Western to Touro or Vice Versa

[enveng1978]

I am from the east coast and have just received notice I've been invited to interview at Western and Touro. I don't know the dates yet, but would like to interview at both schools all in one trip. Any California natives have any suggestions on time frames I should expect for travel, e.g. is it possible for me to interview at one place on a Thurs. and make to the other for a Fri. interview?

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[rkamp]

You can definitely make both interviews in two days if you're planning on flying. The flight is only an hour, but if you're planning to drive you might be pushing it, 'cause the drive is about 5-6 hours depending.

Congrats on the interview. Good luck!

 

[Doctor Peloncito]

Originally posted by enveng1978
I am from the east coast and have just received notice I've been invited to interview at Western and Touro. I don't know the dates yet, but would like to interview at both schools all in one trip. Any California natives have any suggestions on time frames I should expect for travel, e.g. is it possible for me to interview at one place on a Thurs. and make to the other for a Fri. interview?

TUCOM only interviews on Mondays and Tuesdays (occasional Wednesdays). I'm not sure what Western's schedule is like. Call now, though because TUCOM fills its slots quick. You want to interview before Christmas if possible (even if it means coming out to CA twice).

Good luck,

WannabeDO

 

[maysqrd]

One thing to note, Touro has interviews on Monday and Tuesday usually.

I don't know what the COMP interview schedule is but TUCOM will conclude their interview by about 1:30 PM. You would definately want to fly in and out of Oakland Airport. It is about 30-40 minutes from the campus if traffic is light.

Do not fly into San Francisco!! Oakland has far less weather problems and delays than SFO. The flight between the bay area and southern cal is fairly quick so you would have no problems making the trip all in one if you can get the interviews scheduled on back to back days.

Also, check when you make your flight reservations because it may actually be cheaper for you to do a round trip through one airport to the west coast and just make a seperate round trip flight between Touro and COMP. Usually there are some really good deals between the bay area and southern CA for quick round trip flights (under $100) A three point flight might cost you more than two round trip tickets.

 

[Doctor Peloncito]

Originally posted by maysqrd
One thing to note, Touro has interviews on Monday and Tuesday usually.
Also, check when you make your flight reservations because it may actually be cheaper for you to do a round trip through one airport to the west coast and just make a seperate round trip flight between Touro and COMP. Usually there are some really good deals between the bay area and southern CA for quick round trip flights (under $100) A three point flight might cost you more than two round trip tickets.

Southwest flies between Oakland and Ontario for $58 (each way, based on round trip). The Ontario airport is minutes away from Pomona (I think).

 

[tkim]

Ah, I just did this about two weeks ago!

Coming from Boston, I flew into SFO on a Sunday nite, drove the rental car to the hotel - Best Western Marine World (it's the best place to stay for the interview), and went to bed.

Monday, had TUCOM interview, drove back to SFO, got on plane for one-way to LAX. Picked up car, drove to hotel - Travelodge Ontario (do NOT stay there), went to bed.

Tuesday, had interview, drove back to LAX. Flew home.

Whew.

Flying into Oakland may work for you, but I couldn't juggle it to get an Oakland flight.

Anyway, TUCOM interviews Mon/Tues. Western interviews Mon-Wed, I believe, with a split morning and afternoon interview sessions.

It's definitely doable - but it requires advance planning! Good luck!

- Tae

 

[maysqrd]

Unfortunately winter has hit California in the last seven days. Last weekend we had our first storm of the season and so everything just got unpredictable.

My friend is a weather person at SFO and she flat out said "DO NOT FLY INTO SFO!" They had to ground all ingoing and outgoing flights last week. Oakland, on the other hand, is not that far away but far enough to not have the problems with fog and dual runway issues. SFO's runways are too close together and so if the visibility gets too bad (fog and cloud cover are a real problem there) then you just got yourself a 5 hour delay or a cancelled flight because they must shut down one of the runways.

So for anyone flying in for a TUCOM interview, AVOID SFO, or you may end up with serious flight delays.

 

[tkim]

These aren't too bad for the price and times - I paid $450 total airfare and I had to mix-n-match my airlines and also book 4 weeks in advance! Good luck!

- Tae

Using the week of Dec 8 as a hypothetical date, I found these on Expedia:

$548.00 ? ?
8:28 PM Depart Boston (BOS)
Arrive Oakland (OAK) 1:20 AM +1 day
Sun 8-Dec 7hr 52mn
America West 69 / 631
Connect in Las Vegas (LAS)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:47 PM Depart Oakland (OAK)
Arrive Ontario (ONT) 10:47 PM
Mon 9-Dec 4hr 0mn
America West 626 / 640
Connect in Phoenix (PHX)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:20 PM Depart Ontario (ONT)
Arrive Boston (BOS) 7:58 AM +1 day
Tue 10-Dec 7hr 38mn
America West 546 / 66
Connect in Las Vegas (LAS)

?
$549.50 ?
7:00 AM Depart Boston (BOS)
Arrive Oakland (OAK) 12:38 PM
Sun 8-Dec 8hr 38mn
America West 823 / 621
Connect in Phoenix (PHX)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:47 PM Depart Oakland (OAK)
Arrive Ontario (ONT) 10:47 PM
Mon 9-Dec 4hr 0mn
America West 626 / 640
Connect in Phoenix (PHX)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:20 PM Depart Ontario (ONT)
Arrive Boston (BOS) 7:58 AM +1 day
Tue 10-Dec 7hr 38mn
America West 546 / 66
Connect in Las Vegas (LAS)

?
$549.50
9:27 AM Depart Boston (BOS)
Arrive Oakland (OAK) 3:33 PM
Sun 8-Dec 9hr 6mn
America West 196 / 625
Connect in Phoenix (PHX)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:47 PM Depart Oakland (OAK)
Arrive Ontario (ONT) 10:47 PM
Mon 9-Dec 4hr 0mn
America West 626 / 640
Connect in Phoenix (PHX)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:20 PM Depart Ontario (ONT)
Arrive Boston (BOS) 7:58 AM +1 day
Tue 10-Dec 7hr 38mn
America West 546 / 66
Connect in Las Vegas (LAS)

?
$549.50
5:54 PM Depart Boston (BOS)
Arrive Oakland (OAK) 11:32 PM
Sun 8-Dec 8hr 38mn
America West 825 / 629
Connect in Phoenix (PHX)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:47 PM Depart Oakland (OAK)
Arrive Ontario (ONT) 10:47 PM
Mon 9-Dec 4hr 0mn
America West 626 / 640
Connect in Phoenix (PHX)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:20 PM Depart Ontario (ONT)
Arrive Boston (BOS) 7:58 AM +1 day
Tue 10-Dec 7hr 38mn
America West 546 / 66
Connect in Las Vegas (LAS)

?
$569.50
11:05 AM Depart Boston (BOS)
Arrive Oakland (OAK) 4:00 PM
Sun 8-Dec 7hr 55mn
United Airlines 1043 / 1093
Connect in Denver (DEN)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3:45 PM Depart Oakland (OAK)
Arrive Ontario (ONT) 6:34 PM
Mon 9-Dec 2hr 49mn
United Airlines 6923 / 6153
Connect in Los Angeles (LAX)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:30 PM Depart Ontario (ONT)
Arrive Boston (BOS) 6:20 AM +1 day
Tue 10-Dec 6hr 50mn
United Airlines 6111 / 180
Connect in Los Angeles (LAX)

 

[enveng1978]

Thanks everybody for your help. My interviews are 12/9-Touro and 12/10 Western.

tkim6599 - how much time do you think I need to get to the oakland airport from Touro if the interview ends at 1:30.

 

[tkim]

Originally posted by enveng1978
Thanks everybody for your help. My interviews are 12/9-Touro and 12/10 Western.

tkim6599 - how much time do you think I need to get to the oakland airport from Touro if the interview ends at 1:30.

Depends - did you check the Evans bus schedule? Or do you plan on renting a car?

- Tae

 

[Doctor Peloncito]

Count on the interview being over at 2 and give yourself an hour to get to the airport. You can never count on bay area traffic. If you are staying at the hotel, they let you have late checkout (3pm). As long as your flight is booked for after 5 pm, you should be ok. If you are going to use the shuttle you should contact the hotel about times. (which I definately endorse, I stayed there even though I'm a local). Dr. Haight said that you should not book an outgoing flight for before 5 pm at either airport. Try to fly to the airport in Ontario.

I stayed at the Motel 6 in Pomona for a conference I went to last year at Western. For a Motel 6 it was good (also cheap). Although you might want to pamper yourself a bit more for an interview.

Also, I don't recommend renting a car for TUCOM unless you are planning on coming a few days early. If you are not planning on sightseeing, then you should just use the shuttle service. I don't think you can really avoid renting a car for Western, but I'm not sure. Some of the nicer hotels in town might have a shuttle service.

Good luck,

WannabeDO

 

[DrSmiles]

I agree with the above post- DO NOT fly into SFO-the traffic will kill you if nothing else will. Another consideration...fly into Sacramento. Southwest flies direct into Sac from many major east coast cities and it is exactly one hour away from Touro, plus you usually won't hit any traffic (and it is a straight shot down interstate 80 from interstate 5). I would rent a car if you can because even if you fly into Oakland it is a good 45 min drive from the airport. If you fly into SFO you are looking at a 1-1/2 hour drive (and this is on a good day). Give yourself lots of time to catch a connecting flight to Ontario airport (it really is only 15 min from Western). The traffic in the Bay Area can really turn on you at any time of the day. If you are having trouble getting cheap deals it might be helpful to know that Southwest has a really early flight into Ontario, so you can always fly into Pomona on the day of your interview. This is what I did and I saved a lot of money. Also, early morning flights don't book up as fast.

 

[Doctor Peloncito]

Sacramento is a great suggestion. You would avoid any major traffic if you arrived in the evening. Not so in the morning though. Sac is further in miles, but can be quicker if you don't hit traffic.

WannabeDO

 

[benogurl]

I think it's the safest to give yourself 1-1.5 hours between Oakland and Vallejo. The afternoon traffic on I-80 (SF) to I-880 (Oakland) can be hellish. I'm not sure where to all these people are driving, but it gets congested after 2 or 3. I think it's all those people returning home from SF (all those financial district people).

Wow... I never thought about flying into Sacramento. Good luck!

 

[DrZippy2b]

I live in Sacramento, when I drove down the morning of my interview (and I drive almost the same route everyday) the traffic is not a problem. Plan on about an hour from TUCOM to SMF. There a quicker route from Vallejo back to SMF than 80 to 5. You can take I-80 to Hwy 113 toward Woodland to I-5 toward Sacramento. You miss the I-5 interchange in Sacramento that can be a pain during heavy traffic and will cut a few miles off along the way.

Good luck on your interview at both places. Remember to smile!

 

[melancholy]

Hi there,

WUHS/COMP interviews on Tuesday/Thursday mornings and afternoons and Friday mornings (most of the time I believe).