matter which way you're going, getting between Princeton and Cambridge is going to take several hours, and it's a route where it's very difficult to avoid traffic.

One thing you can do (there are other threads on this board about this as well) is avoid the I-95 corridor by taking 84.

You have a number of options for getting down to NJ from 84, but wone would be to take 684 down to 287, cross the Hudson River at the Tappan Zee Bridge, then continue on 287 to Rte. 206 in NJ, which will take you right into Princeton.

Or, a little more mileage but sometimes just as good time, stay on 84 until you cross the Hudson up by Newburgh, then take 87 heading south until it runs into 287 in NJ.

If Princeton's her top choice I would definitely want to spend a night there so you can walk around and get a feel for the town. That area has changed a lot (I grew up not far from there and hardly recognize it when I go back) but the town and campus are still very pleasant. They're just not surrounded by countryside anymore.

Regarding the "EasyPass" transponder you already have (I assume issued by Illinois?), it's best if you check the home webpage of your pass and see if it is valid to be used on the East Coast. If it is, you can just use that on your trip and save lots of time bypassing the lines at toll booths (you'll be going thru LOTS of toll booths on this trip!).

Again, when you say 5 days, can you tell us which 5 days you have? Barbara_in_FL has given you a very good plan, but it does take 6 days. I cannot imagine how you can do this trip in less time than that.

Princeton does not have any early decision admissions process, but MIT does. Johns Hopkins' Early Decision policy is the binding type that requires applicants and their parents to sign an agreement guaranteeing that if admitted they will withdraw applications to other schools.

eswmom - now I get it. I didn't realize that she was already accepted. How wonderful! Your trip will be hectic, but definitely exciting. Have a wonderful time with her.

I thought you could apply to only one school early decision and, if accepted, had to go there. Apparently things have changed.

By the way, when I applied to grad school, I never personally visited any of the schools until I admitted. I visited only one of them because I knew I was going there. And, yes, I got wonderful financial aid.

Lauren, you are correct about the commitment requirement attached to the Early Decision process, which is the admissions policy at Hopkins.

Several other schools, including MIT and Harvard, now offer a modified version, often called Early Action, in which applicants can choose to get an early notification on whether their application has been accepted, declined, or deferred to be put in with the regular-date applicant pool. An Early Action decision is merely early; it's not binding on the student in any way.

CP, yes, my DS did go to Stanford (likely the East Coast for law school, however, and he actually has seen the campuses to which he applied, because he visited during the undergraduate application process - hasn't specifically seen the law schools, though). And, of course you're right, you MUST visit if you're going to apply somewhere for binding early admission!

Your best shot for getting from Cambridge to Princeton with minimum is to avoid being near cities between, say, 4pm and 7pm, and before 9am (rush hours).

Since it is pretty much all city/urban between Bos and NYC, this means leaving Cambridge in the morning at 9am (arriving Princeton around 4pm). Or drive on Saturday or Sunday.

sf7307 - funny, mine may end up on the west coast.

love the 6 day plan and it seems viable too. since she is dual enrolled at Univ of Chicago she does not apply the same as an incoming freshman would, this is her second year doing dual enrollment.
thanks again
esw