<p>People always say it: Location. Location. Location. And now that I am somewhat experienced in looking at schools, I am starting to realize how paramount selecting a good "fit" area for college is, considering that there are fantastic institutions virtually in every state. Yet, I am still concerned. At first, I was only considering academic opportunities, such as class size, professors, research institutions, and so forth, but now that my search has come to the point where I really have to start making decisions, I am also considering the professional aspect of college. Will the college city/state/town I attend determine, at least partially, where my job opportunities will lie? For instance, if I attended an East coast college, would it be difficult to go back to the West coast, and search for work? Also, is undergraduate location AS essential, if you plan to attend graduate school following immediately after your first four years? Any information/experience with this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.</p>
<p>Shiny20,</p>
<p>I think you’re overthinking the whole “where should I go to college” thing.</p>
<p>Yes, to an extent the region where you go to college may wind up starting (or spending) your career. But that’s more of a factor of most students attend local public univeristies and most people, when push-comes-to-shove, don’t really want to move all that far from where they’ve grown up and where their family are. And at many regionally known universities, the companies that recruit on campus are likely to be regional and local companies.</p>
<p>But for people who actually do decide that they want or must move away from where they grew up or where they went to school, the place where they went to college is almost always not an issue—as long as they’ve graduated from an accredited college/university. For all but your very first job out of school, recommendations from your current (former) place of employment will likely be far more important than the name of the school on your degree.</p>
<p>And if you add graduate school into the mix, then the location of your undergraduate school is even less likely to be directly tied to your job location unless you want it to be.</p>
<p>For graduate school, the location of the school might well matter for law school or med school since bar exams and medical board exams are controlled by the states. But for other graduate programs? Location of the school where you complete your work is probably not that important.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. That’s what I figured, but I wanted to make sure. Truthfully, I’m having a little bit of trouble selecting one school from the next. I have several schools which seem appealing in my state, but as many or more out of state that look appealing as well. That calms my nerves a bit, that my initial assumption is mostly truthful. Thank you!</p>