We made sure D22s list had options because her thoughts on location have changed over time. Right now the sweet spot is a short plane ride or several hours of driving from home. We have NorCal and SoCal, PNW and east coast. She is dazzled by DC. We shall see.
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Rose-Hulman must be doing something right to have so many enthusiastic fans. The parents on the RHIT FB page have been nothing but supportive and helpful.
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All junior year D22 was obsessed with going to school in the UK. We did a bunch of research figuring out costs and what scores they would accept, etc, but about 1-2 weeks after senior year started in August she had a change of heart and thought maybe sheād rather stay closer to home. Sheās been accepted to her number 1 pick which is about a 4 hr drive away from home.
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@Evie800 can I ask what uni in Tokyo? My DD would have loved to apply to a few places in Japan, but after her brotherās Japan gap year plans got derailed in 2020 she decided not to. We lived in Tokyo for 13 years, so exciting about your kidās acceptance!!
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D22 toyed with the idea of heading across the country, but after the pandemic hit with new travel restrictions and disruptions, she changed her mind. She also decided she is likely to want to work and live on the West Coast long-term. So she limited her applications to schools in the West.
In the end, she applied only to places that could be reached by car in a day (although the furthest would require 16 hours of driving, so not practical by car).
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My daughter applied all over, both coasts and the Midwest. It would be great if she stayed close to home (west coast) but Iām prepared for anything.
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Mine applied all over the US. California to Massachusetts, Florida to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We did eliminate a few that were more difficult to get to - drive, fly, fly, drive or something. Being a few hours from the airport or a guaranteed connection or two just added difficulty it seemed. I think heās leaning towards out-of-state, but we will see.
My 10th grader would love to go out of the country, so I might be in that spot in a couple years!
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My D21 and S22 are both ending up a 4 hour flight away from meā¦and into the same airport! Funny coincidence.
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I think Iām in the same FB group for my S21. Because I agree 100% with what you said. The group is amazing!
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Haha. I think I could name the few that stir things up in the Brown Parents group, just off the top of my head.
I think parent FB pages are a great resource. But they are only for admitted students, and what if your kid applied to a bunch of schools? I guess Iāll be reading through a lot in April, if D is lucky with acceptances.
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@professionaldad I have had a few that I just hide their posts or comments. Everyone else is super helpful. My class of 2025 parents page is super helpful. Everyone who have first borns there this year in the same clueless boat together 
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@Luanne Thats such a smart and practical idea when you think about the fact that theyāll find schools that will all be solid and reputable. S21 has 8-11 hours of transit time when he flies to school or comes home. A direct flight would still mean we have to drive 2 hours from home to a bigger airport and he would have to take a 50 min transport to campus (not a big deal but the cancellations have been terrible the last 8 months). I think we are good with it but boy, if D24 picked a college that required cross country AND another 2 hours to get to, itās off the list. Donāt care how good the school is. I candidly donāt have the mental maternal fortitude to deal with the stress of plane route stalking (I have 3 sites I track to develop back up plans) and worrying if they can get an uber ride at 1am with snow coming down (that was last week for us).
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Congratulations to your S22! Tokyo is one of my favorite cities - so much variety and you can find everything there, food-wise (I live to eat!). I have suggested to my D22 that perhaps she does a study abroad year in Japan.
(But I am also sad for you, given the distanceā¦on the bright side, youāll have a reason to visit Japan/Asia.)
I was like your son but have close friends who never wanted to leave our home state (and are quite happy never to have left). To each their own, I suppose.
Mine doesnāt have a strong preference, except sheās eager to leave home! 
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We have a 1.25 hour drive from home to our airport as it is. Our visit to U of Alabama took 9 hours because we flew into Atlanta and then drove 3 hours to Tuscaloosa. All the flights to Birmingham connected through Atlanta, which didnāt make sense for me since I was renting a car. But heād fly from Birmingham and itāll still take a while (if he chooses there). But, itās practicaly free, so still on the list, lol.
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My 22āer did not want to fly to college due to transport issues with his cello. So driving range schools became the focus. He does want to leave northern Virginia, however.
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My sonās closest school is 45 minutes away but gave no merit, so itās off the table. His next closest is 835 miles and his furthest is 2035. None of them are more than an hour from the airport, except Clemson, but no decision there yet.
My D22 goes to a school 13 hours from home. Luckily her (random) freshman roommate & now BFF happened to live 2 hours from us and she drives so in 2 years my D has only had to fly once. I drive down for move-in/move-out which is a bit of a pain, but it does give us some great quality time together. With my S20, weāll most likely just fly for move-in as Iām assuming he wonāt have as much stuff and we can buy a lot of it when we arrive. Unfortunately, I just saw a story on the news about a huge pilot shortage in the next couple years so flights that are now direct might not be in the near future.
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I swore that we wouldnāt do the flight/long drive combo but we did with D21. In fact, if we have her fly SW (which is great for us because you can check bags and make changes for free), itās not even a direct flight so her flying time is around seven hours total and then a little over an hourās drive. I always make sure to get her the earliest flight out in case the first leg is cancelled or running late so she wonāt miss her connection. There are always more flights going to her final destination so she could get on one of those if the first flight is late. So far so good. If she leaves here on a 6:00 am flight, she can be to school by 2:00 est since she gains an hour. It doesnāt really bother her. As adults, we probably wouldnāt like it but they are young and I think most kids that age donāt care. Colgate has a shuttle thatās easy peasy and takes kids to the airport for $10 each way.
S19 is a little better. Still has a connection but is closer to the airport, about 30 min. His taxi is more like $50 but he can usually find a friend to take him.
We are lucky that we live 20 minutes from two major airports so, once the kids get back to one of those, they are close to home.
In the end, travel is just one part of the college decision. We could feasibly drive to get D21 if we had to. Itās 11 hours. But we would never drive to get S19. Itās too far!
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S22 applied to schools in several states, but all are drivable (albeit some are a 8-10 hour drive). If he goes to a distant school weād drive for drop off/pick up, but fly him for holidays etc (the schools that are farther are close to major metro areas so easy to get a flight - most flights would be direct). The closest two schools are both about 1.5 hours away. Originally he thought he wanted to go to CA for school so we took him out there last summer, but he decided it was too far. I was a little bit sorry (great place to visit) and a little relieved (so far . . . plus the hassle factor).
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D22 has applied to schools in 11 states because she wanted to select schools based on their offerings and fit rather than location. But we made sure each would be either drivable or a direct flight away (no connections, no long drive to airport).
Not yet sure where sheāll land but her closest schools are 45-60 minutes drive from our home (in New Jersey) and the farthest are across the country (in California).
Of course, mom and I hope sheāll end up at one of the nearby schools 
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