<p>S and I will be doing a trip in Sept.08 to tour several schools. We’re planning to see Brown, Yale, Amherst, Williams, Cornell, Ithaca, Colgate and Hamilton (possibly Syracuse-more for me as I went there in the mid 70’s) We’ll probably fly from Portland, OR to Boston and then start our drive to Providence. I know this is a bit of a whirlwind trip but we think we can do it in a week (Sun-Sun). S has already visited three NW schools of which he likes Reed best. Safeties for him would be Evergreen State College (kind of a public larger version of Reed) and U of WA. Any suggestions on lodging in New Haven, Amherst or Williamstown, Ithaca, Troy (possibly on the drive) and MA on the way back maybe an hour from Boston</p>
<p>camp, My son attended Williams. We visited all of the schools on your son’s list except Cornell, which ironically is one of his top choices for grad school.</p>
<p>All of these college towns have good accommodation, but the Williamstown Bed and Breakfast is one of my favorite places to stay anywhere. The Berkshires are a vacation destination so be sure to make reservations in advance. </p>
<p>Seeing all of these colleges in a week’s time will be demanding. I’d try to find out which will offer tours and info sessions on weekends and schedule accordingly. </p>
<p>Good luck and let us know which ones he likes.</p>
<p>A problem I’m having is that tours/info sessions seem to be scheduled towards midday; like between 10-2. So its hard to go to two colleges’ scheduled tours in a day. You might have to squeeze in some self-guided tours. I think your route is doable if you’re flexible about not doing every official tour. Some colleges will give you a map and suggest a self-tour route. Find out which schools give individual interviews and schedule early.</p>
<p>For New Haven, I’m thinking of the Trumbull Marriott, which is not in New Haven, but off to the west by a few miles. It is where some of the visiting athletic teams stay when playing Yale.</p>
<p>In Ithaca, if budget is not an issue, absolutely stay at the Statler Hotel on campus. If that doesn’t work, I like the Best Western which is very close by (no, that is not the real admissions office in the mall next door – only the paperwork processing part). Another option is the Courtyard by Marriott near the airport. </p>
<p>For a real New England treat, on the way back to Boston, stay in Sturbridge. My choice would be the Publick House but there is plenty of housing including hotels, motels, and inns. Definitely plan on eating dinner at the Publick House!</p>
<p>I recommend staying at the Saunders Inn when visiting Brown. It’s located on the top two floors of a residence hall at Brown, and it’s very convenient–you can walk to everything on campus, and parking is available:</p>
<p>[Saunders</a> Inn at Brown University](<a href=“http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Saunders_Inn/]Saunders”>http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Saunders_Inn/)</p>
<p>Thanks, I agree it’s a bit daunting. I do think we’ll be able to knock off a couple of them in a day, possibly Amherst/ Williams, Cornell/Ithaca, and Hamilton/Colgate.</p>
<p>^^chiming in on Saunders Inn recommendation at Brown. We arrived after midnight. The security guard let us in, and in the morning a very friendly employee filled us in on all kinds of Brown information/subjective friendly chat, before our appointments. And we were staying adjacent (well, in really) student housing, so got a great feel for student life.</p>
<p>In Amherst, their admissions department link lists many hotels. Those on Route 9 in South Hadley are very convenient to campus, representing many price ranges.</p>
<p>If you want more historic interest and charm, consider the Lord Jeffrey Inn right on the campus, or for a change of pace from big hotels, research the Bed and Breakfast Inns. </p>
<p>All can be found on the Amherst website. The Williamsville area also offers Bed and Breakfasts with Yankee hospitality.</p>
<p>I think you can see Cornell and Ithaca in the same day, since both campuses are in the Town of Ithaca. </p>
<p>I’ve read several times in this forum that people who become interested in Amherst and Williams think each is worth its own day to explore the differences well between them. They’re close together on the map, but I wouldn’t try to jam them into the same day.</p>
<p>My 2 cents, as a native of western MA – Amherst & Williamstown are about 1 hour, 45 minutes apart. Route 2, from Greenfield out to Williamstown is very scenic, but not a highway built for speed. Have you checked the times for info sessions & tours at each school? Doing both in 1 day may not be possible unless you do a self-tour at one of them. Beautiful part of the country, though – enjoy!</p>
<p>A couple of suggestions - on Southwest airlines you can fly into 1 city and out another. We did a trip where we flew in to Providence and out of Albany, NY. Much cheaper, and more convenient for our itinerary than Boston. Hartford is another great airport to fly in and out of. The other thing I found was the campus visits we did in the mornings were never quite as well received by my D as the ones we did in the afternoons. Campus’s are usually very quiet in the morning, all the kids sleep in?? But on pleasant afternoons there were always kids milling around, hanging in the quad, etc. The “vibe” of each campus had a huge impact on my D, even if it wasn’t always accurate. So I suggest that you schedule the colleges that you are most interested in for afternoon time.</p>
<p>Camp.ethan - sounds like you have a similar list to my D, who has just decided on Reed. Last year we visited several OR/WA schools, and several New England schools. If he liked Reed best out of the PNW schools, you should add Wesleyan and Hampshire to you New England visits.</p>