<p>I'm kind of puzzled as to how to choose a location/region for college. I'll most likely go to college in the Midwest/Northeast, since I don't want to go too far from home in Ohio. I've been hearing a lot of people say go to college where you want to live after graduation. But what if I'm not sure? My reach schools as of now are Brown, Tufts, UChicago, Macalester, and Amherst.</p>
<p>After graduation, I might stay in Ohio, I might move out west, or I might go east. I can't go to college in all those places, so does it really matter that I decide where to live before I graduate high school? I know that all my top school choices are relatively unknown outside their regions, so that complicates things even further. Believe it or not, most people in Ohio have never heard of Brown, nor do they know it's an Ivy.</p>
<p>Brown, Chicago and Tufts are unknown? Wha? Anyway, yes, it is very helpful to search for your first job especially around where you went to college, but after that things open up quite a bit. It's not like going to one of those schools means you can never work out west, it'll just be a bit more difficult. And like I said, after your first job they won't care much about where you went to school.</p>
<p>Do some visits. You can go to any one of these schools and end up working in Boston or NY or back in Ohio if you choose. There will be companies from different parts of the country that will be recruiting at some of these schools. What's more important is whether you will be happy there during your 4 years of college.</p>
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Brown, Chicago and Tufts are unknown? Wha?
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<p>Yes, they are. People have heard of Chicago, but they don't realize its national reputation. Most people would think it's a state school. And Brown and Tufts are almost completely unknown, since neither has a reputation for sports. That's the only way Ohioans know about colleges.</p>
<p>I would love NYC, but I don't think my parents will buy it. They're leery of any big city, let alone NYC.</p>
<p>JBVirtuoso: Regarding lack of awareness of top schools... It depends on whom you are asking. Did you ask other high school students, or did you ask the human resources director of Proctor and Gamble in Cincinatti, or some other national company?</p>
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JBVirtuoso: Regarding lack of awareness of top schools... It depends on whom you are asking. Did you ask other high school students, or did you ask the human resources director of Proctor and Gamble in Cincinatti, or some other national company?
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<p>Exactly what I was talking about. Average joe might not know how good Chicago or Brown are, but whoever hires you isn't going to be the average joe of knowledge about colleges.</p>