lcuy

We'll be in coming from Hawaii, and visiting Chicago then the East coast cities, and flying back to Hawaii.

Having only done these cities as separate destinations, I have no idea how to incorporate all into one visit. From Chicago should we fly to DC then take a train north?
Or fly to each city? :-\\

I don't want to double back or waste time as we're trying to make this visit in as little time as possible. Don't want the visit to cause her grades to fall, cancelling the need to see these colleges..

Thanks!
Lucy

repete

Fly Chicago to DC and then train. You'll have a frequent rail schedule and fewer hassles of airport transfers. It's also on the Acela route, which doesn't save that much time but has nicer trains.

Anonymous

Acela is MUCH more expensive than the regular Amtrak trains. And taking the train wlil eat up a lot more time than flying.

I live in Boston and my daughter goes to college in DC; we have lots of experience with that route! You can get very cheap tickets on AirTran; usually $39 one way if you book 2 months in advance. DC is served by 3 airports; Air Tran flies out of Baltimore, but it's just a 30-minute, $3 bus ride from the Greenbelt stop on the DC Metro.

Then take Amtrak or the $15 bus from Boston to NYC and fly home from there. Yes, I know it seems like backtracking but you'll actually have less net travel time this way with one flight and one train.

One useful thing to know about Amtrak is that they have a buy-one-get-one-free offer for kids who are looking at colleges.

http://www.campusvisit.com/amtrak/

Which schools will you be looking at?

repete

Anonymous kind of makes my point.

To catch the Air Tran out of BWI, you'd have to catch the Metro to Greenbelt, which is on the Green Line. Only two schools (Maryland and Howard) are on the Green Line, so there's probably a good chance of having to transfer on the Metro -- at least a 25-minute ride. Then there's the 30-minute bus ride to BWI. And then there's the check-in time at BWI, which is longer and more stressful than catching Amtrak at centrally located Union Station. If you've come all the way from Hawaii is it worth the hassles? You really don't save that much time.

Plus I'm not a big fan of AirTran/ValueJet, although perhaps on short hauls they aren't that bad. If you plan far ahead those tickets are now $54, but that'll be $104 if something happens in the next two months and you have to change a date.

Plus, I've found that trains are much easier than planes for recapping a visit just completed, working out the details of what's to come, or just catching a little rest IMHO.

lcuy

Thanks! Flights out of NYC to Hawaii are the cheapest, so doing NYC last may work best in that regard too

In her college prep course she "narrowed" her focus to:
Columbia, Barnard, NYU, and Suny Purchase in New York
Boston U & Boston College
Georgetown in DC
Loyola & DePaul in Chicago

Columbia is her number one choice, and all the rest are backups in her eyes... Of course you don't get to "choose" Columbia, so I want her to look at the others.

Comments on the schools are welcome..
She's probably major in a science, but loves dance...street, jazz, musical theatre.Doesn't want to major in dance, just wants to have good classes and performance venues available.

Anonymous

Check-in at Air Tran is completely painless and takes place just steps from where you get off the express bus. Even the time I checked luggage, the total process took 5 minutes. If you're not checking anything, you can choose your seat and check-in online, print out your boarding pass, and just walk directly from the bus to your departure gate (via security, of course).

An hour to the airport, an hour early arrival, and a 90-minute flight is a total of 3.5 hours, whereas the train takes a minimum of 6.5 hours for Acela and 8 for regular trains, as well as costing more. lcuy has said that saving time is important on this trip.

repete

Since she wants to go to boston first it makes a little more sense.

I was calculating to NYC, which is about a three-hour train (less on Acela, 3:10 or 15 on regular) and, basically the same to fly if your include all the ground hassles.

As for fares, I looked at a HNL-ORD-NYC-HNL route and a HNL-ORD-BOS-HNL route in mid-January and the tickets were $20 cheaper from Boston ($697 vs. $717). As for the Chicago to Washington leg you can probably find a one-way Midway to BWI leg cheaply on Southwest, but US Air often has cheap deals to National, which is just a quick hope from Georgetown and is definitely the airport to seek out for your purposes.

You might want to check out George Washington while you're in town.

E

I'm a Georgetown grad, and I strongly suggest you examine the school's departments and curriculum online before visitng. GU is not well-known for either its science or arts programs--the top students in those fields go elsewhere, and the departments in those fields don't enjoy much visibility on campus. By all means, visit, and look closely... best of luck!

cguest88

I would have to say some one looking into science to also look at University of Chicago and Northwestern while in Chicago. Depaul and Loyola are not exactly hotbeds of science and industry. Moreover, Northwestern has one of the top drama departments in the country.

It seems like there is a disconnect as well b/c there is huge jump from the Columbia/NYU standard down to the Loyola and Depaul.

Anonymous

I also noticed that the Chicago schools that lcuy named were a different caliber than the other cities. U Chicago and Northwestern would indeed be more equivalent.

On the other hand, in DC, Catholic U would be more comparable to Loyola and DePaul in admissions standards, and is surprisingly strong in music/drama, and very good in science-related fields -- it has schools of nursing and engineering.

nytraveler

I was going to say the same about SUNY Purchase. Some of the SUNY Universtiy centers are excellent acadermically - but Purchase - while it does have some focus on the arts - is not at all strong in science.

marilynl

I wouldn't really put Boston College and BU on a par with Georgetown and the New York schools either, but then she is looking for back-ups, not everything on the same level. Northwestern, although it is near Chicago, is really in a suburban location. I don't really think of the University of Chicago as being strong in the arts, whereas DePaul is, and is right in the heart of the city. Chicago is in the heart of Hyde Park, which is different. And Loyola is almost as suburban as Northwestern. Some of these schools are much larger than the others, too.

Ryan

While I'm sure everyone means well, lcuy, might I suggest you stick with the choices your daughter has made as to the school's she (and presumably you) have decided on.

If she's done her homework, she has some reason to list the schools that she has. If you tried hard enough, you could pick apart every school.

But for one school in the nation, every single other school can always be refered to as "not, as good as..."

Go with what works for her and for you as her family.

repete

Ryan's right. I almost started noting some similar stuff about schools, but pulled back. I will say that while Catholic has some strong programs, it's got a very conservative Catholic tilt. The Stanley Tucci incident was just the most recent example.

Anonymous

It certainly has. My daugher is a student there and keeps me posted. On-campus polls at reveal that the students and faculty are not as conservative as the higher administration. I wouldn't have mentioned CUA if the OP hadn't had other Catholic schools on the list already.

lcuy

Thansk for all the info..I didn't realize that the open jaw tickets are basically the same whether we choose Boston or NYC for the last departure.

Yes the schools are not all equal..she is really hoping for Columbia, Barnard or NYC, and all the rest are backups.. based more on the location and campus, than academics.

I didn't realize that Georgetown was not as strong in the sciences.. I need to ask the counselor why it is on the list. I also want to ask why Northwestern is not on the list, if we are including Chicago. I think she felt she didn't need any more "reach" schools, but i'm not sure.

AAArgh! so much to think about!! and the daughter in Portland just called and asked if she can apply to transfer to Columbia next year. That would not make her younger sister happy if they were to SHARE a campus.

Anonymous

It's a big school in a big city, I'm sure it's big enough for both of them.

lcuy

With my daughters?? The younger one is not considering Reed, cause her sister is "already in Portland" at Lewis & Clark!!!

I'm not really complaining...they actually have a good time together, but it took till the youngest was 15 before they could even be civil to each other.

vivi

I used to travel frequently from Hawaii to the east coast. Usually I would get an "open jaws" ticket and fly into one city and back to Hawaii from another. In your case I'd fly into Chicago (there is a nonstop on United) then fly to either Boston or DC and use the train. Then fly back to Hawaii from your last destination---either DC or Boston .
The trains between Boston-NY-DC are fast and easy, much less hassle than airports plus the train stations are conveniently located in the cities.

Good luck! My kids went to high school in Hawaii. One year we flew to San Diego and drove all the way to Seattle looking at colleges!