<p>I was born in cleveland and lived in columbus near OSU for 20 years. It is a 2.5 hour drive at most…certainly this is not the reason for the drama. </p>
<p>If OSU is not to your liking, look at other schools near cleveland. Case Western in Cleveland is an excellent school, and can be generous with merit money, especially if you are a URM. Case is a lot smaller than OSU and very good in the areas you are interested in. If you are more interested in a really small school, what about John Carroll (in University Heights) or maybe Baldwin Wallace or Allegheny…neither are too far.</p>