International student needs advice for visiting some Schools

Question

Hi guys!!

As I say in the subject, I need advice for visiting some schools. I hope you, who are from the states, can help me to decide some aspects of my trip.

First of all, the dates in which I’m available to travel there make me to visit some schools after Round 1 (Kellogg and Michigan). Is this fact relevant or not? For the others schools, I’ll be visiting them before round 2, which I think is very nice… what do you think?

Then, the schools I’m planning to visit are: Kellogg, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan, USC, Carnegie Mellon. Do you thing 2 weeks are enough to visit them? I’ve grouped the schools in groups of 2, so, my idea is to travel between 2 schools by car:

How long does the trip between MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) by car take?

And between Kellogg (Evanston, Illinois) and Michigan (Ann Arbor)?

And between Berkeley (San Francisco Bay) and USC (Los Angeles, California)?

Any suggestions? Any critic will be welcome!!

FYI: I’m from Spain…

Many thanks!!

PS I’ve been searching on the forum but I didn’t find anything relevant for me

riverripper · Answer

How long does the trip between MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) by car take?  9-10 hours conservatively, really depends on traffic. You would be better going from Ann Arbor to Pitts (its only 4.5 hours or so).

And between Kellogg (Evanston, Illinois) and Michigan (Ann Arbor)?  4.5 hours...without traffic.

And between Berkeley (San Francisco Bay) and USC (Los Angeles, California)?  Traffic will make it a lot longer than you would think.

Any suggestions? Any critic will be welcome!!  Flying might be the way to go.

MGOBLUE2 · Answer

I would not recommend driving between Haas and USC. Flying would be easier.

As for Ann Arbor and Evanston, I would recommend the megabus or amtrak. both take you from ann arbor to downtown chicago. the stop in downtown chicago for both megabus/amtrak is very close to a train station that will take you directly to evanston.

JohnLewis1980 · Answer

thank you guys!

So, it's better to use the plane when you can, right?

Ok, I'll try to do that

Another question, If rent a car, how easy is driving through the states? I suppose that in cities, like NYC, it must be horrible, but I mean between medium cities

Thanks again!!

Cheers

Rubashov1 · Answer

I can't speak for the west coast, but east coast driving isn't too bad, but certainly not great. That said, in Boston/Cambridge you would probably have a better time without a car. Pittsburgh is better, especially in the CMU area. Between cities isn't too bad. The Boston-New York stretch can get ugly, but to in western Pennsylvania and Michigan it would probably be fairly pleasant.

I think that you are probably better off not driving in general, but it does have the appeal of getting to see some areas that you otherwise would have missed. Overall though I think your stress level would be a bit lower if you didn't drive*.

*Assuming you are not traveling in the winter, which can more often be a frustrating flying experience in Boston, Chicago and Michigan, than driving is.

kwam · Answer

Hey JohnLewis1980

PM me, I'm still settling in Chicago, and still don't have internet, but I want to help you as I lived in Lisboa, I may be able to help you with a personal Iberian view.

For cars, do not rento at NYC, but for other cities is OK, Boston area you don't need also, its a very compact area. For Chicago land its useful, but not "required". For California YOU SHOULD DEF RENT A CAR. Try https://www.autoeurope.com

No te preocupes que hay muchos hispano hablantes en todas escuelas, jejejeje.

BTW I don't think you need to visit the schools (I didn't) but if you can go at the Info Sessions it's enough. Save your money to visit later...

JohnLewis1980 · Answer

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for all this information, I really appreciate this.

After your suggestions, I think I'll perform the following trip. Please, tell me what do you think:

+ I start the trip on Boston and visit MIT

+ Boston - Pennsylvania by plane. Rent a car and visit Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh

+ Pennsylvania - Michigan (Ann Arbor) by car, and visit there Michigan Ross

+ Michigan - Chicago by car, and visit Kellogg

+ Chicago - San Francisco by plane, and visit Haas Berkeley

+ San Francisco - LA by plane, and visit there USC

@ rca, I'll be there on mid-end october, do you think I'll have any problem (snow mainly)?

@ kwam, many thanks, I'll PM you!! :cool

Cheers

Rubashov1 · Answer

No snow in October (well, I guess there's always a chance but it is ridiculously unlikely).

In Pittsburgh, you might want to pick up the car as you are leaving not when you arrive. It's not a big deal, but it will save on the rental cost for a day and you won't have to worry about parking and getting lost. You can consider the same in Chicago - dropping off the car as soon as you get there and then going via public transportation. But if you're sticking only to Northwestern (meaning you'll be in Evanston the whole time), then having a car won't be difficult.

GoBruin · Answer

hi, curious why you chose USC vs UCLA? they both are in LA, and seems like UCLA is better ranked and in the league of Haas, however USC is usually concidered a big deal lower. Then again I may be bias. Just to answer your other questions Berkeley to USC is 6 hours.

JohnLewis1980 · Answer

well, I didn't choose UCLA because I already took Berkeley and Michigan as my options for ES, and also, I chose USC as one of my TES option...

Thanks anyway for the info!!

International student needs advice for visiting some Schools

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