<p>“You would be better served to go to Brown in the AM and then go down to Newport, RI for the afternoon then head over to Plymouth from Newport” - That sounds like a good plan. I agree that Martha’s Vinyard is too ambitious. But if you can fit in Newport, that’s an interesting town (do expect summer crowds).</p>
<p>If you see a lot of extra student/families at Northeastern, it means you hit an Orientation session (there are many throughout the summer). If so, there may be extra opportunities for info.</p>
<p>I looked up Midtown Hotel (walkable to NEU) for 7/10. Rooms are available for $159 (possibly cheaper with NEU or BU or AAA discount). That’s cheap for Boston. There would also be a parking fee ($20?), but cheaper than other hotel parking. Another option would be to return the car to the airport early.</p>
<p>I just got home from the trip. Thanks to everyone for all of the excellent suggestions! I gained valuable insight on the schools I checked out and have been able to narrow down my list. After the visits, I really liked Amherst, Bowdoin, and Wesleyan. Northeastern also really impressed my family and I. I still like Brown; however, my family and I weren’t as impressed by it. Tufts was also pretty good, but it will probably be off the list as I narrow it down. I think I’ve discovered that I like the small LAC’s the best.</p>
<p>Glad you had a good trip and that it was helpful to focus on your list. What advice worked the best? How many colleges were you able to tour? Which ones did you eliminate? (other than the NY ones)</p>
<p>What did you end up doing for family vacation fun?</p>
<p>Funny how you liked Northeastern, but all the others were small LAC’s. What about Northeastern did you like? What about the city atmosphere vs. a smaller town?</p>
<p>Are you planning on visiting other colleges? If so, which ones? Good luck! :)</p>
<p>chocchipcookie: Thanks! We were able to do 7 official visits (Bowdoin, Brandeis, Tufts, Amherst, Wesleyan, Brown, and Northeastern). We did drive-bys of Smith (for my sister), Trinity, Yale, Connecticut College, and Boston University. As far as the NY area schools, I like Columbia and NYU, but I’m not sure that I like the core at Columbia and I’m not sure I like the “campus in the middle of the city” part about NYU. I do like what I’ve heard about NYU Gallatin though so I’ll have to do some more research.</p>
<p>We didn’t have time to fit too much touristy stuff in; although, the first day of the trip, we made several stops on the MA and ME coasts to see towns and lighthouses and at the tail-end of the trip we spent a day visiting Plymouth and Gillette Stadium and a day in Boston.</p>
<p>In general, I like the small LAC feel for a school; however, for Northeastern I really like the co-op and I think Northeastern is a lower reach than the top LAC schools I have on my list.</p>
<p>As far as city vs. small town, I think I’ve somewhat changed my mind about that after this trip. I’d like to be near a big city so that I could go there a few times per semester; however, I kind of like the smaller town feel. Bowdoin is in a small town and isn’t too far from Portland, ME and students do have opportunities to go to Boston, although they rarely do. I really like Amherst because it has the small town feel, yet there is a lot to do in the Amherst/Northampton area. Wesleyan is in a bigger town and isn’t far from Hartford.</p>
<p>I’m planning on visiting Carleton, St. Olaf, Macelester, and Beloit this summer hopefully. If I have time I might visit Knox, WUSTL, and Oberlin.</p>