<p>While I think financial factors should trump just about everything else, I do feel there is great value in studying further away from home. Studying near home does not push most students very far out of their comfort zone in my opinion. Just as studying abroad helps develop intercultural competencies and understanding, so too does studying at a US university that is not close to home. The cultural norms and perceptions in this country vary so greatly from one area to the other, and in my view kids really benefit from seeing and experiencing these differences first hand. Having relocated to South Dakota from our hometown of Boston several years ago due to a job, it’s hard to articulate the vast differences in views and perceptions between these two places. I was expecting it, and pretty much still not a day goes by where I don’t hear something that feels culturally alien to me. While I’m not advocating that all East coast kids go to school in the midwest, or vice versa, I am saying that gaining a broader exposure to peers who have different cultural norms and were raised with very different life experiences is beneficial to all in my view.</p>
<p>All 3 of our kids went to colleges @ 1 hour away, (different colleges) and it was a win-win for us and them. We could get to see them perform in theater or sports, and not bother them the rest of the time. </p>
<p>They all lived on campus, and were able to interact with the diverse student bodies - so even though the schools were geographically close, they were miles away form their Old Home Town.</p>
<p>All in all, I think their college experiences were similar to those kids that had to travel accross the country - except for the time involved in the travel.</p>
<p>^^While I agree with what you’re saying, I also think you can get pretty darn far out of your comfort zone at a school nearby if there is a high out-of-state population. When I moved to umich I might as well have moved to Mars. I’m not sure if there’s any place in the world like Ann Arbor, my hometown was certainly nothing like it. I lived there two years and I still get that feeling whenever I visit. My best friend there, who I socialized and studied with most often, grew up in South Korea.</p>
<p>Frankly, I think even if I had gone to the closest “directional” state U, which is also 20 minutes away from home, I still would have felt like I was walking into a different world. And stranger still, that school is even closer to Ann Arbor than my hometown, has a distinctly smaller out-of-state population, and the two are even more different culturally. I think what kind of student the school attracts has much more bearing on the “comfort zone” factor than geography necessarily does.</p>
<p>We live in a college town 3 miles from campus. My wife and I both work on campus. The only reason that I would not want S to attend school in town is that I don’t really want to see him downtown on Thurs/Fri/Sat evening stumbling drunk (or him seeing us stumbling around after happy hour). I know he is going to do it, I just don’t want to see it.</p>
<p>Lots of kids go local. Most say they see the town and university in a totally new way as a student.</p>
<p>Maybe a study abroad experience will make up for going to a close by college…</p>
<p>Too funny Haystack! Goodness…I hadn’t thought of D2 seeing us around after Happy Hours! Of course we don’t frequent the bars in that part of town. ;)</p>
<p>My son is about 45 minutes - 1 hour away, though only about 20 minutes from my workplace. But we’ve tried to leave him alone.</p>
<p>Freshman year, I did go to the campus twice to say hello to him, and was also there for my own 25th reunion. But he did not come home aside from the normal scheduled breaks. So far sophomore year, I’ve only been back to the campus to see him once, and that was to attend / support him in a particular extracurricular. As it happens, I have business just a few blocks from the university about once every two weeks, but I try to content myself by driving by and not stalking him :-)</p>
<p>He also has refused the door-to-door mom-taxi to get him home for Tgiving and Xmas, preferring instead to take the train. It gives him a measure of independence.</p>
<p>Personally I think having a kid who lives close go home for the weekend is more “intrusive” than a parent stopping by to say hello / take the kid out to dinner.</p>
<p>Study abroad will give him a brand new place to get used to. Or a summer class at a school farther away.</p>
<p>RE: Study Abroad option.
Exactly! Exposure to cultures and new locales is so important, of course, but there are numerous ways to go about it. Since son’s favored program and university happened to be nearby (film industry is based here), he is plans travel, study abroad experience, and possibly an out-of-US summer internship during college. This will balance things out. </p>
<p>Our son doesn’t want or need to come home on weekends. In fact, he’s staying on campus through most of the holidays to work extra shifts at his work-study job while other students are away. He was pleased to have that option since, as he put it, “I’m the only one who can stay on campus and just pop home for Christmas.” </p>
<p>And Haystack: lol!</p>
<p>My son’s college was a bit over an hour from home. We only saw him on holidays, the same as his sister, who was on the East Coast. He called us every Sunday- same as his sister.<br>
My son spent a semester abroad in South Africa and an extra month in Mozambique. His sister spent summers in South America. We traveled with both kids while they were growing up both in Europe and through the U.S. I think they both left college at 21 with a taste of the world.
Son is now living and working 6 hours away in Northern California and calls it home for now. He has no regrets about his college decision. His sister, who went to college 3000 miles from home, is now back in CA living 20 minutes away!</p>
<p>Our son is 25 minutes away at the state flagship school. It’s in an urban area, very different from his suburban upbringing. What hasn’t been mentioned in this thread is this: He’s been in an apartment since May of his freshman year. He’s had local summer jobs that are closer to campus than home, so he’s kept the apt. year round. He spends about 3-4 nights a year in our home, the rest of the time at “his” home.
So even though he’s close by, we probably see him less than parents whose kids are home for Christmas and summer break. It’s worked out fine.</p>
<p>Right now I’m a freshman at college about 1 hr away from home. I went home 3x other than breaks, 2x for less than 24 hrs for a family emergency and a religious holiday, and during hurricane sandy, which greatly affected both my college and my house. I go to college in a very, very urban area, and my house is completely in surburbia, so they are completely different. My parents don’t come into this area for any reason really, and when I go home I usually take the train although my parents picked me up once or twice. Just not during rush hour. Additionally, I don’t come home any more often than I would have if I went to school 2 - 4 hrs away, which is where my other college choices were mainly located. I live in a very college-dense area of the country, and my top choices are all around here.</p>
<p>Also, if I want, I can go home for a short amount of time. For the emergency I mentioned above, my friend came from a 4 hour drive away, and had to stay the whole weekend, while I was back at school the next day.</p>