Visiting Colleges & Unis Around PHL/EWR/JFK
Jul 18, 2018, 9:26 pm
#16
Join Date: Apr 2003
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Having later then picked up at an Avis location in Midtown and drove only down to downtown Philly and dropping the car/van off there, costs of car rentals out of Manhattan are not cheap with all of the taxes and fees imposed. With older age kids/young adults and flexibility in travel, renting back out at either one of the NYC airports or outside the NYC area may be a better deal.
Jul 18, 2018, 10:51 pm
#17
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Bolt Bus Rewards
Posts: 1,283
Good Luck!
Having spent last year doing the same with my oldest, here's my 2 cents:
Depending on the other schools you are seeing, I would go for the car rental, however plan on losing the car if you are going into NYC.
As for Flights, check the prices for flights and rental cars flying into PHL and out of EWR vs round trip to EWR. Newark isn't that far from Phila.
We would plant the car in a major city, PHL, BOS, then take public transportation between the various schools in the central area. The car was for hops out to the schools in the 'burbs or further.
No more than 2 schools per day, if driving is involved. It's possible to do 3 if they are clustered in a city, but I wouldn't.
Go to schools of varying sizes: Penn and Princeton are nice, but contrast it with a Haverford, or a Bard.
Go to at least one safety school (you can do that closer to home)
If you can go on a specialized departmental or college tour, it makes the visit much more informative. You will need to set these up in advance.
Don't just take
.
Having spent last year doing the same with my oldest, here's my 2 cents:
Depending on the other schools you are seeing, I would go for the car rental, however plan on losing the car if you are going into NYC.
As for Flights, check the prices for flights and rental cars flying into PHL and out of EWR vs round trip to EWR. Newark isn't that far from Phila.
We would plant the car in a major city, PHL, BOS, then take public transportation between the various schools in the central area. The car was for hops out to the schools in the 'burbs or further.
No more than 2 schools per day, if driving is involved. It's possible to do 3 if they are clustered in a city, but I wouldn't.
Go to schools of varying sizes: Penn and Princeton are nice, but contrast it with a Haverford, or a Bard.
Go to at least one safety school (you can do that closer to home)
If you can go on a specialized departmental or college tour, it makes the visit much more informative. You will need to set these up in advance.
Don't just take
Last edited by AMflier; Jul 18, 2018 at 10:52 pm Reason: Moved Video Link to the Bottom
Jul 19, 2018, 3:54 pm
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 862
Good Luck!
Having spent last year doing the same with my oldest, here's my 2 cents:
Depending on the other schools you are seeing, I would go for the car rental, however plan on losing the car if you are going into NYC.
As for Flights, check the prices for flights and rental cars flying into PHL and out of EWR vs round trip to EWR. Newark isn't that far from Phila.
We would plant the car in a major city, PHL, BOS, then take public transportation between the various schools in the central area. The car was for hops out to the schools in the 'burbs or further.
No more than 2 schools per day, if driving is involved. It's possible to do 3 if they are clustered in a city, but I wouldn't.
Go to schools of varying sizes: Penn and Princeton are nice, but contrast it with a Haverford, or a Bard.
Go to at least one safety school (you can do that closer to home)
If you can go on a specialized departmental or college tour, it makes the visit much more informative. You will need to set these up in advance.
Don't just take generic tours.
Having spent last year doing the same with my oldest, here's my 2 cents:
Depending on the other schools you are seeing, I would go for the car rental, however plan on losing the car if you are going into NYC.
As for Flights, check the prices for flights and rental cars flying into PHL and out of EWR vs round trip to EWR. Newark isn't that far from Phila.
We would plant the car in a major city, PHL, BOS, then take public transportation between the various schools in the central area. The car was for hops out to the schools in the 'burbs or further.
No more than 2 schools per day, if driving is involved. It's possible to do 3 if they are clustered in a city, but I wouldn't.
Go to schools of varying sizes: Penn and Princeton are nice, but contrast it with a Haverford, or a Bard.
Go to at least one safety school (you can do that closer to home)
If you can go on a specialized departmental or college tour, it makes the visit much more informative. You will need to set these up in advance.
Don't just take generic tours.
I'm thinking that seeing just one campus each day is reasonable; were you doing more than that?
I'm hoping to burn some AA miles in at least one direction, but it looks like at least one direction will be paid, and maybe any hops from EWR to BOS or BWI. But I want him to do some of the due diligence/searching for availability, if only to learn about it for future reference.
Jul 19, 2018, 4:10 pm
#19
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"So now we're considering alternatives that work with his interests (engineering)."
Come see Cornell!
ITH is often -- but not always -- on the list of AA reduced-mileage-award destinations if you hold a qualifying AA credit card: just 8,750 miles one way.
Come see Cornell!
ITH is often -- but not always -- on the list of AA reduced-mileage-award destinations if you hold a qualifying AA credit card: just 8,750 miles one way.
Jul 19, 2018, 4:17 pm
#20
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: MSY
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Posts: 5,926
West Point is quite a different animal than any other schools on your list. You’re aware of this, right?
Jul 20, 2018, 4:18 pm
#21
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Location: Left Coast
Posts: 862
As a Cornell graduate myself (Arts ‘89), I second this! A great school, a very different environment than any of the other colleges you’re visiting, and a beautiful vacation spot to boot.
West Point is quite a different animal than any other schools on your list. You’re aware of this, right?
Jul 20, 2018, 4:22 pm
#22
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Location: MSY
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Posts: 5,926
If you do go to Ithaca, I’d just drive. It’s 4 hours from either Philly or NY (well, 4 hours from the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel, which might take you an hour to reach!) and you can see some nice countryside along the way. Flying would not really save much time, if any.
Jul 21, 2018, 9:21 am
#23
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If you do go to Ithaca, I’d just drive. It’s 4 hours from either Philly or NY (well, 4 hours from the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel, which might take you an hour to reach!) and you can see some nice countryside along the way. Flying would not really save much time, if any.
Jul 21, 2018, 11:08 pm
#24
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Posts: 1,283
We went to Penn and Drexel on the same day. They are across the street from each other (proximity)
We went to Steven's and Lehigh on the same day, which I wouldn't have done unless scheduling demanded it.
You're decision to only go when class is in session is wise. It's the only way you can really get a feel for a place.
Good Luck!
Jul 23, 2018, 1:24 pm
#25
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Jul 23, 2018, 1:38 pm
#26
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I'd drive to Cornell from Penn; It's about five hours and a very pretty drive, especially if you take the Southern Tier expressway in NYS. For engineering, RPI (Renesslear, spelling?) might be worth checking as it's reasonably close to Cornell. Another strong engineering school that might serve as a safe choice and is almost on the way between Penn and Cornell is Lehigh. IMO Princeton and Penn are somewhat strange choices for a student who knows that he/she wants engineering as I think of these schools as "boutique" engineering programs, although they're strong in a few specific areas (as is Columbia for O.R./I.E.). What about Carnegie Mellon? (Six or seven hours from Penn)
Note that for Princeton, you can easily fly into either PHL or EWR, although EWR is the more common choice.
Note that for Princeton, you can easily fly into either PHL or EWR, although EWR is the more common choice.
Jul 23, 2018, 4:58 pm
#27
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: MSY
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RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, pronounced ren-sa-LEAR) is a fine school to visit but it’s in Troy, more than 3 hours from Ithaca, so not what I’d call close. Lehigh, on the other hand, is more or less on the way from Philadelphia to Ithaca. When I was in high school, Lehigh was considered a solid safety school, but in these days of the Common App, who knows.
Jul 24, 2018, 4:26 am
#28
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Jul 24, 2018, 7:09 am
#29
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Lehigh's acceptance rate for the class of 2021 was 25.1%. It is therefore not a reliable safety.
Jul 26, 2018, 9:16 am
#30
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 862
[...] IMO Princeton and Penn are somewhat strange choices for a student who knows that he/she wants engineering as I think of these schools as "boutique" engineering programs, although they're strong in a few specific areas (as is Columbia for O.R./I.E.). What about Carnegie Mellon? [...]
He is on the fence between physics and engineering, so I am content to let the process play out, and at this point I think the main purpose of visiting various campuses is to collect some concrete examples of what he likes and dislikes, in addition to information, contacts, and so forth.
But the responses in this thread have been very helpful, and really appreciated. Planning continues...