<p>I just checked and BC does not have a Sunday tour. </p>
<p>So, taking into consideration that perhaps a more rural or suburban school might be a better third choice, does anyone have any ideas for a college off of the Mass Pike or I84 (Connecticut)? Maybe we could stop on the way home on Sunday.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>I think three info sessions for these girls is too many in one day. If the idea is to see three schools that have a different “flavor”, I’m not sure why you would need to see both Northeastern and Emerson…they are about the same size and are in very close proximity to one another. Boston University is much larger and a distance away. They are all great schools…but honestly three urban college campus info sessions in one day? Too many and too many of the same “type” of school. </p>
<p>Boston has a ton of colleges. If you want a large one and choose Boston University, then I would choose EITHER Northeastern OR Emerson. That way…one school in the morning…one in the afternoon. </p>
<p>You will have no difficulty navigating around Boston on the T (which is their subway). To be honest, if kids are considering schools IN Boston, they should experience the public transportation system which is excellent.</p>
<p>UConn is right off I-84 and does have tour on Sunday.</p>
<p>Thumper, just a clarification, NEU and BU are actually a lot more similar schools and quite different from Emerson. Emerson is more like LAC with artsy students in a very urban campus with a few thousands undergraduate students. While NEU and BU have fairly large undergraduate students (more than 15k) with a lot of professional schools and student bodies like engineering and business with a lot of traditional sports programs like many other large universities. More over, BU and NEU is much closer in distance next to the edge of Boston while Emerson is the farthest away located right in the middle of downtown Boston. If you want more variety, I would drop either BU or NEU and keep Emerson.</p>
<p>Wesleyan University in Middletown CT is also not far off I-84, a small suburban/rural school with LAC flavor.</p>
<p>ttparent - just checked, Wesleyan has tours Sundays at noon which fits perfectly both time-wise and geographically! </p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all your help, probably will do Northeastern or BU (need to do some more research and speak to the girls) and Emerson and Wesleyan on Sunday on the way home.</p>
<p>Enjoy your outing! Please post a follow-up. I’d love to hear about the girls’ experiences.</p>
<p>Just a suggestion that you go with BU for its location near the Charles River. Northeastern and Emerson are literally in the heart of the city, whereas BU is located on the north side of Boston across the river from Cambridge. It’s got a totally different feel from Northeastern. Feel free to PM me for suggestions on places to eat, other things to do while in Boston. (I’m a native Bostonian.)</p>
<p>I think you can do it if you have a car with someone driving who can pick up and drop off without worrying about parking. The driver will not go on the tours, but just be available to shuttle the troop from one location to the next. Make sure you are dropped off near the start of the tour. Bring bag lunches that you can eat in between schools in the car.</p>
<p>Depending on where your start point is, you can take the Green Line “D” branch directly to Northeastern, take that back into town, getting off at Boylston, and then go back outbound on the “B” branch to Boston University’s campus. From Northeastern to Emerson would take about 20 minutes ride time, from Emerson to BU would be about the same, not factoring waiting for the streetcar.</p>
<p>I don’t think they would make it if they take the T. Trains run so slow on weekends. But it would be fun to try.</p>
<p>It is the T “E” branch that goes to Northeastern. </p>
<p>“It’s (BU) got a totally different feel from Northeastern.” True, Northeastern has an actual campus.</p>
<p>I agree, except for the a little green space looking over Storrow drive and Charles river which you basically can’t easily cross, BU campus is very disjoint and mixed in with the business and stores, a total turn off for me, Northeastern at least has some resemblance of a campus that is contiguous and hang together. Also with 8 lanes Comm Ave cutting in the middle, it is just not very nice to me.</p>
<p>OP already decided to skip one of the school, so they don’t need to rush and do this ridiculous dash for one session to another.</p>
<p>tom - you’re right, it’s the “E” (formerly the Arborway) streetcar that passes by Northeastern.</p>
<p>ttparent - On both Northeastern’s and BU’s campuses, there are two lanes in each direction (at BU, a bike lane was installed that cut out the third lane).</p>
<p>It is 8 lanes where BU bridge is, and you have to admit, Comm Ave is so much wider than Huntington Ave. The point is when I visit BU, when I walk around I feel strange and not sure whether I am actually in a college campus. BU is very different in this regards from many other city schools I visited.</p>
<p>Since you are from NY and your scouts will presumably be getting a “feel” for a variety of different types of schools (small/large, urban/rural, local CCs, public, instate schools) through their own research, family visits, school, college fairs, etc., this Boston visit could focus on schools that offer something very “different” from what they might otherwise see - such as the co-op model available at NEU (another reason to choose NEU over BU besides a more compact campus) or, as was suggested by another poster, Simmons College, which is for women only (but is also part of a consortium of schools in Boston that allows students to take classes at the other participating schools - Simmons College, Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Wheelock College). </p>
<p>Ideally, the tour will highlight a few things each school offers that you KNOW will capture their interest (Does the school offer majors or programs the scouts are currently interested in, for instance if by chance all of the scouts were very “techy” you might not want to bother with a LAC; if they are very “artsy” you would want to include a school known for its arts curriculum. If they are interested in health professions what sort of program does the school offer? Are there ECs available that the girls might be interested in if they were to attend the school?). Not that you are trying to “sell” them on any school, but will they come away not only excited about the city, but also a little more focused in their college search based on things they learned during their visits? </p>
<p>Another thing which you may have already considered, but October is often when Parent Weekends occur, so you may want to check on what those dates are and either avoid that weekend - or, conversely, you might be able to take advantage of special events that are occurring at that time because it is Parents Weekend!</p>
<p>Also, remember that part of the fun of this trip should be in the planning; be sure to involve them in planning this trip - eg, locating info or maps of the schools, the T system and for whatever other activities you plan, coming up with questions they want answered during the tours, etc. </p>
<p>Have fun!!!</p>
<p>Parent of a BU grad here. BU is an urban campus. If the OP wants the kiddos to get a feel for an urban campus that doesn’t have a “college green feel” to it, BU is a great choice. Walking behind Commonwealth on Bay State Road has a good urban feel to it. There is city hustle bustle that is not found at a school with a campus gate. Personally I think it’s great, and so did my kid.</p>
<p>I remember a thread awhile back where a student asked for a suggestion of schools that have less green space. He cited that he visited NEU, and he hated it because it has too much grass, trees and plants. I was completely baffled that little strips of grass and trees next to the buildings and concrete paths would be considered too much, but it just goes to show that to each its own. My apology if I have offended any BU contingent here.</p>
<p>Seems to me there is a parents weekend at SOME college almost every weekend in October. There are a ton of different colleges in and around Boston. </p>
<p>I’ve lost track…is the purpose of this trip to expose the kids to colleges? Or is it a trip to Boston and Oh…let’s look at some colleges while we are there? If it’s a trip to Boston, please…do some Boston things that do not include college visits. There is so much to do in Boston…and near Boston.</p>
<p>I’m a lifelong Boston resident and currently work for one of the downtown colleges. If you want your kids to get the feel of an urban campus, I second (third? tenth?) the suggestion for showing them Northeastern. To me, it’s always had more of a ‘college’ feel than BU, which can feel like a huge section of busy highway that happens to have some college buildings scattered along it. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>(also, one of my favorite parks in the city is very close by, it’s the Reflecting Pool at the Christian Science building across from Symphony Hall.)</p>