<p>I’ve heard many kids visit colleges by themselves, without parents or tours, but how? Flying is the easy part, how do they go from the airport to the school etc. Any experience?</p>
<p>If the school will arrange an overnight, then the student gets from the airport to campus the same way he/she would once in the school – which sometimes can itself be a deal breaker. (If it’s a huge hassle to negotiate airport to campus transportation – you might as well figure that out before applying). If not, sometimes the student can informally arrange to be hosted by a student on campus, or can stay with friends who live nearby – assuming there are some. </p>
<p>But generally, from the airport you would be using transportation like an airport shuttle, bus, taxi, or other available transit. </p>
<p>My d. did all the visiting on her own but was interested in urban, east coast campuses, so the where-to-stay issue wasn’t a barrier. She visited D.C. and stayed with a friend/business colleague of her dad’s – she visited Boston and stayed with her boyfriend who was attending college there – she visited NYC and stayed with a kid she knew who attended NYU, though NYU wasn’t on her list until after that stay.</p>
<p>I visited all of my colleges by myself. Pretty much, I made sure I was clear on the details before even leaving for my trip, and things went pretty smoothly after I arrived. I live in New York, and for my UChicago visit, the school paid for my flight and provided a shuttle, which made transport a cinch. However, for my Princeton visit, I had to purchase my own tickets and ensure that I knew how I would be getting to the campus. The same goes for my Harvard visit. </p>
<p>If your child has a list of directions/instructions for what to do after arriving, in addition to at least one contact number in case of emergency, then they will be just fine. A little common sense in such matters goes a long way.</p>
<p>Check the school website for travel suggestions. If it’s really rural, a parent may have to go along to rent a car. But any urban school will have a train or bus, or a cab in a pinch -college students are big users of public transportation. </p>
<p>My other suggestion is to contact an alum from your high school who attends the college, and see if there are any other options. You’ll feel much better knowing there is someone from your town who can reach out to your student.</p>
<p>My daughter visited two schools alone that involved flights - both schools (Rhodes & Hendrix) sent someone to pick her up at the airport & took her back at the end of the trip.</p>
<p>Some of the schools I visited arranged transportation for me. For others, I just researched before I got there - I rented a shuttle or took a taxi or whatever was necessary. It wasn’t that difficult, it just took some initiative on the student’s part.</p>
<p>You can get some good hints from the threads of the particular colleges. If you don’t find what you are looking at, try posting a new thread. I’ve seen lots of helpful transportation threads.</p>
<p>That being said, some schools are harder to get to from the main airports than others. For us the hardest ones really never made it our “list”.</p>
<p>I visited all my colleges myself. Just give the schools a call and they normally are more than happy to find a way to pick you up, or recommend you to a shuttle service.</p>
<p>If you mention the specific schools, we might have specific suggestions. Ds flew to one school by himself, but it was part of a big weekend visit so the schools provided shuttles.</p>
<p>Years ago, I visited NU (where I wound up) with another senior girl from my hs (who also wound up going there). We simply flew to O’Hare, took a shuttle bus to Evanston and had pre-arranged for two NU freshmen who had attended our high school to pick us up and take us to campus (for those of you familiar with Evanston, the shuttles ran from the Orrington Hotel so it was a short walk to campus). And of course in those days we didn’t have cell phones.</p>
<p>I was at a conference for high school students recently and I mentioned that a lot of schools will fly low-income students out for free. The parents were lamenting that it would be too expensive because they would have to purchase their own ticket. I know it can be scary sending your kid out into the wide world by his or herself, but do yourself a favor and save some money. It’s only a few years until students are on their own anyway.</p>
<p>The only transportation option that the high school seniors do not have access to is rental cars. Unfortunately, in some settings, this is the most convenient option. So a little research may be needed. The students may have to use airport shuttles, buses, or taxis instead – both to get from the airport to campus and to get around the town.</p>
<p>Many colleges have transportation information on their web sites, in the admissions section, under “Visiting the Campus” or something like that.</p>
<p>I would be more concerned about the hotel room, if they are not staying on campus. Some hotels will not rent rooms to customers younger than a specific age. In some areas (particularly vacation destinations), this age may be as high as 21.</p>
<p><a href=“If%20it’s%20a%20huge%20hassle%20to%20negotiate%20airport%20to%20campus%20transportation%20–%20you%20might%20as%20well%20figure%20that%20out%20before%20applying”>quote</a>.
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<p>Special transportation options (such as shuttles or charter buses) may be available at the times when masses of students are arriving or departing (beginning of the year, end of the year, breaks). So getting on and off the campus while a student may be easier than doing it for a visit (except if the student needs to travel at an unusual time – such as in mid-semester for a job interview). It may be a good idea to bring up travel concerns on the individual college’s forum here on CC.</p>
<p>I have never seen a place where there was not a relatively convenient way of getting from an airport to a school. </p>
<p>Google maps is actually really good for figuring things like this out.</p>
<p>D wants to visit Lehigh. It’d be about 5 hour flying time each way. She would arrive at ABE around 2PM so she has to stay overnight at some hotel, take the tour/info the next day and fly back home in the late afternoon. We don’t have any friends or relatives up there. So she would have to take taxi from the airport to the hotel, from hotel to Lehigh and another taxi back to the airport. We’ve never been to the area! She did fly by herself but we drop her off at one end and someone else picks her up at the other. This sounds just a tad more complicated!</p>
<p>Why don’t you ask if she can stay with a host on campus instead of in a hotel room? That situation is win-win, since your daughter wouldn’t have to worry about the hotel and would get to see more of the school.</p>
<p>Yeah, hillbillie, is she a senior? If so, I’m sure she’s eligible for an overnight (not sure about the specific policy at Lehigh). At most schools, you hook up with your host at 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., but she could take a taxi to the campus, drop her stuff at the admissions office and then spend some time walking around campus, getting a bite to eat, etc., before going with the host.</p>
<p>I went on one overnight with ds, and the timing was way off just because of the limited number of flights. We took a private shuttle, dropped our stuff off (me at my hotel, he at the admissions office), then walked downtown to eat, then went to a school sporting event. It was really fun!</p>
<p>hillbillie - My D who just graduated visited Muhlenberg on her own. She flew from the west coast to Allentown then got a cab to the school. Because she was coming from so far away they actually set her up to stay for 2 nights with a student. One of the students that she was staying with then gave her a ride back to the airport. It all worked out well.</p>