Day trip from NYC to a major university
 

I'll be in Manhattan with my family for a week at Christmas and we're thinking of breaking the time up with a day trip to somewhere else. I'm leaning towards a train ride to Philadelphia (I like history and have never been there) but I think my kids (18 and 16) would prefer to see one of the major universities. So I'm assuming I'm going to lose that one and that we'll take a train ride out to one of the campuses.

I know very little about US universities (I'm Australian). I've looked at the websites for Princeton and Yale and they both look like they'd be great to visit, especially Yale. I'm just wondering if anyone has any recommendations, for either of those or for another campus within reach of NYC?

Most campuses will be closed from just before Christmas until at least the New Year. Other than walking around and looking at the outside of most buildings on campus, I can't imagine there is much reason to go at that time. Sorry.

According to their websites, Yale and Princeton both still have tours up to a couple of days before Christmas, so I think we're OK timewise. We're in NYC from 18-26 Dec.

Princeton is much easier to reach than Yale. But what DebitNM says is true. Universities are totally closed over the holidays. All the more reason to visit Princeton, which s much more of a picturesque town than New Haven and even has decent shopping and restaurants downtown. Then of course there is one of the great Universities right in NYC ... Columbia. Not really sure why you'd need to travel an hour or more.

You can easily make everyone happy. Go to Philadelphia on the train. You'll get off at 30th ST station which is located in the University City neighborhood. The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn, like Princeton and Yale is one of our Ivy League universities) and Drexel University are next door to each other and blocks from 30th St.

Both campuses will be a little quiet but UPenn, especially, is gorgeous and the neighborhood is a shopping mecca for that age group. There are also museums and a lot of great restaurants there. You could spend the day in that neighborhood but if you still want to visit the historic area, it's easy to get to by train, taxi, bus, or subway.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten..._Page&code=PHL

www.septa.org

www.upenn.edu

http://www.penn.museum/

www.universitycity.org

www.gophila.com

Princeton has one of the most beautiful campuses and is accessible by NJ Transit. Columbia is a top 5 university and just a subway ride away, but it is in an urban setting.

NYU is not ranked as highly as the Ivy League School above and is also an urban campus but has one of the best film (Tisch), business, and law schools in the country.

Among the graduates from the film school are Oliver Stone, M. Night Shyamalan, Joel Coen, Ang Lee, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Jim Jarmusch.

NYU has swallowed up many properties and owns many buildings around Washington Square Park which attacts a decidedly electic crowd and the Washington Mews, a quiant street that harkens to by gone eras that few tourists visit.

Been to all of these colleges (I'm a college counselor). Go to Princeton. So easy on NJ Transit-get off at Princeton and you're right there on campus. It's absolutely beautiful and a great tour, too.

Princeton is great but Columbia has a campus and it is right here in Manhattan.

Columbia, Barnard and NYU should fit the bill for the kids of a major Unversity visit. There's also Hunter College and City University and a few other colleges and Universities in the City as well.

The kids will LOVE the area around NYU and a little further east try the lower East Side around Astor Place and St. Marks Place just off 3rd Ave around 8th St, lots of fun shopping and college age area.

Have a great time while you are here.

First of all, there are a bunch of schools actually IN NYC. Granted most have city type campuses - but others -like Columbia, a top-rated school, actually do have campuses. For the highest-rated campus (not school, but campus) in the US head to Princeton. It's gorgeous - but unlike most schools in the US. You can get a train to Princeton - not sure if you need a cab or what form there. Yale, while a great school, is located in New Haven - which has pleasant parts - but also rather gritty ones.

And I can;t emphasize too highly that Princeton is not at all representative of the many, many hundreds of colleges and universities in the US.

Also - unless you have been to NYC before - I really wouldn;t spend a whole day going to look at an empty college - when you could be doing much more interesting things in the City. Not sure why kids would want to look at a school they will never go to.

I think the answer here depends on what you and your kids hope to get out of the university visit. Is the idea to soak up some ambience and history at one of America's most famous and prestigious universities? Or to have a look at some collegiate architecture? To hang out a little in a college town and perhaps see what student life is like?

We don't have any formal system for ranking universities, but if the attraction is history and prestige, then Yale and Princeton would rank well above all of the other institutions mentioned above. As has been mentioned, the train to Princeton will drop you off right in the middle of campus. The campus is gorgeous and idyllic, one of the most beautiful American college campuses I've ever seen, and one of the most suggestive of Hogwarts Academy. However, unless you're lucky enough to get some fresh snow, the bare trees and dead grass will make the scenery kind of drab and gray, relative to other seasons, and it could be a little boring. The town of Princeton is safe, peaceful, and pleasant to walk around in, but it's quiet and suburban, without a whole lot of activities, compared to everyplace else mentioned.

Yale, on the other hand, also has lots of beautiful collegiate gothic architecture, but it's sort of incongruously plunked in a town that's a bit famous for being ugly, gritty, and depressing. Nevertheless, New Haven is a much livelier town than Princeton, and there's more to do there besides seeing the University.

Columbia is another member of the famous Ivy League, but it would not usually be considered among the top five universities in the Ivy League, let alone in the U.S. I'm not sure a visit to Columbia would offer too much. It has that main quad that's kind of nice, but otherwise I'd say the area feels mostly like just another part of New York, and it's not one that most tourists would want to visit.

I would definitely second travelbuff's recommendation of the area around NYU. NYU is a large university, but it's not one of America's "major" ones, in terms of fame or prestige. It also doesn't have a campus per se, just buildings scattered around an area that's centered near Washington Square Park. One doesn't feel like one is walking around a university there. However, the NYU area is lots of fun, for tourists and New York residents of all ages, especially those around 16-18 years old, and it's heavily infused with collegiate energy. This might be your best chance to experience a college student vibe in the middle of Christmas vacation. The nearby East Village, West Village, and Lower East Side are great destinations too. NYU might or might not suffice as a university visit, but don't miss Greenwich Village!

I would think that Penn could be a good choice, as you were interested in visiting Philadelphia anyway. I haven't been to Philadelphia for more than a quick trip in years. I vaguely recall the Penn campus as being very pretty, situated in an area that had some parts that seemed lively and fun, and others that seemed ugly and perhaps unsafe. That was a long time ago -- seek others' more update information about Penn.

Maybe you should add more about what you are looking for in a college visit...is there a chance that your kids might want to apply someday? Do you want to see art galleries/libraries/great architecture?

You've gotten a lot of good information here about visiting East Coast colleges, but I think Birdie's suggestion of combining your interest in Philadelphia with a campus tour of the University of Pennsylvania is the best because everyone will get a chance to see/do something of interest to them.

As a parent who has done many college campus visits with my kids, I know that if you visit when classes are not in session, you do not get any real feel for the university or university life. Even though a campus may be lovely in appearance, it isn't going to have any real "life" during late December because all the students will be gone; classes will not be in session; the dorms will be closed; etc. If you focus your day trip out of NYC exclusively on a college campus visit, I think you will all be somewhat disappointed.

Please note that Columbia was recently ranked fourth by the US News and World Report Annual Survey.

And many of NYU's graduate programs are top ten.

Sorry - Columbia is top Ten on the list of anyone you can think of. And the entire area around it is interesting (if you don;t like Morningside Heights - that's fine - but it's certainly an interesting view of what a college campus can be.). And while NYU isn't Ivy - it's a top-rated university and has some graduate programs that are unmatched.

I still don;t get why these kids would want to see a US college campus - since there are so many and they are so different. And agree that without students - there's not that much to see do.

Columbia is defintely on most "top" lists.

Another school that might be interesting, although totally unknown to many is Swarthmore, outside Philadelphia. One of the top ranked colleges in America (academically) and their entire campus is an arboretum. Lots of big stone buildings to admire as well.

Personally, i'd just go to Columbia. it's easy to get there, and looks like an Ivy league school. Because it is in the city, there will actually be people out and about on the campus, even if it is closed for Christmas.

"Sorry - Columbia is top Ten on the list of anyone you can think of."

Sorry, but that's false. If necessary, I'm willing prove it, by posting the name of the person I just thought of. Columbia is a fine place, and I'd consider it a privilege to study or teach there. It has many highly regarded graduate and professional schools, including a law school that is solidly established in the second tier of American law schools, among the traditional "top five" quoted to me by many lawyers. But its undergraduate college isn't generally among the more prestigious or competitive in the Ivy League. And NYU isn't "top rated" in anything other than the arts. Either easily fits the description of "major university," but the OP's mentioning Yale and Princeton suggests that he or she is thinking of a different sort of place.

As others have noted, it's not entirely clear what kind of an experience the OP is looking for. And I agree that visiting any of these places during winter vacation won't really convey much of an impression of American college life. Nor will the more scenic campuses be particularly scenic in winter. Without knowing more about what the kids are looking for, I'd be inclined to recommend skipping the trips to Princeton and New Haven, doing a visit to Philadelphia that includes a stop at Penn, and then spending ample time walking around Greenwich Village, which will be a great time for everyone.

OK, so it's not on hawksbill's top 10 list - it's on everyone else's!

Penn, Princeton and Yale would all be great choices from the standpoint of seeing great university architecture, but, as noted, there won't be a college "ambiance" during the holidays (at Columbia either, so you should probably choose one that is just one part of your reason to visit, which would rule out both Yale and Princeton).

FWIW, when my son visited Stanford the first time, it was "dead". He would have decided against attending had a family friend not insisted he come back on a Tuesday that classes were in session. I can't tell you how different it was!

Wonder where the OP went....

I am staying out of the "what school is better" debate but wanted to jump in to clarify that the train to Princeton doesn't leave you off in the middle of campus. You take Amtrak or NJTransit to Princeton Junction and then transfer to the Dinky to get to campus.

Also, I disagree that University City in Philadelphia is anyone's shoping mecca. There are shops along Walnut and Chestnut, but visitors' expectations should be managed.

For those of you who care about such things:

Law Schools
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsa...s/law-rankings

Business
Schoolshttp://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings

Economics
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsa...omics-rankings

I guess everything is in the eye of the beholder. And I can;t imagine that a school being ranked #4 or #6 nationwide is going to affect whether visitors from Australia want to see it. Anyone who can;t admit that Columbia and NYU are nationally top institutions - isn't considering the many many hundreds of schools that are lucky to be accredited - plus all the excellent, superior, good, moderate, etc in between.

Granted some schools specialize in certain disciplines - and Columbia isn;t MIT - but if you're going to be an attorney or a journalist you definitely want the former - not the latter. And I think I know a little about it - with family graduated from or in at the moment: Yale, Yale law, Harvard law, Stamford, Wharton, Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, Princeton - plus "no name" schools like UCLA, Cornell and Northwestern.

The point is that there are dozens of schools at which you can obtain an excellent educaiton if that is your goal. Also - that anyone can get through any school without doing any work or learning anything - look at George Bush at Yale.

MLTimes, I was considering the Dinky to be a train, and that's the one that ends up right on campus. But it's a good point, one has to switch trains one time to get from New York to Princeton. That isn't necessary when visiting Yale, although it's then a short trip to get from the main New Haven train station to the heart of Yale.

U.S. News and World Report keeps publishing these lists, as their main remaining claim to supposed relevance. There aren't any real competing lists, as far as I know, and that combined with their pseudoscientific "data analysis" gives them sort of an appearance of authority. They're nonsense, with no more authority than an Entertainment Weekly list of the ten hottest reality show celebrities. I'm not going to try to talk anyone out of reading them, if they don't otherwise know anything about the institutions that appear on that list, or have access to someone who has set foot in them. But please, <i>please</i> do not actually choose a college or graduate school based on those lists, or allow a loved one to do so. People get harmed that way.

Maybe the OP will come back after work, Australia time...

No one chooses a college from those "lists" but if you are arguing whether Columbia is on any of the "Lists", well...you were shown those lists, and it is on each of them.

Show us another "list" without it.

Or do you have a secret friend who has a special list??

hawksbill, Keep back pedaling, because if you turn and run, the view would be... sad.

Hi Everyone, thanks so much for all your replies. This thread is a really good example of why this forum's so great. It sounds like of my original options Princeton is the way to go although I think I'll investigate Columbia as well.

A little more about us: my 18-year-old has just completed his first year at university here in Melbourne and is very interested in just getting a feel for one of the great American colleges. Like most universities, Melbourne Uni has a wide range of exchange programs including to the US and so I thought it might just pique his interest a bit to have a look around. My 16-year-old has 2 more years of high school but is quite academically inclined and loves the US so I think she'll be interested as well.

This will be my fifth visit to NYC and the third for my wife and kids, so we've done a lot of the most popular activities and sights already. I'm just keeping a few ideas like this up my sleeve in case we hit a point where we fell like getting out of the City for a day.

Thanks again for all the replies. We leave for the US next Saturday and are getting excited!

A final (unrelated) question ... is it impossible to get Book of Mormon tickets or do you just have to be prepared to pay, on one of the reselling web sites?

"I disagree that University City in Philadelphia is anyone's shoping mecca."

I admit it's not KoP but University City has many of the shops that age group likes: Gap, Eastern Mountain Sports, UPenn bookstore, American Apparel, Urban Outfitters. DD and I used to enjoy shopping at Douglas so I'm disappointed to hear that it has left and another makeup store has replaced it.

I'd just like to say that all these colleges and universities are just fine. But I'd like to say a word in defense of Yale.

I am not a graduate of Yale (I went to Brown) but I love going to New haven. Chapel St. In the midst of Yale campus, has two fabulous museums: the Yale Art Gallery, and the British Art Museum, the former being one of the first building that Louis Kahn designed, and the latter being his last. It also has two or more great restaurants, several great shops including a delicious bakery/bookstore, plus the lovely campus, and all of New Haven's history.

Having said that, I also love Princeton campus, and took some courses at UPenn, when we lived in Philadelphia area. I guess the OP can't go wrong.

Taconic, the one thing New Haven DOES have is many excellent restaurants (on Chapel St and elsewhere). The area right around the Yale campus is great, the problem is it deteriorates very quickly.

In case Princeton does not work out, there is always a possibility of a trip to Poughkeepsie!




http://admissions.vassar.edu/visit.html

You can absolutely get tickets for Book of Mormon - but expect the price to be extremely high. Ask the concierge in your hotel - or check out prices on stubhub.com - a reliable reseller of all types of tickets.

And if you;'ve already been to NYC several times then the idea to head out to a university makes a lot more sense.

I don't think you should necessarily think you can get Book of Mormon tickets at this late date during the Christmas season for any price. This is the busiest time of the year for travel to NYC, and it's sure to be sold out. It's possible perhaps for a weeknight if you are willing to pay $600 or more per TICKET. But really no play---regardless of how great it is---is worth this, even for a "once in a lifetime" trip (in my opinion).

But there are a lot of great shows out there, many with premium seats in the $300 per ticket range, especially if you are willing to go on a weeknight or matinee. But a weekend is probably not possible at all.

Ekscrunchy, I can't believe you brought up Vassar! Why didn't I think of that?? My office is across the street!! I certainly know all the restaurants, but if people think New Haven deteriorates quickly, they should really come to Poughkeepsie! Well, the Arlington section, where Vassar is, is really quite OK, and BabyCakes is a really good casual restaurant, but after the little gem of the Frances Loehman Loeb Art Gallery on campus, there's not much else to see.

pm_mteliza, it sounds like you got the information you need. It will of course be tough to get a great sense of American college life by visiting during a vacation, but looking around and taking a tour is certainly better than nothing. Enjoy your trip!

I apologize for lcuy and coolcamden, who are apparently just kind of being nasty today and don't have anything constructive or even intelligible to say.

Contrary to popular belief, my secret friend ranks Columbia #2 in America. However, he's an alumnus, so he's biased, and he would have said #1 except that his secret wife went to Michigan and he's afraid of her. There are some other top five lists that don't include Columbia, though:

Academic Ranking of World Universities 2011: #7 (among U.S. institutions)
Forbes list of America's Best Colleges: #13
Times Higher Education World University Rankings: #9 (among U.S. institutions)
QS University Rankings 2011: #6 (among U.S. institutions)
StudentsReview: (not in top 50)
Hispanic Magazine's Top 25 Colleges for Hispanics: #9
PC Magazine's Top 20 Wired Colleges: (not in top 20)
University Rankings by Academic Performance: #12 (among U.S. institutions)
Webometrics University Rankings: #12 (among U.S. institutions)
High Impact Universities Research Performance Index: #11 (among U.S. institutions)
SCImago Institutions Rankings 2011: #8 (among U.S. universities)
Annual Compendium of Comparative Awesomeness, by this guy I know named Dave: #15

http://www.arwu.org/
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/94/...eges_Rank.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_H...rsity_Rankings
http://www.topuniversities.com/unive...-rankings/2011
http://www.hispaniconline.com/Hispan...5Colleges.html
http://www.studentsreview.com/top_50...s_ranking.php3
http://www.urapcenter.org/2011/country.php?ccode=US
http://www.scimagoir.com/pdf/sir_201...rn_america.pdf
[Dave asked me not to post his email address, sorry]

Maybe late to the thread but we're visiting family in NJ for the Thanksgiving weekend and spent today in Princeton (my first time.) What a marvelous campus and town! Absolutely worth the trip.

We had dinner at the Triumph Brewing Company - http://www.triumphbrewing.com/princeton/ - which was very good indeed.

Are the "kids" paying for this trip? If not, go where you want to go. They will learn things in Philadelphia that they may find interesting.

Seriously, what does who's paying for the trip have to do with the price of fish? When we travel with our kids, we pay -- we still like to do things that everyone is interested in.

TT: What a coincidence!

The Vassar campus is beautiful and there are many buildings by notable architects, including Noyes House, designed by E. Saarinen.


http://admissions.vassar.edu/tour/no...ial_noyes.html



It really should be a popular daytrip destination from NYC!

TT: Sorry, I just read your post again. I see that the impression of Poughkeepsie has not improved much since my days there! I suppose my ideas of a daytrip might not be taken up by many! Oh, well.

Do you work at the school?