College Visits....decent hotels in Savannah, GA and Sarasota, FL?

pklein09

Winner DVC Trivia Contest April 2006
Joined
Sep 15, 2003
We've started college visits for DD17, child #3. Woo hoo!!! We're taking "Jersey Week" to visit 2 colleges: SCAD and Ringling. I managed to keep costs under control by using Amex points for most of our airfare. DH might have some hotel points that could be used for hotels, but the points are spread out all over the place because the lowest cost hotels are chosen for his work. No brand loyalty!

Do you have any suggestions for a decent hotel near these colleges? There will be 4 of us...me, DH, DD17 and DS14 for the Savannah visit (just DD and I for Ringling). For obvious reasons, we'd like 3 beds or 2 beds with the possibility of a roll-away. We will have a rental car.

Thanks in advance!!!
 
Check the college websites - search "hotels". They often have discounts at local hotels for people visiting the school.
 
We just stayed at the Springhill Suites in the historic district of Savannah and enjoyed our stay. Something we thought was nice in the room was 2 beds and a couch for sleeping and the fact that the shower/sink is in a different room from the toilet and another sink; made getting ready in the mornings that much easier for the 4 of us!!
The breakfast was decent and all the staff was nice. Plus it's an easy walk to everything you would want to see in the historic district.
 
Check the college websites - search "hotels". They often have discounts at local hotels for people visiting the school.

Thank you! SCAD had something listed, Ringling did not.


We just stayed at the Springhill Suites in the historic district of Savannah and enjoyed our stay. Something we thought was nice in the room was 2 beds and a couch for sleeping and the fact that the shower/sink is in a different room from the toilet and another sink; made getting ready in the mornings that much easier for the 4 of us!!
The breakfast was decent and all the staff was nice. Plus it's an easy walk to everything you would want to see in the historic district.

We've stayed at Springhill Suites before.....nice to know it's a good hotel. We stayed at a horrible hotel that was outrageously priced (freshman move-in weekend) when we dropped DS18 at college in MN. We decided we'll stay half an hour away in Minneapolis before we stay near his college again.
 


Savannah — We've stayed at The Inn at Ellis Square in the historic district and also Hilton Garden Inn which is not in the historic district. If you can do historic district, do it. It's just so nice being in the middle of things. My daughter has been accepted at SCAD for the fall of 2016. What is your DD wanting to study?

We didn't visit Ringling so I don't know anything for that one.
 
Thanks Michelle! DD currently wants photography and print making, but she likes so many things that I expect it to change. Do you mind if I asked where else your daughter looked? We're in NJ, but DD doesn't want to be in a big city. So, nothing in Philly or NYC. RISD was on our list, but she's filled out the online request for information twice and never received a response back....not even an auto-reply email.
 
pklein09 was going to private message you but the boards have changed since I've done it and I can't figure it out! My DD looked at Ohio State University, University of Tampa, Eastern KY University, University of Cincinnati, Purdue, University of FL, Northern KY University, WV University, and Penn State. She got accepted at SCAD and is also applying at Tampa, EKU, Cincinnati (we're from Cincinnati so it doesn't hold as much appeal for her although DAPP is EXCELLENT), and Purdue. Her first choice is SCAD but it really depends on what kind of scholarships she can get. She wants to go into graphic design.
 


pklein09 was going to private message you but the boards have changed since I've done it and I can't figure it out! My DD looked at Ohio State University, University of Tampa, Eastern KY University, University of Cincinnati, Purdue, University of FL, Northern KY University, WV University, and Penn State. She got accepted at SCAD and is also applying at Tampa, EKU, Cincinnati (we're from Cincinnati so it doesn't hold as much appeal for her although DAPP is EXCELLENT), and Purdue. Her first choice is SCAD but it really depends on what kind of scholarships she can get. She wants to go into graphic design.

Thank you! Lots of schools were eliminated when she said no large cities. I also think she wants a smaller school. I know Rutgers was eliminated right away for that reason.
 
We stayed at Marriott Residence inn in Savanah
Because I booked with points they upgraded us to a 2 bedroom( just DH And me) it was huge with dining table for 6!
 
My daughter is a junior at Ringling, hard work but she loves it. She did print making during the summer program and really liked it. Her major is computer animation so not much time for extra classes.

As others have stated it is close to the airport so several hotels close. If you want more of a suburban area Lakewood Ranch has several hotels, she has an apartment in that area and it is pretty close.
 
My daughter is a junior at Ringling, hard work but she loves it. She did print making during the summer program and really liked it. Her major is computer animation so not much time for extra classes.

As others have stated it is close to the airport so several hotels close. If you want more of a suburban area Lakewood Ranch has several hotels, she has an apartment in that area and it is pretty close.

Thank you! We've never been in the Sarasota area before. When we stayed at HH with our DVC, we went into Savannah for the day so we're vaguely familiar with that city.
 
We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Savannah which is right next to SCAD. Beautiful new hotel, great breakfasts!
 
Hi! Just wanted to give and update and say thanks! SCAD was the hand's down winner between the two schools. Spring Hill Suites on Montgomery St. was a great location. We were able to leave the car there and walk everywhere. We ended up at the Hampton Inn at Sarasota Airport, which was also nice. DD did not like Sarasota (although the walk on Lido Beach was the highlight of the visit). She just did not connect with Ringling. I think Ringling's focus is on computer animation and motion, and those majors are not a huge interest for her. She's consented to look a Moore College of the Arts in Philly, but she's not thrilled with the location. Thank goodness she's a junior and we have time to really do our research.
 
Anyone with experience at SCAD? What type of scholarships did your child receive? My DD wants to go there and got her scholarship paperwork last week (she got $10,000). She wants to go into graphic design and SCAD is her #1 choice but we're having heartache over the cost and whether it's truly any better than a traditional college that offers graphic design. The plus is that SCAD has all the arts majors and if she opted to switch, they certainly have the most choices. However, they're almost double what the other schools are. Any thoughts????
 
Anyone with experience at SCAD? What type of scholarships did your child receive? My DD wants to go there and got her scholarship paperwork last week (she got $10,000). She wants to go into graphic design and SCAD is her #1 choice but we're having heartache over the cost and whether it's truly any better than a traditional college that offers graphic design. The plus is that SCAD has all the arts majors and if she opted to switch, they certainly have the most choices. However, they're almost double what the other schools are. Any thoughts????

I'll be honest, I didn't even look at the tuition until now. I didn't think it was too bad at $34,500 (or so) for tuition alone. Any school is going to be about another $10K for room and board. I'm not sure where you're looking that all the other schools are half that price.

DD17 LOVED the campus! She will have her major and mostly likely 2 minors due to needing 180 credits to graduate. If she changes her major (and I expect she will once she gets there), she will have plenty to choose from and she will not lose ground credit or time wise. She can choose one or both of the international programs at the same cost as the GA programs. I also think the internships they talk about will come to fruition. The appear to have a huge network. There is another family in our school district whose son is at SCAD, and it's a great fit for him. I spoke with his mom because I had questions about the Rising Star program. Her son didn't take part in the program, but he's waiting on word for a 6 month internship with Disney.

We have other friends whose DD graduated from Pratt in NYC. It's an excellent school, but the parents were not pleased with how they transition their students into the workforce. From what they experienced, Pratt teaches art for art's sake and they do that very well. They do not help/train/prepare their students very well for taking their art and making a living. They see that with their DD and her friends. I feel SCAD has that piece better in hand.

I wish you the best as you and your DD make the final college decision. Remember, it's not a decision etched in stone. She can always change her mind.
 
Hi! Just wanted to give and update and say thanks! SCAD was the hand's down winner between the two schools. Spring Hill Suites on Montgomery St. was a great location. We were able to leave the car there and walk everywhere. We ended up at the Hampton Inn at Sarasota Airport, which was also nice. DD did not like Sarasota (although the walk on Lido Beach was the highlight of the visit). She just did not connect with Ringling. I think Ringling's focus is on computer animation and motion, and those majors are not a huge interest for her. She's consented to look a Moore College of the Arts in Philly, but she's not thrilled with the location. Thank goodness she's a junior and we have time to really do our research.

That's wonderful that you were able to take your daughter to SCAD. I have a freshman daughter who wants to major in Art and go to a warm climate so I told her about SCAD about a year ago. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Ringling and what their focus is.

I hope your daughter gets scholarships and a great financial package!
 
We are in Cincinnati so she's applied to the DAAP program and it's $20,000 per year with room/board. She also applied to EKU and it's $20,500 or so after her scholarship, University of Tampa is going to be $25,000/year. None of these are specifically art schools so that may be the difference. I'm just not sure a degree in graphic design nets her enough income to warrant the extra cost of SCAD. Just looking for feedback.
 
We are in Cincinnati so she's applied to the DAAP program and it's $20,000 per year with room/board. She also applied to EKU and it's $20,500 or so after her scholarship, University of Tampa is going to be $25,000/year. None of these are specifically art schools so that may be the difference. I'm just not sure a degree in graphic design nets her enough income to warrant the extra cost of SCAD. Just looking for feedback.

DS18 is a music kid....he wants to be a choral director. He's currently at St. Olaf in MN studying church music. It's a private liberal arts school. We were cautioned about conservatories, where their majors are very narrow and it's difficult to change if you decide that's not the place for you. We face the same sort of decision here with DD17. It's an art school. If she decides art is not what she wants, it will be difficult to change and time/money will be lost. I don't see her doing anything but art, and SCAD has so many majors she can easily switch without losing much. There was another family on our tour and the mom was not happy with SCAD at all for that reason. I don't think she was convinced her DD was committed to the arts. She preferred a school where DD could switch majors entirely without having to change schools.

I hope that whatever decision you make is the right one for your daughter. Best of luck!
 

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