I know it probably varies from person to person, but in your opinion, what is the ideal distance from home for a college?
How far/close would you be willing to go? What are your limits?
Current/former college students: what was your experience with distance from home?
I go to college about an hour from home, and it really helped because I was sick a lot for my first year. I really wanted to go far away like some of my friends, but in the long run I think being close to my family was beneficial for me.
It definitely varies. S1 is a little less than four hours from home. I had a friend who had a one-five rule. More than an hour’s drive, so they can’t come home every weekend and miss out on campus life; less than five so that it’s manageable to get home for holidays, breaks and emergencies. Easier in some parts of the country than others, I guess.
It takes 22 hours to drive from my house to my university assuming the driver does not stop for gas, food, or sleep. I like being that far from home. I get to experience a part of the country that I’d never been to before. More importantly, the distance allowed me to totally reinvent myself, which was a great thing since I was a massive screw up in high school.
It depends also on how many appropriate colleges are close to home. Some people live hours from one.
My daughter is about 30 hours of international travel (planes, shuttles, taxis) from “home.” She doesn’t really have a a choice about the distance (though she would maybe be about 8 hours closer if she were on the west coast of the US). Her father and I can afford her school because of what we do overseas. It would stink if there were ever an emergency, and it was hard at first to be so far away, but we are adjusted to it now.
I went to school a little over an hour from home geographically but light years away in many ways. Urban vs rural, diverse vs homogeneous, etc. it was great.
As a parent, I really appreciate that my son prefers schools where the round trip can be done in 1 day, if need be.
I went to college about 3 hours away and it seemed just about right to me. When looking at schools for my daughter we looked a several in other parts of the country but she decided that she didn’t want to be more than a four hour drive away from home. The college she’s chosen is two and a half hours away and that seems perfect to her.
It’s not the overall distance from home that matters; it’s the distance/ease to the airport thst matters.
So true @GMTplus7, and the ease of getting to other forms of transportation matters too. Also, an “I can/have to cope with this” mindset is important.
It also depends on the student. I went to college about 20 minutes from home but I certainly didn’t go home every weekend, and by senior year I didn’t go home that often at all. But my younger sister-in-law goes to college about three hours away from my in-laws and she’s home many weekends out of the school year (although she still has a very robust campus life).
I don’t think there’s one ideal distance.
I was 3 hours, so were my kids. Easy to drive there. A regional bus could bring them close enough for us to pick them up, if they wanted to come home.
How to get to college X, that DH was pushing for: drive to the airport, do TSA and wait, land at the connecting city, wait for the connecting flight, land, take a 45 minute bus ride to the college area, then taxi to campus. I know some can’t avoid complicated travel, but I was full of What Ifs.
I haven’t started college yet, but the one I’m going to in the fall is around 1 hour and 15 minutes away. For me that’s ideal. I wasn’t going to even apply anywhere more than 3 hours away (I was accepted ED). I liked the area I lived in for the most part (mild weather, lots of trees, etc) but I needed a new town, change of pace. An hour away was perfect for me, close enough to go home when I want and far enough to be in a new world so to speak.
My hometown is 9 hours away from my university nonstop. Much like @whenhen, I am enjoying exploring a new part of the country and reinventing myself (I’m the only one of my HS grad class at my university, thankfully). I desperately needed a change of scenery and pace. I love my university and wouldn’t trade my experience for the world.
Far enough that your parents can’t visit you randomly; close enough that you can choose to visit them
@stradmom Haha… I’d also add that you want to be far enough that you can’t run home every time it gets rough: you need to learn to be self-sufficient in college.
I am at a university that is just over 7 hours from my hometown. I’d honestly wish that it was only 4 or 5 hours from home since I worry about not seeing any of my new classmates over breaks, but the distance doesn’t bother me much anymore as it did at the beginning of the school year since my university is feeling like my second home every time I come back to it.
Obviously, it differs for everyone. But as a student (way back when) and now as a parent (especially, now as a parent!), the perfect distance was/is about a one hour drive.
I wanted to go away - largely because I knew that if I was able to, I would go home far too much and fail to develop a good social life. I’m a (minimum, non-stop) 4 hour plane ride from home, and while it started out being really tough, I think it was definitely right for me in the end. It depends so much on your personal situation. I have friends who wanted the big city, friends who need to be close to home for family reasons, and even one friend who’s overseas in Europe - and loving it! - and we’ve all felt that it turned out right for us.
My oldest daughter was 3.5 hours away…she is independent but wants to be able to come home for breaks.
My youngest was 1 hour away…she is more of a homebody and felt more comfortable being closer…but did not want to look at the schools nearby.