<p>I'm still debating whether to choose one in my state or out-of-state? I lived in california. It's true there are many good colleges here. However, I have always been dreaming of going out of state. My parents are against this because they don't think I can survive on my own. And then I still need to worry about the cost too since out-of -state always have to pay more. What are your thoughts on this. If you are living far from your home, do you get homesick a lot.</p>
<p>I doubt there's a big difference between the 'surviving' aspect of college when you're living near home or when you're 3000 miles away. No matter where you go, you're not at home, but you still have housing/food taken care of. It's not like you're going to be randomly moving away into an apartment where you'd need to have a full time job to make ends meet...</p>
<p>You can survive - youre not completely alone, colleges have so much resources available you can be as independent or as coddled as you like. The only thing that coudl be a concern is the costs. </p>
<p>California is a huge state though, you could always stay in Cali but go to a college far from your home - that way you get to be independent but still pay in state tuition.</p>
<p>My brother goes to school 50 miles away, I go to school 2000 miles away. We both go home twice a year, and talk to our parents about the same amount. You don't need to go far away to get independence. </p>
<p>It's also logistically easier to go to school within driving distance. This is something I learned the hard way trying to get my stuff back home after the school year...</p>
<p>I wasn't even 100 miles away and I struggled being away from stuff like the mall, my church, my dog, my "little sister", my "big brother", and my workbench.</p>
<p>Having always wanted to go to college really far away, I just started thinking about some of the more practical reasons I might not want to do that...for me I thought about making connections. If I go to school in California and intern at California companies, where am I more likely to get a job out of college? Definitely not back on the East coast. I don't know if I'm ready to get a job and start a life that far away from home.</p>
<p>So, that's just one thing I've been thinking about. Don't know if it has a lot of relevance or not. I guess it depends on what field you're going into.</p>
<p>Well, I decided on a college 30 miles from my house, and I absolutely love it. My mom doesn't come down except when I ask her to (I would go home about once a month), but I can still go see my friends who are still in town for the summer every weekend while I'm at home for summer break.</p>
<p>I go to school about 45 minutes from home. Before the end of my junior year I thought it was way to close to home, but it's actually perfect for me. I guess you have to decide if you want to be able to get home for the long weekends, or if you're ok with coming home just two or maybe three times a year. Personally I was not. I was so glad to be able to come home when I had had a really tough couple of weeks for just a weekend to unwind. Now I realize that I really am glad I can get home for family members' birthdays, when I'm sick, or when I just need to destress. Being close to home is perfect for me.</p>
<p>If you've always dreamed of going away to school then do it :) College is a time of transition from a kid living at home to an independently functioning adult. And the beauty of making the transition during the college years is there are so many safety nets around. Even if you make some bad choices you can recover. Spend too much time goofing off and do poorly one semester? You have 7 more to recover. Try that at work and you're fired. The bridge is there in just so many places. Take housing for another example. You're not alone in a large city having to find a place to stay and eat; you can live in the dorms surrounded by other kids in your classes, and meals are cooked for you. You CAN learn how to do laundry.</p>
<p>I understand where you're parents are coming from. They've sheltered/protected you these past 17+ years and its hard to let go when you know so much more about the dangers out there than the kids do. But in the end being over-protective is self-defeating, and I'm sure on some level they realize this. If a kid never gets a chance to try and make mistakes they never learn to be on their own, and college is a much better place to make mistakes than the adult working world. </p>
<p>You can do your part by talking over with your parents what would be a mutually acceptable compromise. So instead of choosing a college in a large city that has no actual campus, maybe you can pick from colleges where housing is guaranteed or that are in small college-dominated communities. You can read thru some of the books about going away to college such as such as The Everything College Survival Book. You can start being more self-sufficient around the house and do your own laundry, pack your own lunch, showing reliability by calling when you're going to be home late -- the basic list of things that reassure you're parents you'll be ok ;)</p>
<p>i moved two states away from my home and loved it -- there are people here who live just 1-3 hours away driving from home -- there is not too much difference, i would say, in how much i had to adjust to independent living compared to how much those people had to adjust</p>
<p>one big difference in that people who went to college close to their homes could always go back and meet up with friends they already had -- while all of us out-staters were stuck having to develop new friendships and so we felt perhaps more on our own -- so if you think you can handle more isolation in addition to academic stress or if you find friends fast, out of state is not a bad idea -- it should be more enriching in experiences --some people also complained they experienced sort of a culture shock moving to another area in the country</p>
<p>wrt travel, i had to plan better what to pack and bring back when i flew to visit my parents, and of course visiting them happened more rarely and it was more costly</p>
<p>it also depends on how often you'd like your parents to visit -- mine came only once to see how i lived -- while a suitemate who lived across from me was visited by her parents 3-4 times per quarter (they would help her shop, stuff like that) -- plus her two younger sisters came over</p>
<p>thanks for all your comment. Of course, I would still have one more year to decide this since I'm only a junior. It will all depend on which college accept me.The state I want to go to is Washington. What are some good universities from that state?</p>
<p>Far far far far far far far far far far away....:D</p>
<p>Hmmm...Washington...</p>
<p>University of Washington
Whitman College
University of Puget Sound (depending on what you consider "good")
Seattle University (depending on what you consider "good")</p>
<p>it totally depends on a lot of things, like the social life of the college on weekends, the amount of people who leave/stay on campus over the weekend, and ur desire to go home</p>
<p>for example, my friend goes to school 1.5 hours away from home, and came home for thanksgiving, xmas, and now summer</p>
<p>a friend who goes thousands of miles away came home columbus day, thanksgiving, xmas, spring break, easter , and now summer</p>
<p>so it all comes down to the person you are</p>
<p>In Washington, Washington State University is good..same with Western Washington University...Seattle Pacific University..Central/Eastern Washington University should be safeties for you and Whitworth are good.</p>
<p>Washington University is good....JUST KIDDING:D</p>