From CA it’s quite far to almost everywhere. East Coast is about a 6 hour flight, and midwest might be closer but a lot of the schools there that draw from out of state aren’t near a major airport with a direct connection for us. My daughter went to Oregon which seems like a good distance to me… but she could just have easily have ended up in SoCal which is just as far and just as different from the Bay Area even though it’s still in state.
With plenty of great choices for schools (and great weather 
), my kids pretty much limited their college search to SoCal. I suspect that’s probably true for a lot of kids around here.
I live in New Jersey, and I didn’t want to stay here. Mostly because people are kind of snobby, and I don’t like the winters.
Interestingly, http://www.thecollegesolution.com/where-most-students-end-up-attending-college/ says that New Jersey is the state in the Northeast region with the highest percentage of college students attending their own state schools at 81%. Must be that those aspiring to be in the other 19% are well represented on these forums.
Other states of interest:
44% MA
49% IA
55% PA
55% NY
58% AZ
61% MN
65% IL
73% OH
74% IN
74% FL
74% VA
79% GA
79% WI
81% MI
81% NJ
83% AL
83% NC
84% CA
85% WA
87% TX
94% AK
96% WY
@ucbalumnus that’s strange. Most graphs/charts would show 40-60% of New Jerseyans departing. But (as I have touched on in the past) Jersey schools, public and private, generally struggle to import decent talent from elsewhere.
Yes, that contradicts this article which cites data from the Center for Education Statistics that show close to 40% of New Jersey students attending 4-year schools as going out of state.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/new_jersey/going-away-to-school-new-jersey-loses-percent-of-four/article_381c2ba2-1c7f-11e1-9025-001871e3ce6c.html
@ucbalumnus, that doesn’t say how many NJ kids WANTED to leave. We see an awful lot out here who want to go elsewhere, but financially can’t make it happen.
Hawaii - the most isolated population center on the face of the earth. University of Hawaii Manoa is the only in-state school with ABET accredited engineering. So, D could go to a school 20 miles away. Otherwise, the next closest is approx. 2,500 miles away. I will miss her.
Thus explaining why the vast, vast majority of Princeton students come from New Jersey.
I think that article is accurate, for the average NJ high school. Most students stay in the northeast, or end up in Florida! @Sue22
I’ve always wondered about that. It’s SO crowded here, but the majority of people hate it! @hzhao2004
Beats me how they can hate the whole state when there are beautiful parts, plenty of farmland left, warm communities, lots of opps, their own ocean- and no part is that far from either NYC or Phila. DH mostly grew up there (and a chunk of my extended family is from NJ) and he always thought it was just the shtick to gripe about Jersey, a knee-jerk thing learned early. Like naming locations by turnpike exit.
That article was written in December of 2011 and was based on 2008 data. The dynamics have shifted drastically after the 2008 financial crisis,especially for those NJ students with mediocre stats.
You seem to be asking about the culture of a state in producing kids with a desire to live elsewhere for 4 years rather than near home? Obviously the cost and quality of nearby schools comes into play, but I have two kids who very deliberately chose to 1) stay close and 2) go far. It wasn’t a public/private/money question, it was a desire to be in this area or try a new one. I suspect you have both kinds of kids in all states - twogirls has that sibling split too.
Generally speaking I think wealthier families tend to be open to traveling further for school. Having $ means less worry about travel costs, and perhaps familiarity with different areas of the country (or world, for that matter), the ability to assure safe housing in large cities and so forth. I suppose there’s probably a study out there somewhere that shows that.
McGill is rated well & does not appear to be very pricey. However, can Americans get aid - say Merit aid at McGill?
@qsearcher, it’s always best to do your own research on individual schools, but here’s a link to McGill’s entrance scholarships page: https://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/scholarships-aid/future-undergrads/entrance-scholarships
Thank you very much
We live in Arizona. Almost any school other than ASU is 100+miles away. That 230 miles number adds the other two state schools, Embry-Riddle, and the eastern edge of CA. I don’t know of any great colleges in Blythe.
My first kid left the state to find the major she wanted, which was not available in state. She is in Chicago at the same cost or less than staying in-state. She was not looking to get away from home at all.
Second kid really wants a LAC And that has pretty much ruled out staying in state for her as well–assuming affordability!
@dfbdfb I clearly said generally. I felt that Princeton being an exception was implied. Come on now.
I personally didn’t want a surprise visit from my parents on the weekends or make them feel bad for me not visiting, so focused on schools out of state and that we’re at least 2 states away from home.
@LBad96 #57: True—since nobody ever uses hyperbole in an attempt to make a mild joke, what I posted was clearly out of line.
(SWIDT?)