Find the answers to all of your tour questions here!
What does QUAD, 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 QUAD, you are reserving ONE SPOT for yourself in a hotel room with 3 other people. The hotel room will have two beds with two people in each bed and 4 people in the room total. If you select TWIN, you are reserving ONE SPOT for yourself in a hotel room with 1 other person. The hotel room will have two beds with one person in each bed and 2 people in the room total. If you select SINGLE, you are reserving an entire hotel room for yourself. All tour pricing is per person.
Do I have to purchase a second tour for my parent to attend?
Yes! To attend the Ivy League University Tour, each attendee must purchase a tour by filling out an enrollment form individually with their personal information. 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. For a group of 4 attending the tour (any combination of parents, student, siblings, guests), ALL attendees would fill out their own individual enrollment form with their personal information and ALL select QUAD.
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, along with 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 Boston?
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, breakfasts and dinners, guided tours and activities, a full-time tour director, overnight security, illness and accident coverage, EF's basic travel protection plan, and all gratuities.
What is included in each university campus visit?
Due to this being a traveling tour with certain days spent on the road for a good bit of the time, some university stops will be longer than others. Each campus visit differs depending on schedule constraints and the university's covid restrictions. Generally, the first university stop of the day will be longer than the second to allow for free time for students to eat lunch on campus. We do our best to secure a guided private group tour of each university, but occasionally 1-2 schools will not allow for group tours and only offer self-guided or public tours instead. Each campus visit will include a stop at the university bookstore.
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 across nine states, 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 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 Boston on Day 1. On each full tour day, breakfast and dinner will be provided. Some lunches will be provided, but on the other days, tour participants will be taken to a popular area and be given free time to eat lunch on their own. Be sure to plan to provide your lunches, as tour participants are welcome to eat at an eatery of their choosing. This is always a great opportunity for students to make friends with other participants, shop for souvenirs, and have some freedom to explore the area a little. On departure day, attendees can enjoy breakfast at the hotel before making their way to the airport.
What if I live close by and don't need a hotel room?
The NSHSS Ivy League University 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 often 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 Boston, tour staff will meet attendees at the airport baggage claim. Students will be assigned groups based on similar arrival times and taken to the charter bus to drop off their luggage and then head into downtown Boston. Early arrivals will have some free time to explore the Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market area with the tour director while the bus goes back and forth from the airport to pick up the next group of students. Tours staff will be stationed at both the airport and with the group downtown. All arrivals by car are encouraged to drop off at the Boston airport for easier access to load onto the bus. We will not be checking into the hotel until after dinner on day one.
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. 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!
