Re: transportation – you’re looking at long days to and from home regardless. We live in Colorado, and my D goes to Bates, and traveling to and from has always meant a long day of travel. Obviously much longer from HI (but we’re more likely to have weather at both ends of the trip). My D has had weather-related delays. She’s had a couple of missed days of class (professors have been very understanding). Only once has she spent the night on the floor at an airport (yes, we offered a hotel, and she said it wasn’t worth the bother). We usually fly her into Portland, but sometimes it’s made more sense to fly her into Boston and have her spend the night with a friend who lives near Boston and drive up to Maine the next day.
And you know what? It’s been fine. Mostly, flights have worked out. She’s become a more resourceful traveler as a result of dealing with unexpected circumstances. I promise you that if you end up at one of these schools, you’ll deal with travel issues, and you’ll have very long travel days. But you’ll be fine. And I don’t think it’ll make a huge difference which school you attend.