^ Granted, as mentioned above, the schools will feel very different over summer break vs. during the school year.
Be aware that weather could impact your kids’ impressions. We toured Boston schools in late July and the temp was 103F with a humidity of 97%. We’re from Seattle and it almost killed us! 
On the same trip, my kids really like Cornell, but I think it was because it was only 80F and was raining there.
Chicago may be the worst, the northern New England schools may be better, but in both cases kids will have to deal with real cold in the winter.
In any case, I think the reality of any of your schools would be fine–it is just the impression you get on a tour in the summer might be difficult to overcome. May sure you drink a lot of water! And schedule air conditioning breaks (museums are good for that, or malls, if you prefer!)
New England (especially northern New England) will be just as brutally cold as Chicago in the winter.
That’s another thing with summer visits: the temperature may reach 35° C when you visit, but they pretty much won’t happen during the school year at the schools you are visiting (multiple days of -15° C would be more likely).
“My daughter graduated in 2.5 years (with some summer courses) with her IB credits.”
This speaks volumes!
Community college too mastered in 2- 2.5 years.
That public school is about on par with University of Essex. Would you cross the Atlantic for Essex? If so, that NY State U may be just perfect. With summer school maybe you could shave the time down to 1.5-2 years!
For identifying colleges for the serious study of econ, these analyses can be useful: “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges,” “US Economics Departments,” IDEAS. The top six or so schools from either list would be particularly strong.
Average January Low
Chicago IL: -8C
Brunswick ME: -11C
(Sperling’s.)
These trip threads always wind up adding scores of colleges other posters like. Please remember the distances between destinations in the US can be huge. You don’t have to squeeze a college into every free moment (sometimes you can’t- the last tour may start before you get there from the last place you visited that day.) And that when kids visit too many colleges on one trip, they all start to turn to mush in their brains. So I really agree with coolweather. Plus, many have view books or videos. Some wil have great youtubes.
Don’t be afraid to do most research on dept strengths, profs, research opps, activities, etc, ahead of time and sometimes just drive through a campus, stopping for only a quick walk through the main section. Don’t get sucked into all the info sessions, after a few, they’re all the same rah rah. Don’t think you have to take each tour to its very end.
And have fun. I wouldn’t worry about the weather in winter. Most New England colleges are plenty warm inside, the walks across campus at places like Bates and Bowdoin are not that far, and kids acclimate pretty quickly. Later, you ask and we recommend warm clothing lines, other tips.
But July? Yeah, be prepared for some possible misery from the heat and humidity.
And on this discussion of safeties/matches, it will be more than a stats match for the competitive colleges. Plus there will be significant competition from other UK kids and only so many each college will want,for their own balances.
From the college web sites, you can usually get a good idea of what a school values or emphasizes- and thus, looks for in applicants. Take an advance look at the Common App and the supplements for these targets, to see what’s asked.
The single most useful thing on our college roadtrip:
Make sure to have data service for your smartphone. Look into what int’l data plan your mobile phone service provider offers.
Get a car windshield phone mount (it’s got a suction cup).
Bring an car 9V USB charger and a really long USB cable-- at least 2 meters.
Now you can use Google Maps & GPS in the car to navigate to the schools and to Yelp for restaurants, and to locate a petrol station to fuel up before you return the rental car. Also useful for locating shops & markets if you need to buy something.
@valent2016, I assume you are UK citizens. In that case you should think seriously about how you handle the financials. Only a handful of US private schools are need-blind for internationals. Most are need-aware meaning your need for financial aid will be a factor in admissions.
Therefore if you can get by without aid don’t apply for it. This will substantially increase chances of admission.
Conversely if you do need aid look for schools that demonstrate to meet full need. Quite a few of the LACs mentioned fall in this category. If they admit you, there’s a good possibility your need will be covered.
International admissions is highly competitive, even more than for US citizens, but I think your daughter has a reasonable chance at any of the schools on her list, especially if you are full pay. Any diversity factors like race or religion will help too. If appropriate consider submitting dance or theater supplements.
I would make the list first and then work out your itinerary and route. Aside from within the cities driving around the northeast is fairly easy.
With your daughter’s interest in sports, dance and theater, she might look at Williams – they like academic/sports/arts combinations and have excellent theater opportunities even for non majors.
Williamstown and the Berkshires area is beautiful in the summer and offers a lot of arts venues like Williamstown Theater, the Clark and MassMoCA museums and Tanglewood performing arts center.
This is not a family seeking need-based FA. See posts #20 & #25.
“driving around the northeast is fairly easy.” But consider that, while Bates and Bowdoin are about an hour apart, from Boston to Williams is about 3 hours. And once there, you need to then get back on the itinerary. Not to mention, traffic at rush hour, if you think you’ll sneak out of town after an afternoon Tufts visit.
Add to that, as we northeasterners all know, heading south, you can face traffic jams in parts of CT, NYC, NJ and Philadelphia.
@Intparent …thanks for mentioning yes, that’s right …my S wanted to put UChicago on the list…the rest are pretty much from my Ds list. S is a strong student…and has come #1-2 in his class pretty much all through school…he recently took SAT 2 (Maths) and did well…of course a lot will depend how he does on his SAT/ACT which he plans to give later part of the year. Also he is aware that he needs to build up his extra-curricular/leadership experiences. I think he quite likes the academic environment of UChicago…and wanted to see it first hand… (I have tried to dampen expectation as much as I could though)
Both my kids visited UChicago, and 2nd one applied and was accepted. Kids who “belong” in that environment tend to know it – you should definitely visit. It is a really beautiful campus, too, in my opinion.
For Economics, there is a pretty clear divide between “Chicago School” (Free Market, Micro based) and other programs. D may want to do some research before she narrows her list. Once you are indoctrinated (and have made connections) it can be difficult to switch teams, so to speak.
They are visiting Chicago for the 2nd kid, really, not the first. So unless their son is interested in Econ, it may not matter.
@Lindagaf - agree these are very difficult schools to get into …especially as internationals I think and because D also does not have any stand-out awards etc (especially if I compare with the outstanding profiles that I have seen on the forum). However, my read was broadly along the lines mentioned by @PurpleTitan and @Wisteria100 …that my Ds stats were not completely outside of the 25-75 range …but somewhat in the middle…and so worth exploring with a visit etc… Hope am not thinking of this completely the wrong way…(fingers crossed!)
@coolwealther …point well taken…and the thought process is very aligned with what you mention as well @intparent. While we have spent a fair amount of time on the web etc …we have very limited “feel” for the schools and thought this might give us a bit more sense of the school / location etc… I have to add, I personally am also looking forward to spending some time with the family …hopefully we will not totally stress ourselves out due to the college visits
@PNWedwank, @PurpleTitan …seems we will be well and truly roasted out there …and thanks for the tips! July was the only time that worked for us from a logistics point of view …we realise it is going to hot and we will also not be able to see schools in session …but hopefully will still be valuable…
@lookingforward …was wondering along same lines …what would be the ideal number of campuses to cover. It’s a fine balance between trying to maximise our time in the US…versus not overdoing it / stressing ourselves etc. We have got some amazing feedback on this forum…and hope to finalise a sharper list over the next few days etc…
The extreme cold weather is bit of an unknown …and have no reference point re how my D will react/cope if she gets in/attends a school there…so very glad to hear about your thoughts on that
@GMTplus7 …I had the data-plan on my to-do list…but the windshield phone mount idea is simply left-field and brilliant…will organise…thanks!
@momrath …thanks for the pointers…yes we are UK citizens and as mentioned by @GMTplus7 would not be applying for need-based aid …
Wiill certainly look into Williams (don’t know much about it so will look it up for details etc)…as well as the tourist options you mentioned…
If we could - looking for a 70:30 split between school visit:touristy stuff while we are there…lets see how the agenda shapes up in the end…