hhn66

We're from the SF bay area and planning a college tour in July. Schools of interests are UPenn (wharton school of business), MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Brown, MIT, Columbia, and if we have enough time, would like to visit as many of the ivy league schools as possible. We have about 10-14 days. Looking for suggestions / tips on best itinerary and airport to fly into and out of. Also, do the colleges give tours in the summer and are classes in session to visit during this time of the year? Thank You.

IMDonehere

If you omit Carnegie Mellon, the trip is pretty straight forward and do not visit Cornell

Fly into either Philly or Boston and leave from the other. Dartmouth is a bit out of the way, but not that much by car. Besides that you can either drive or use AMTRAK.

Cambridge (Across the river from Boston)-MIT Harvard, then to Providence-Brown, New Heaven-Yale, NYYC- Columbia, and Philly UPenn,

gail

Ivy League schools do not generally have regular summer school, although sometimes there are special sessions/programs going on - but they are nothing like regular classes.

But sitting in on a class for 30 minutes would be way down on my list of important things to take into consideration when deciding on a school.

Why only "Ivy League". Are you aware that Ivy League designation refers to schools belong to a sports conference many, many years ago. Is the applicant interested in urban vs rural; small-medium-large. These are all certainly excellent school - and by adding non-Ivies (already Carnegie Mellon and MIT) to the list you could have hundreds of schools, which is obviously not a good idea either. See a mix of school types. Best advice my kids ever got - "the most elite school you can get in to is not necessarily the best match"

With your 10-14 days on the east coast, I would spend 2-3 days in Boston and see Harvard, MIT and a few other local school. Head to RI to see Brown. Then pick 2-3 schools in some combination of NYC, Philadelphia, and even DC - and decide how to spend the rest of your time. (And I am not knocking Ivy League Schools to be mean - as I am Brown 1976)

Gretchen

Suggest you do it during the school year--a long weekend, spring break, etc.

emalloy

As you come from the west coast, I would want to spend more time at the schools when the weather is not warm. It would give a more realistic idea of what it would be like to trudge from class to class in temperatures in the negative numbers and/or 10 inches of snow. Also what it is like flying to/from school/home with frequent cancellations etc.

That would also give you an idea of what the campus was like when there were regular session classes going on.

nytraveler

A couple of notes:

to someone from CA many schools in the east can be shock in terms of weather. Winters can be long. cold and hard. Of course most student adapt - but it shouldn't be ignored.

Agree that the kids should think about big city versus suburban versus rural. If from SF large cities should not be a problem but issues of small town life should be considered for some.

The kid's potential major or area of interest is very important. Some school just have much better programs in certain areas. And if your child has any inkling of what their interests should be (I and both of may daughters knew by sophomore year of high school the general area of out interests - by no means all the same). A lot of kids seem to go for something romantic like film or communications without really understanding what is involved and what job opportunities are. I think if kids are really interested in an area like this they should enroll NOW in a class in a local college to get an idea of the type of wok involved.

Going when school is in session is also much better if possible and you should definitely build your itinerary around the official tours that each school gives at specific times. And go with specific expectations based on student interests.

Unless you are prepared to completely fund all expenses for however many years finances should be a major part of the discussion process. More and more students are graduating with massive student loans and realistically limited means of repaying the loans. If you can't afford everything students should start focusing now on the whole range of scholarships available as well as working part time while in school. This may also affect what school they consider - based on what schools might offer (a bright student can easily get a free ride at many lower level schools - but it may be a waste of their time and intellectual abilities).

(My parents were very naive and my father never told me his company had a student scholarship fund - which would have allowed me to graduate with no student loans rather than having a very difficult few years paying mine back. He later told me he thought the scholarship was only for children of executives??? And that anyway I would not have qualified - just nonsense given my grades and standard test scores??? I just don't know what was in his mind - except that to him once I was 17 I was on my own.)

In an case, collect all of the info you receive, take a lot of notes as you go and shoot/film as much as possible so after you have seen several schools the student can keep everything straight.

sf7307

I grew up in NY and went to Cornell. I never adapted to the winter weather in Ithaca (which is why I live in California). (P.S. Those were still some of the best years of my life)

IMDonehere

Not that personal prejudice and experiences of 40 years ago should enter into the equation today. Weather yes, transcontinental transportation, of course, but I am sure that is obvious.

Although the Ivy League is a sports designation it use in the vernacular predates that by some 20 years. It usage now goes far beyond the sports conference.

Sometimes snow and bad weather can be an attraction such as the Med School at CUNY Buffalo which attracts skiers.

usroadman

Yes, I believe almost any college will still give tours during the summer. Virtually all have some kind of summer programs (a college campus is an awfully expensive asset to sit vacant for a couple months), but usually traditional college classes attended by regular college students is only a small part of that. You may find some that run on Quarters rather than Semesters (Dartmouth was this way 30 years ago). Every student had to attend at least 1 summer quarter, usually the summer after your second year, so in that case it's a little more like during the year.

I remember back when I was visiting schools I could tell just by walking around campus for an hour whether it felt right or not. I could never explain why, but I knew. I think visiting a bunch of schools briefly during the summer can at least help cross some off the list. Certainly the good thing about summer is you don't have to worry about weather problems. Then come back during regular school sessions to look at a smaller list more in depth. The northeast is small enough that in just under 2 weeks you should be able to get in brief visits at quite a few schools (even decide whether staying for a tour is worth it), figure out which make the cut for a second look, and come back in Fall, winter, or spring. I will also add that while the winters may be long, I always found it a lot easier to do school work in the winter than in May & June. My GPA always took a nosedive when the nice weather came around.

Ackislander

You have gotten a lot of really good advice here, and for a change, it is not mutually exclusive.

I really like the idea of a summer "winnowing" tour. New England is pretty wonderful in the summer and the rest of the Northeast is okay, just more humid. Every place you mention is incredibly different from San Francisco, the Bay Area, and the Peninsula. Check them out. Try really hard to help your student experience the locations, particularly how your student would get around and to and from home.

The weather won't be at its most miserable until February (or April in Boston) but you can't wait that long, so come back to see the short list in the first two weeks of November, which are often conveniently chilly and raw. You will also get to see Real Classes then, and many places will allow your student to stay in a dorm at that time.

BigRuss

You really do need to realize the issues you (your student) will encounter in winter. Boston is cold enough (MIT, Harvard), as is Providence (Brown). New Hampshire is a bloody tundra (Dartmouth).

Your current list (cutting out the double MIT) is:

UPenn
MIT
Carnegie Mellon (NOT an Ivy)
Harvard
Brown
Columbia

The Ivys are Penn, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia, Harvard and Yale.

It's easy to do the Boston-Philly trip to see (from north to south, basically): Harvard & MIT, Brown, Columbia, Princeton and Penn. Cornell and Dartmouth are off that track - the latter is basically in the middle of the box formed by Vermont and New Hampshire. Hanover is a REALLY small town.

gail

Providence is horrible in the winter. Statistically it is windier than Chicago and precipitation is often sleet and ice pellets rather than pretty snow - and then it snows. But at least Providence is a much nicer city than when I was there in the 70s.

jill_h

It would be best if you check with the school whether they give tours during the summer. I would think so, but check with them to make sure. The campus tours may dictate your itinerary - research that before making any definite travel plans. You may even have to sign up for a specific tour time.

My son adjusted to the weather just fine coming from Texas, so I wouldn't let the cold weather deter you or your child - after all, it's about the education. If Brown is chosen, your child will not need a car.

You may want to check out air travel between home and school. In the beginning, we could get flights in/out of Providence rather inexpensively as AA was just beginning a route convenient to us. After a year or so, my son had to fly into Boston and train back to Providence. Not nearly as convenient.

Have fun - it's an exciting time

Sassafrass

Sf7307, You made me smile. My DD went to Cornell, undergraduate through PhD, about eight years altogether.
She now lives in the Caribbean where she considers below 70 to be cold. She avoids the states in winter.

IMDonehere

It is my cynical self, but I do not like those college tours as they are too smiley. I always thought it was better to stop a few students and ask questions or eat where the kids eat and start a conversation.

SueNYC

IMD - a few years ago, a client of mine brought 2 of his grandchildren (cousins from Idaho an Wisconsin, would be engineer/ball player with great grades, broadway wannabe with talent and no grades) to look at schools in NYC and Steven's Inst in Jersey.

The kids scheduled their interviews and researched their schools. They had each been to NYC with grandpa so I knew both as their tour guide. Yes the college tours are smiley but each one had an adult lecture about job prospects for graduates, financial aid etc which was pretty sobering.

In addition to channeling my mother the HS guidance counselor and making sure they got to their interviews on time, we explored the neighborhoods and went to evening activities that were on and off the radar.

hhn66 - put your child to work researching the schools - interviews, tours, and class availability. Have child say, I would like to visit X school because....
and Ivy League should not be the only reason. You have a lot of excellent advice above. Heed it and have fun...

A Guide Named Sue

IMDonehere

Thanks Sue.

sf7307

She now lives in the Caribbean where she considers below 70 to be cold. She avoids the states in winter.

Sounds heavenly!

sf7307

P.S. I have a mental image of myself, circa 1970, in a wool maxi coat, long scarf (a la Isadora Duncan), boots, gloves and hat trudging through the snow to class. Ugh. But seriously, I LOVED Cornell (and wasn't nearly as fit then as I am now - my girlfriends and I chose our phys ed classes (a requirement at the time) based on proximity to our dorm!

Liz5959

For most schools you have to set up an appointment for the campus tour. And it benefits you to do that as schools keep track of which students have come to visit.

There are many more schools in the NE to look at than just the ivies, including many considered "almost ivies". Georgetown, Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Williams, Swarthmore, Amherst, Wesleyan, NYU to name just a few.

>

This ^ is excellent advice.