How should I organize this trip of college tours on the east coast?

Question

So, my dad and I are going to do a road trip down the west coast to look at colleges. It should be fine because we're comfortable driving down the west coast since we've done it every year.

But I am also interested in colleges on the east coast and I've never been to the east coast, ever.

I want to look at:
-University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
-Columbia University (New York)
-Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY)
-Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
-Boston University (Boston)

But neither my dad or I are comfortable with driving on the east coast because we have no experience with it whatsoever. It's the summer going into my senior year so I don't have a lot of time left. I don't know how this trip should be organized. I mean, we could probably do a multi-city flight but those are most likely going to be super pricey and I need some of that money to go towards my tuition, haha. I don't think riding a train/bus would be an option either. I've brought up the idea of breaking the trips up, like I could visit each state on a long weekend, but again, time is very limited. Columbia to Penn is about two hours and Penn to JHU is about two hours as well. We might be able to fly to Boston, then to Syracuse, then to NYC, then road trip to Penn and JHU, and fly out of JHU, but that seems like a lot of work, doesn't it? And we would face the issue of driving on an unfamiliar coast.

So should we just do a multi-city flight? Or is there a better solution?

Thank you!!

Answer 1

If you flew between these cities, you'd spend more time in the airport than you would if you'd driven. Either rent a car and go from one to the other, or take Amtrak/the train. Amtrak connects directly from Boston to NYC, then from NYC to Philly, and you'd need to check, but probably also from Philly to Baltimore. These are relatively short train trips - 3-4 hours or less, each leg. So if you want to train, you can - but you'd miss Syracuse. Syracuse would be out of your way via train.



It makes sense to fly into one of the "edge" cities, and drive or train from there. So for example, start at the top, with Boston, or start at the bottom, with Baltimore/DC. Fly into one of those cities, then go down the list, geographically. So if you started by flying into Boston, you do them in this order:



-Boston University (Boston)

-Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY) only if you're driving. If you are on the train, you'd skip Syracuse and go directly to...

-Columbia University (New York)

-University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

-Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)



I'd suggest you use GoogleMaps to calculate how long the drive is from one uni to the other, using this as your order. Then check the Amtrak website for train times and prices. Then check the time and price of flights, and make your judgement. But keep in mind things like travel time from your hotel in Boston to Logan Airport, then security, then the flight time, then getting the rental car in Syracuse, then driving to the uni from the airport - by the time you do all that, you could have driven from Boston to Syracuse, and Amtrak will also be way faster.



BTW, if you like Syracuse, you may like UMass Amherst, and that's on your drive from Boston to Syracuse. But will only really work out easily if you're driving.

Answer 2

Well this is why you start college visits earlier. So you can hit a few at a time. And you should plan some visits during the school year

Unfamiliar coast? You know there are maps and GPS. No different than driving anywhere else. You look at a map and you plan your route and where you will bed down for the night.



You need to call up admissions at each school and set up a visit. Plan on a meeting wiht the admissions office, ask for a tour of the campus. And ask for a meeting with the head of (or professor from) the department of your major. Call at least two weeks ahead of time.



Note on renting a car. If you do not return the car to the same office you rented it from you will be charge a large fee for returning it to a different location. Renting a car from an airport location is usually always more money.

I would say just drive, but you don’t say where you live

You don’t think train would be better. Have you gone on the Amtrak web site and check routes, times and cost?



When you think of where to go and costs you must figure in travel costs. You need to get to campus. And back in May. Where will you store all your stuff or can you get it all back home

Dorms close for breaks. You need to figure in costs to get home and back to campus.

Time to travel. My son had classes Wednesday before Thanksgiving. He left Wednesday night for home and traveled most the night. He then had to get back to campus on Sunday. With traveling most of the day Sunday. That can take a lot out of you. Plus you will have school work to do on top of it all. And if you need to fly, how do you get to the airport from campus. What is the cost for that. Something to ask whole at the schools.

Answer 3

Every one of those schools except Syracuse is on a single Amtrak line (Northeast Corridor/Northeast Regional), so if you're not comfortable driving, the train is an excellent option. It might be cheaper to get an Amtrak Travel Pass or a multi-ride ticket than a lot of one-way tickets, but those would have some restrictions.



I wouldn't even bother visiting Syracuse (you can always visit once you're accepted, if you're interested in going). Instead, add a Washington, DC school or two to the itinerary (Georgetown, GW and/or American) or maybe just visit the Capitol for a day or two since you've never been there.



Fly into DC and visit GW (or whatever), then take the train to Baltimore to visit Johns Hopkins, then to Philadelphia to visit Penn, then to New York to visit Columbia, then to Boston to visit BU, then fly home from Boston.



You can take easily get a taxi from each train station to either the university or your hotel, and from your hotel to the university or to the train station. If you don't have a lot of luggage, it's an easy walk from 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to the Penn campus.



If you MUST visit Syracuse, you can fly there from Boston or New York.