NSHSS California College Tour

NOTE: THIS ITINERARY IS NOT FINAL AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

 

DAY ONE - Sunday, June 25

ARRIVAL DAY

Meet NSHSS and EU Tours Staff at San Diego International Airport
NOTE: Travelers on this tour should book their flights arriving BEFORE 3:00 PM PST on Day 1. The ideal arrival window is between 1-3 PM PST for minimal airport wait time. Tours staff will coordinate airport pickups.

Hotel check-in in San Diego

Dinner & Sight Seeing in San Diego
Greet fellow travelers and enjoy dinner and Site Seeing in Old Town San Diego.

 

DAY TWO - Monday, June 26

SAN DIEGO & ORANGE COUNTY

Breakfast at hotel
Enjoy a hot breakfast before venturing out to see Orange County and sunny San Diego.

Morning Tour: University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

Start your morning at San Diego's top public university at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

Lunch
Grab a quick a lunch as we head up the coast to beautiful Orange County

Afternoon Tour: University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine)

Spend the afternoon exploring UC Irvine

Dinner & Hotel Check-in
Join your fellow travelers for dinner and evening fun at Downtown Disney!

DAY THREE - Tuesday, June 27

LOS ANGELES & THE INLAND EMPIRE

Breakfast at hotel
Put away your mouse ears and enjoy breakfast at the hotel before heading out for a day of SoCal College Touring.

Morning Tour: Cal Poly Pomona

In the morning, take a tour of one of the top public universities in the west Cal Poly Pomona

Lunch
Enjoy lunch with your friends before heading out for our afternoon tours

Afternoon Tour: Cal Tech

Hop back on the bus and head out to visit the world-renowned science and engineering institute Caltech

Dinner & Hotel Check-in
Dinner and some evening site seeing in Old Town Pasadena before heading back to the hotel for a good night's rest.

 

DAY FOUR - Wednesday, June 28

LOS ANGELES

Breakfast at hotel
Enjoy a quick breakfast before heading out to visit some of LA's top universities.

Morning Tour: University of Southern California (USC)

In the morning, take a group tour of top private university University of Southern California (USC)

Lunch
Gather together for lunch before heading to iconic Westwood.

Afternoon Tour: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Spend the afternoon on the beautiful campuses of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Dinner & Hotel Check-in
Enjoy dinner and shopping on 3rd street promenade and Santa Monica Pier before driving up the coast towards Santa Barbara!

 

DAY FIVE - Thursday, June 29

CALIFORNIA COAST

Breakfast at hotel
Enjoy a hearty breakfast and prepare for your visits to these stunning seaside campuses.

Morning Tour: University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

In the morning, begin your day with a tour of University of California, Santa Barbara located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Lunch
Enjoy lunch in the beautiful seaside air before heading up the coast.

Afternoon Tour: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO)

In the afternoon, enjoy a tour of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO).

Dinner & Hotel Check-in
Take in the beautiful seascape and a refreshing milkshake as we make our way to the heart of Silicon Valley for dinner and a good night's rest.

 

DAY SIX - Friday, June 30

BAY AREA

Breakfast at hotel
Enjoy breakfast before venturing out to see California’s iconic Bay Area and two of the nation's top universities.

Morning Tour: Stanford University

In the morning, begin your day with a tour of the prestigious Stanford University 

Lunch
Enjoy lunch and afternoon walking in Downtown Berkeley

Afternoon Tour: University of California, Berkeley (CAL)

After lunch, head out to your final tour at one of the nation’s top Universities, UC Berkeley, aka Cal

Depart for home from San Francisco International Airport
Don't forget to thank our motor coach driver before departing the motor coach for your flight home out of San Francisco Airport (SFO)! Recommended departure time is AFTER 5:30 PM. Tours staff will provide transportation to the airport. 

ENROLL NOW

Find the answers to all of your tour questions here!

 

What does TWIN & SINGLE mean, and how does it affect tour pricing?

These terms refer to hotel room occupancy. All aspects of the tour are the exact same for each attendee, so we base the tour price on the attendee's hotel room preference. If you select TWIN, you are reserving ONE SPOT for yourself in a hotel room with one other person. The hotel room will have two beds, with one person in each bed and two people in the room in total. If you do not have a roommate request (who is a paying traveler on tour), you will be matched with a roommate. If you select SINGLE, you are reserving an entire hotel room for yourself. For this tour, TWIN accommodations are recommended, but if you would like your own room, there is a $600 upgrade charge imposed by the tour company. All tour pricing is per person.

Do I have to purchase a second tour for my parent to attend?

Yes! To attend the CA College Tour, each attendee must purchase a tour by filling out an enrollment form individually with their personal information. Both student & parent must fill out their own enrollment form to sign up. Parents are allowed to accompany their students on this tour, and they would participate in all aspects of the tour just as every other member does.

 

If a parent and/or guest wants to attend the tour with their member, which room option should we select as a group?

Each attendee (parents and guests included) must fill out their own individual enrollment form to attend the tour. Please note tour prices are per person regardless of group size. Adults can only be placed in a room with students they are attending the tour with. If a parent and a student would like to attend the tour and room together, the student would fill out an enrollment form and select TWIN, and the parent would fill out their own enrollment form (with their information as both the traveler and emergency contact) and select TWIN. If the student does not want to room with their parent and would like to be paired with other students attending the tour, the parent must select SINGLE, and then the student can select any rooming option.

 

If a parent and/or guest wants to attend the tour with their member, do they have to use Non-Member pricing?

No! As an NSHSS member benefit, members and their guests can use the NSHSS member tour pricing. Please note tour prices are per person. Non-Member pricing is reserved for students unaffiliated with NSHSS that would like to attend the tour.

 

Does NSHSS provide transportation to San Diego?

Each attendee is responsible for their own transportation arrangements. NSHSS does not assist with airfare, and flights are not included in this tour price. With NSHSS members all over the country, it would be too difficult to facilitate flights for every member coming from different airports at different times. Some members are also within driving distance and don't need flights, so we are able to offer a lower price for everyone without flights included.

 

What is included in the tour package?

The package includes hotel accommodations for the week, charter bus transportation, all meals on tour days, guided tours and activities, a full-time tour director, student & parent information packets, and all gratuities.

 

What is included in each university campus visit?

The Tour transforms this experience into an enriching and exciting summer adventure in which students participate in campus tours, meet with admissions representatives, and receive materials to help evaluate each school.
Tour participants are also presented with strategies to get the most out of their future college visits. Students learn what questions they should be asking of campus officials, how to compare schools to one another, and what factors are most important for their college selection process. The admissions office staff leads many tours, others by the tour director, depending on the campus and tour dates. Where available, campus tours will also include an information meeting provided by admissions office staff.

 

What should I expect in regard to the intensity of this tour?

This a traveling tour with a very tight schedule. We are fitting ten university stops into five days while traveling up the coast, so a good bit of time will also be spent on the road. We will be doing A LOT of walking – anywhere from 10,000-20,000 steps and at least 5 miles PER DAY. We will be outside a lot, and it will most likely be hot since it is summer. Students are encouraged to pack comfortable clothes and shoes, sunglasses, hats, sunscreen, portable fans, and some snacks to keep with them during the day or to have at night in their hotel rooms. The hotels will also have snack bars with snacks for purchase, but it will be important to have non-perishable/non-melting snacks on hand during the day. When we leave the hotel in the morning, we will not be returning until we check into a new hotel at the end of the day. The days will be very long, but the experience will be worth it!!

 

Will there be meals provided during the tour?

NSHSS will provide a welcome dinner reception upon attendees' arrival in San Diego on Day 1. On each full tour day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided. Make sure to bring some snacks or money to buy some snacks if you get hungry easily! On departure day, attendees can enjoy breakfast at the hotel and lunch on tour before making their way to the airport. 

 

What if I live close by and don't need a hotel room?

The NSHSS CA College Tour is only sold as an all-inclusive tour package, so, unfortunately, we cannot remove the hotel's cost from the tour price as that is a large part of the package. Keeping all tour participants at the same hotel makes it easier to keep everyone accounted for overnight so we don't run into logistical issues in transportation to and from the hotel and daily activities. This is also a traveling tour, so attendees are staying at a new hotel each night. The package, however, does not include airfare as members are flying in from all over the country, so that's great you are so close and won't have to worry about purchasing travel arrangements!

 

What does arrival day look like once I get to the airport?

Upon arrival in San Diego, tour staff will meet attendees at the airport baggage claim. Students are encouraged to book flights arriving between 1 - 3 PM PST for minimal wait time. Once the entire tour group arrives, we will load up onto the bus and head to the first hotel to check in!

 

Do you offer financial assistance for this tour?

As NSHSS tours are entirely optional to our members, we currently do not have any financial assistance programs for our tours at this time. However, payment arrangements are very flexible to allow participants to create their own payment plan and pay the tour fee in increments of their choosing at any time and as many times as they would like up until the final due date. We send all of our invoices through PayPal, which also offers several payment plan options. Please be sure to check out our NSHSS Scholarships page for multiple scholarship opportunities, where many of the scholarships are open to both high school and college students. Keep an eye out as new scholarships are always being added!

Email tours@nshss.org