<p>I might have been a little harsh, I’ll admit, and if the sole reason your parents don’t want you to go to school in another area is because they hope that you’ll stay in Kentucky forever, you are right to be upset. On the other hand, based on what you’ve said here, you may be mixing some pretty good arguments with some pretty bad ones and muddying the issue. </p>
<p>The good argument is that college is a time to explore both academically and socially, you’re interested in the big city culture in another part of the country, and want to see what living a different kind of life is like before figuring out where you want to wind up after graduation. For the next four years, you’ll have plenty of time to spend at home, and after that, if New York winds up being the place that makes you happier, and you find a job there, that’s where you will and should stay.</p>
<p>If, however, you mix this with a lot of statements that sound - whether they are or not - frivolous or ill-informed, you are giving your parents an opening to dismiss the whole argument. For instance, I think using an argument like “If I don’t like the college I attend, I’ll probably lose motivation and interest and do worse in school” is likely to get a response like “Not if you’re a mature adult” or “I don’t like my job, but I work darn hard at it, and there isn’t any reason you couldn’t do the same.” Same with saying something like “UK would be just like high school,” or giving the impression that not only would you greatly prefer going to school in New York, but there is no option close to home that wouldn’t be miserable. Your parents can then base their response on rebutting the weakest part of your argument and never really address the major point.</p>
<p>Once you separate the good parts of your argument from the bad, beyond being more convincing, you’ll have a better basis for figuring out what precisely your parents are objecting to, especially you can give good, specific reasons for some of the schools on your list. There is a big difference to the response you may get from what seems to your parents like a whim - which can easily be dismissed with “Oh, but then you’ll leave for good and I want my baby close to home!” - and to a serious, well reasoned plan. Maybe they’ll come around, maybe you’ll find that there are other valid objections (like cost), and maybe they’ll be unreasonable and you’ll just have to make the best of it, but in any case, you’ll know what you are up against.</p>
<p>On practical terms, is there any possibility of a compromise? For instance, would your parents be hugely upset if you went to school in Chicago, which is much closer to home but would still give you the opportunity to live in a major city?</p>