Urgent Help From Parents Needed

[rocketman08]

Depending on your age you can pay the extra money and fly as an unaccompanied minor. That should put your parents at ease, but may make you feel silly.

Um... yes an almost grown adult having their hand held through the airport at all times would be a bit silly. Just tell the parents to chill... there's nothing wrong with transferring flights. In many cases you get off one plane and walk less than 100 yards to the next gate. If they're OK with you considering a school on the other side of the country then they should be more than confident in your ability to navigate an airport on your own ;-).

[Karen Colleges]

We try to have son go through small airports (Salt Lake City rather than Denver, etc), and use the same airline so it is easy to change planes. Sometimes, the second flight is on the same plane he just got off, so that makes it easy to find the gate.

The first time he went on his own, I printed out maps of the airports to help him find the gate. That was not needed, and he didn't even look at them, but it made me feel better about him being on his own.

We also ask him to call us when he is successfully inside the gate on each leg of the flight.

Our biggest concern is that he gets so engrossed in a book, we wonder if he will miss a flight when sitting in front of the gate.....

[jerzgrlmom]

My son did the REMS interview weekend at URochester and I assume the Renaissance weekend will be run in a similar way. They should provide transportation between the airport and the school. The admissions people were very accommodating. They will take good care of you, showing you where to go, pairing you up with a host (a student to stay with). Make sure you have the phone number of someone associated with the interview weekend - call now if you don't have that information. Maybe even have a backup number as well. There will be many students traveling that weekend so you may even meet someone at the Rochester airport waiting to be picked up. My daughter goes to school in Rochester and says the airport is tiny - you can't get lost there. Worst case, get a cab and go directly to admissions.

Perhaps you've never flown, so you don't know what to expect. If so, just ask. We can walk you through what happens at the airport. It helps to be prepared.

You might want to leave Friday morning. You will be go go go once you arrive in NY so don't arrive exhausted. The weekend will be stressful but it's intended to be fun, too. Remember, they want you to like their school so try to enjoy yourself.