I would really like to attend Texas State University. I have taken many college program classes throughout my time in high school, and I really like the school. Even though there are nicer colleges the same distance away, such as U.T Austin, I just feel like Texas State is a great school that I would love to go to.
The problem is, Texas State is 15 minutes away from where I currently live (Kyle, which is about 20 min south of Austin). I want to get the “college experience” of being away from my family, but I feel that the distance between my school and home is too close together. My college program at school spends six weeks during the summer living on campus, taking classes in the same halls at Texas State. This has helped to overcome becoming homesick a lot more than if I wasn’t involved in it. Also, I have been doing this summer program for 3 years, so I feel like this is the closest to what it will be like to live on campus at a university, and away from my parents.
My question is, should I go to Texas State even if it is close by my house? I have looked at many other colleges (UNT, UofH, A&M CSTAT, UT), but I just don’t see myself fitting in the community. Will my parents being 15 minutes away from the college I want to attend affect me from being “free”?
Not necessarily. A lot of students who go to colleges close to home still end up feeling like they’ve entered a whole different world. College is a new lifestyle and an adjustment no matter how close it is to your home.
It depends in large part on your relationship with your family. If your parents are stalkery, show-up-unannounced types, then you might need more distance, lol… but you probably wouldn’t be asking the question at this point if that were the case. If they’re gregarious, “Mi casa, su casa” types, then you could end up being the family that hosts the friends who live farther away, which can be really fun if you’re all the kind of people who enjoy that. If they’re just regular people with boundaries who will let you have your space, then honestly you should be fine. Not everybody needs to have an exotic, faraway college experience.
You can always have an adventure once you’ve adjusted to college and are ready for a little more novelty. You can study abroad, or go on a domestic exchange to another college in North America. Texas State is on the National Student Exchange, which you can search by major to see where you could spend a semester as an exchange student: https://www.nse.org/exchange/find-campus/
Nothing whatsoever wrong with going with a known quantity,close by, that you know you like. Just have a candid talk with your family ahead of time about expectations and make sure you’re all on the same page.
Agreeing with @aquapt – my college was 15 minutes from my home and from my high school. I moved into the dorm, and did not see or talk to my family until Thanksgiving break (there were no cell phones back then . . . ). Just because a school, which is otherwise the right choice, happens to be close by does not turn it into a bad choice. As long as you are comfortable with the boundaries you and your family set (perhaps agree that there are no unannounced drop bys, or that they don’t expect you to come home every weekend), then, enjoy!
@jvevo512 I did the same as @Midwestmomofboys My college was about 30 minutes drive or 80 minutes cycling. I went home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and for birthdays and the like. It was a world apart. If you like TX State and can afford to live in the dorms, you will have the college experience. Go for it! And yes, set ground rules.
Distance does not matter. I lived at home for a year of college and man do you see things differently. Boundaries are important if you have helicopter or otherwise involved parents, but even so you’ll likely have new places and experiences waiting for you.
Plus, you are from a different city technically…Let San Marcos be your home!
I went to college 30 minutes from home. My parents didn’t come by without calling first. It felt farther away from that (in fact, as an adult, I’m always surprised now at how short the drive is when I go there to meet friends for lunch when I’m visiting my parents).
Happykid commuted to our local community college for two years (about 30 minutes on the city bus, or 15 minutes if I dropped her on my way to work), then transferred to a state U an hour away, and lived near campus there. She has often said that she loves her CC so much, that had it been a 4-year university, she never would have transferred. The program there for her major was that good a fit for her!
If you like this U, keep it on your application list. Apply to a couple of other places too. Then when you have all of the admissions offers and financial aid information next March or April, you can decide which place is your best option.
We have the same situation here with a GREAT school (Ohio State U) 10 minutes away. I’ve heard of lots of kids who reluctantly accept (knowing it truly is the best choice, financially and academically) and all end up very happy with their choice. You can come home as little as you want, and it will be big enough to really immerse. I would say that your main goal here would be to communicate with your parents about your desires, make sure they know how you are feeling, and then make kind of a loose plan (before you go, if you end up going there) of when you will visit home for the first time. I say this because many students WANT to come home weekends during the first month, but staying, along with everyone else in the same boat, will help you to make connections, immerse, and have the “college experience.”
As others have noted, the college experience is most intense when you live on campus or live in the community where the college is located. It does not matter if the college is in town, fifteen minutes away, or fifteen hours away. You will be immersed. Being close to home does have its advantages. If you are close with your family, you can easily cure homesickness or feelings of missing those close to you. Heck, you can even save money by going home one afternoon and doing laundry.
My situation was similar but also a bit different. I had feelings of wanderlust, looking at schools across the country. I ended up attending a college in state, though it was three hours away, not fifteen minutes away. Still, three hours was plenty far, and I imagine that fifteen minutes’ distance will be too.