I’m curious how students/families deal with traveling from the West Coast (more specifically the PNW)? Do most students fly into ITH? Or have you found flying into Syracuse and then driving a better way to go?
Also, is Ithaca weather similar to the Pacific Northwest? I’ve read a lot about gloomy weather in Ithaca but it sounds like typical PNW weather to me: cold, wet, rainy, snowy, etc.
My daughter’s roommate was from Seattle. She used to fly into Syracuse then took a shuttle or got a ride to Ithaca. There are not as many flights to Ithaca. I think Ithaca is colder with more snow than around Seattle area.
Thank you, oldfort. I assume Ithaca is better equipped to handle snow than we are. Things shut down and people start to panic at the sight of a snowflake!
My favorite Cornell snow day video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE-Gu3-DjT0
What a great video! The students look like they’re having a blast!
The west coast to east coast trip is a pain – especially if you have additional travel at the end. D eventually settled on a red eye as the way to go.
A red eye does look the most direct with the fewest stops, but arrival into DTW at 5am (2 am pacific time) seems like a such a pain to the point that I’m questioning if it’s worth the time and money to come visit-- I hate to say that a flight itinerary is a deal breaker, but yeesh…its either a red eye with a 1 pm arrival into ITH or a 6 am departure with 3 stops and an 11:20pm ITH arrival. Either way, it’s a long day.
Do kids from west coast go home for Thanksgiving? One good way to look at it is that D would probably accumulate a lot of miles and get to MVP status quickly.
I think you should look into Syracuse. It is about one hour away.
I just looked, and the flights are roughly the same from where we live–we have to connect in Seattle which is what adds a lot of travel time-
I did find a nice route via Newark Airport but was told switching terminals ( Alaska to United) could be problematic.
@Mimi2018 I wish there were an easier and cost friendly way to get from west coast to Ithaca but in our experience there really isn’t (we are from SoCal). Syracuse will give you the most flight choices going in and out and they have a bus from there to Ithaca commons for about $32. Then you have to taxi to campus for about $10
My S does not come home for thanksgiving or for Fall Break. He didn’t even come home for Spring Break (we did offer to fly him home but he had projects to work on anyway).
Weather is pretty gloomy 
Thanks, CALSmom. Is that fairly common for a West Coast students? Not to come home until winter break? Makes sense consider how long no the journey is.
My D loves gloomy weather! She’s a Northwest girl, so she loves the rainy cold weather. She might not like the bitter cold, though. She’s never experienced that brutal bone chilling cold.
I was avoiding Newark connections for my D, based on many negative online reviews & comments, but after it was unavoidable one time, she said it was no problem and well signed. She’s come through there at least one other time.
We always plan itineraries with ample layovers. Minimum of 90 minutes if a new, large, or confusing airport, or it’s winter travel. We try for never less than 1 hour but occasionally make well thought out exceptions (such as early in the day flights, so if connection gets missed, there is the possibility of still making it that day).
Idk about other west coast students. My opinion is that no, not a lot of west coasters go home for thanksgiving given the distance and cost. Mine went home with his east coast roommate. As for the cold, if my S can hack it your D will too 
He didn’t think it was as cold as he thought it would be…maybe 15* was the coldest
Layering is key and having the right shoes and undergarments too.
To add: the campus is open during thanksgiving and actually has a traditional turkey dinner for students who stay on campus
D did not home for Thanksgiving while she was at Dartmouth, until they [foolishly?] changed the schedule to have the fall quarter end then – which made for a very long winter break [not that we were unhappy to have her around].
Thanks everyone- I appreciate your comments very much.
alooknac-Did your D have to change terminals at Newark?
The terminal change is what threw me off from that itinerary. Someone on Trip Advisor said we’d have to go thru security again. But, you’ve brought up a good point in that if we give ourselves plenty of time, that shouldn’t be a problem.
CALSmom-you’re right! If a SoCal kid can handle the cold, my D should handle it just fine. After the Snowmageddon we had last winter, she’s definitely got all the right clothes!
I realize each kid is different, so this may seem like a dumb question, but I’ll ask it anyway: In spite of being so far from home, are your kids happy they chose Cornell ( in your case Dartmouth-AboutTheSame)? Are you glad they chose Cornell? Is the long distance difficult for them and for you?
I ask because Cornell is a reach for my D. She would apply to AAP for a BFA in studio arts. There are plenty of programs for her to apply to that would be much easier to get to/from, but there’s just something about Cornell that seems to speak to her even though we’ve never been there–
My daughter does not come home for Thanksgiving (Florida to Colorado) even though it is a direct flight from Orlando. The time is too short and it is much to much of a hassle. One year she went to her boyfriend’s home in NJ, and she thought that was too much of a hassle. Last year she stayed at school (her apartment) and went to Universal for a day, and shopping at the outlet mall.
Eons ago my sister traveled from Middlebury to a relative’s home near Boston for Thanksgiving. That was a hassle too. Any time you are traveling from a small town across states to another small town, it’s going to take a long time and the possibility of some connection being missed is high.
My S was recruited as an athlete so his college list was small. He chose Cornell because for him it was the right size, had his major, the reputation and the athletic program/teammates. After experiencing one year there he confirmed our hopes that he would love the school even if he didn’t do his sport…that said a lot to us. We are happy he chose Cornell and so proud to be associated with the school. So far we haven’t had any horrible experiences with Cornell. They could improve their student housing though