Boston Area Visit

[momof3sons]

We did the Brandeis/Tufts in one day and we drove from Brandeis to Tufts. Not a big deal or too time consuming. (Jus have your driving directions in hand before you leave home.) You're not driving through downtown Boston. By the way, we fit in the tour and info session at both, and ate at Tufts just before the afternoon info session. The drive out to western Mass. isn't bad either. After Brandeis/Tufts, we drove out to western Mass to look at schools, too, although not Smith/M. Holyoke. (See screen name )

[coureur]

I suggest you add Harvard, MIT, and Amherst to the list.


;-)

[vinceh]

Adding a day for Colby/Bates is feasible, though by the time you got to Northampton you might be a little loopy. You'd be looking at 8 Info sessions, 8 Tours, 3 hotels, an unspecified number of potentially lousy meals and probably around 400 miles of driving all in 4 1/2 days.

If you're going to do a drive-thru of BU, yes it's quite literally a drive-thru, I'd suggest staying on Commonwealth Avenue for another 4 miles and driving/walking around BC. It's a similar set-up to Northwestern, a near-in, self-contained suburban campus with the city a 25 minute train ride away.

Be careful on the timing of the tours between Tufts and Brandeis. On a map it's probably about 10 miles and 25 minutes, but I wouldn't be shocked if you came back and told us it took 45 minutes, (or only 20 mins.), to get there.

[Chedva]

though Boston is tough to navigate by car, compared to Chicago. Highways are based upon 17th century cow paths, rather than a grid.

That won't matter for Pizzagirl (even if it weren't a myth about the cow paths, Boston is still tough to navigate). Except for the "drive-by" to BU, none of her schools are actually in Boston. Tufts is in Medford/Somerville, Brandeis is in Waltham, Wellesley is in . . . well, Wellesley. All easy to navigate through.

And I would suggest not driving by BU, but if you're in town for the evening, take the Green Line, B Branch out to BU - much easier and more informative than a drive.

[Consolation]

I think it's very doable, as long as your kid doesn't want to attend a class at any school.

If you wanted to look at Bates and Colby, it would make more sense to add at least one day to the beginning of your trip and fly into Portland. (Forget about Manchester--it's a 2 hour drive to Portland, much less Lewiston or Waterville.) In that case, the best plan would be to drive directly up to Colby, then hit Bates on the way back down. You will need to fly in very early to see both of those schools in one day. Bates and Bowdoin would be an easier combo.

I meant to add that BU is one of those schools that does not have a well-defined campus. If you are driving around BU, you might as well drive through Northeastern also: they are very close. If you want your kid to see the attractions of Boston, as opposed to Cambridge, I'd drive around the Common/Garden/Back Bay/Beacon Hill area, park (there's an underground garage) and walk around and have dinner there.

[bclintonk]

Pizzagirl,
You're from the Chicago area, right? If you have an I-Pass you can bring along, it will work on all the toll roads in Massachusetts. The systems are inter-operable. Saves tons of time.

[Little Mother]

Your sked is quite doable with the exception of adding the ME schools. I'd agree with staying in Waltham - especially right off Route 128 (I-95). You'll have easy access to Boston and Tufts.

As for BU, I'd suggest that you park (on-street parking is free on Sundays in Boston) and walk around campus. Drop in at the George Sherman Union where there's a food court to get a sense of student life. You can also visit the relatively new Fitness and Recreation Center on Comm. Ave. by leaving an ID, e.g., license, at the front desk - it's got a climbing wall and a lazy river. Feel free to talk with students and ask them questions.

Same thing goes with MIT and Harvard - just walk around both campuses (check out the Great Dome - Building 10 - as well as Building 7 a/k/a 77 Mass Ave at MIT and wander around Harvard Yard. Sometimes people-watching can give you an idea of a school's "flavor."

While in central MA, you could also check out Amherst's campus. It's not all that far.

Have fun!

[Pizzagirl]

Bite me, coureur ;-) and note my admirable restraint to the posts that are telling me to do just that! The point of walking around super-reach campuses with single-digit admission rates is what, again??

[jrpar]

I think your schedule is doable, and I second the recommendation above to visity Trinity College in Hartford before flying back out of Bradley.

[morandi]

agree that it's grueling but doable. we did a similar trip, flying in and out of Boston, with the intention of visiting BU, Brandeis, Tufts, Hampshire, UMass, Colby and Bates. Driving in Boston was not SO terrible, though we did get lost in trying to find Tufts and it was tricky getting from there to Brandeis, but it really was less frustrating than just another fun adventure. End of story -- on the drive back to Boston, from Bates, we decided we had a moment to check out Brunswick and that is now where S attends! You never know!

[Bromfield]

PG--schedule is doable, but traffic is always an issue (it can be easy or a nightmare), especially when you're going from Tufts to Wellesley or Brandeis and you're driving in the city and on the Mass Pike on I-95/Rt 128 (right road around Boston). Get your iphone GPS ready to go. I second the recommendation to bring an EZ pass (don't know what you call it in Chgo. area) it will save you time going out to Worcester. Unless you're going to Albany when you fly out of the Five-college area, you'll be leaving from Hartford/Springfield--which really isn't all that close to Hartford. I wouldn't recommend going to Trinity, unless you really want to see it. Also, wouldn't add Maine schools--after a while you'll find that (at least that was my experience) all the schools start blend together and your attention wanes. Good luck. I enjoyed the trips with my youngest D.

[bclintonk]

Driving in Boston was not SO terrible, though we did get lost in trying to find Tufts and it was tricky getting from there to Brandeis, but it really was less frustrating than just another fun adventure.

LOL. I lived in Boston for a while and got used to driving there, but it can be a little hairy if you're new to it, especially with all the roundabouts and 7-way intersections and such. I remember the first time I drove in Boston, with a Boston native sitting in the back seat giving directions. We got to one particularly complicated high-speed multi-directional intersection, and our native guide said, "Go right but bear left." To a simple-minded Midwesterner that sounds like an oxymoron, and I think I must have gone left and bore right, or something like that. I swear it took us 20 minutes to navigate back to the right street, because a LOT of streets are not on a grid and there's a lot of "can't get there from here" stuff where you can see the road you want to be on but have no means of access. We weren't in any big hurry, so it was OK. But in and around Boston especially, I'd leave a little extra travel time in case you make a wrong turn.

[Pizzagirl]

I myself was at both Brandeis and Wellesley campus earlier this year and I'm fine with navigating the highways. The EZ Pass is a great idea I wouldn't have thought of, thanks for letting us know, bclintonk!

I think we're more tour than info-session people, ourselves. The info sessions I've seen all sort of blend; the tours are what we really spark to, and then just hanging out.

Now if we could just get some of these places to do tours on Sat and Sun I'd be a real happy camper!

[bclintonk]

Now if we could just get some of these places to do tours on Sat and Sun I'd be a real happy camper!

Well, several of them do offer Saturday tours. Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and Tufts have regularly scheduled Saturday tours. Wellesley says it has tours "most Saturdays" and Brandeis says it has tours on "selected Saturdays." Most Saturday tours seem to be morning and/or midday so it may be difficult to schedule more than one, but if it works with your arrival it might be nice to get one done over the weekend to ease up some of the pressure on the rest of your schedule. No Sunday tours.

[vinceh]

bclintonk,

As someone who was born and raised in the Greater Boston area I am offended by your accurate portrayal of the local population as a bunch of motoring Neanderthals. Newcomers need only remember a few things to survive Boston streets:

1. Street signs are for tourists, morons and "retahds". Everybody knows where everything is so why do you need a sign. Ex.: "Fenway Pahk?! It's right ova deah! What are ya, some kinda retahd?"

2. Boston drivers are helpful and supportive. If you're too timid at an intersection they will courteously toot their horns to encourage you to enter the flow of traffic. Oftentimes the horn honking will be accompanied by a hand gesture suggesting that you're Number 1 in their book. Please don't be offended if they use a different finger than you're used to though.

3. Finally, if you're not sure where you're headed and you come to a rotary (no one calls them roundabouts), by all means, stare straight ahead and speed up. This will get you through the intersection faster and on your way sooner, because after all, what are ya, some kinda retahd?