<p>I live in Madison, and due to the in-state tuition I will probably have to attend UW. I love the campus and the city, and I know it is a great school, but I really want to get away from my family after living in the city my whole life. My mom and dad both attended the school for their graduate studies, and my dad worked in the physics department from the early 90s until last year, when he moved to Rochester, NY. I could probably get a student assistant job at the physics department with one of his friends. Could anyone who lived in Madison or the surrounding areas tell me how easy it is to get away from your family while at UW and make it seem like you are out of state?</p>
<p>Do what regular students do–live in a dorm and then get a place with friends. Visit home every couple weeks. LOts of locals do that.</p>
<p>I had the same problem eons ago. Wanted to leave town but couldn’t. Lived on campus and it was a whole new world. Never went home except when they closed the dorms- would have ended up near campus anyhow so why bother? Called home once a week and that was the only contact. Look for jobs in other areas than ones where you know people. Think- it could be worse, you could be walking to campus from home like my college friend had to- her mom even worked for the Res Halls business office. Easy to not run into old HS classmates as well. Even though you only travel a mile or ten the large campus is a whole world separate from your HS life. The world will come to you- you will meet people from all over and spend your time with them.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman, and we live about an hour away. My comment is that I would agree with a previous poster that you dont need to worry about running into to many people you know from HS, if you dont want to. </p>
<p>She rooms with a girl from the next town over that she knew just a little really - they had the same type of activities in HS, so knew eachother through that. There are also about 10 kids from her HS (class of about 220 I think) that go to UW. I believe she has only seen 3 of them once each. </p>
<p>Point being that it is a big place, and you can make your experience what you want. I wouldn’t worry about it.</p>
<p>DJD</p>
<p>I echo what others have said. The University is its own world. When you are on campus you will feel a world away from your parents, but when you need (or want) to go home for a weekend or a break – and you will – it’s easy to do. It’s actually a pretty neat deal to be able to attend a world class University and not have to travel across the country to do it. It reduces the hassle, stress and expense enormously. And just like your parents, when it comes time for Grad school, you can spread your wings and go elsewhere. By then it will be much easier to do.</p>
<p>And as noted, you will be amazed how rarely you run into the folks you knew in high school. It won’t take long before you are in a completely new and different circle of people, just as though you had gone away to school.</p>