<p>We live in central CA (Fresno area) - moved from CT 3 years ago...S wants to go East to school - only applied to 2 CSU's - no UC's - says he's an East Coast nerd stuck in a CA jock area!!<br>
Agree with kewkiekid...California is so huge that there is a BIG difference between them...central CA is almost more like the Midwest...really agricultural...small towns, etc...couldn't be more different from both Northern and Southern CA - even the weather is very different...</p>
<p>I live right on the Mexican border in San Diego and the closest I applied to home is Philadelpia. I'll be going to Georgetown next August.</p>
<p>Those of you coming out West...it's a different life. Cars are almost a necessity unless you are extremely urban or you never want to leave the campus.</p>
<p>Southern California (especially South LA, Orange and North San Diego counties) are INCREDIBLY vain. The weather is obnoxious, especially now when there's Santa Anas and there's like -1000000% humidity and it's a million degrees. </p>
<p>I guess it's sort of the "anywhere but here" mindset.</p>
<p>I'm going from London to Georgia next fall, a little apprehensive but looking forward to going. </p>
<p>I deliberately chose to go to college somewhere that would be completely different from London. Hoping to broaden my horizons!</p>
<p>I'm from washington and my schools are all at the extremes. Either east coast, or far south west coast. Massachussetts, NY, Southern California, Pennsylvania. I was seriously thinking of applying to Cambridge just because England is cool and it is a great school, but I decided i'm not going to. CMON MIT!</p>
<p>I went from my home state (Arizona) to Washington DC for school. My decision to go that far was not fueled by wanting to leave the west part of the US, though - I chose a school regardless of its location.</p>
<p>I'm from Livingston, CA (about an hour north of Fresno in the Central Valley) and I am a freshman at UC Riverside. I know it's still in California and <em>only</em> a five-hour drive away, but that's really far for me. In fact, I have only been home twice: for Thanksgiving and for winter break. I left home because I wanted to get out of my small, close-minded, conservative town, experience new things, meet new people, have fun, and become more independent. So far I have accomplished all of those things and I couldn't be happier. Going away to college is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I feel incredibly lucky for this experience.</p>
<p>so the general consensus is that we dont like where we live?</p>
<p>I think a better interpretation is that people want to experience something different and I think that's great.</p>
<p>My D was a sophomore in hs when she hit me with a set-piece speech that went something like, "Dad, I don't want it to be like medieval times when you were born, grew up, got married, and died in the same small village. I want to experience a different part of the country with a different history, different traditions." </p>
<p>Okay...she really wanted to go to college in New England and came up with a great rationale. But it's a good one, imo.</p>
<p>I never liked the south but I didnt like my fa,ily life either so i was determined to get out of there. i liked the east coast though...wanted a city but one that wasnt too big. i settled on pitt cuz i liked most everything bout it--especially the fact that it was far far far away from home. currently in europe for a while so thats nice too :)</p>
<p>Well I ended up going to school in Pittsburgh (still in Pennsylvania, but a 6 hour drive isn't exactly close to home--i can't go home every weekend). I considered schools in Nebraska, Missouri, and Florida before I decided to go to Pittsburgh. Pretty much for the same reasons as everyone else, I just wanted a different experience. I just felt that this would be my only opportunity to actually live someplace other than the Philadelphia area. I think coming from a small town though I would've had a different experience if I went to a school in ANY city, not just one away from home.</p>
<p>i was always used to livin in a "metro area" of a larger city, but never really living smack dab in the middle of a city (except on vacations in St. Louis when I was a kid....). I definitely prefer the convenience of the city to the 'burbs</p>
<p>It's nice to read all these "success" stories. I am counting the days til the time when I get to pack my things up, leave and never look back. 6 more months..... 6 more months..... 6 more months......</p>
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It's nice to read all these "success" stories. I am counting the days til the time when I get to pack my things up, leave and never look back. 6 more months..... 6 more months..... 6 more months......
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<p>Preach man.....and I love my family, house, etc. I just need some damn independence.</p>
<p>LoL, man after reading these posts i've realized how utterly confused i am with where i want to go! i've gotten into schools in nyc, boston, cali and i'm waitin' on a decision to the univ. of washington, which is where i am from. however, the problem w/ applying to many schools where i would be happy w/ going to any one of them is the fact that i can't decide where to go!</p>
<p>before, i was deadset on either going to school in cali or somewhere on the east coast, but now a part of me wants the securiy of attending a school where i could still see my friends or at least know somebody from back home. oh jeeze, i'm startin' to get all sentimental and it's not even 2005 yet, haha. and you know what else, seniorities is a b****. agh, i just want to graduate and go to college already... does anybody share my lethargic yet restless attitude??</p>
<p>oh, and to top it all off... my parents are retiring to the philippines after i graduate, BUT! they still complain about me going too far for college (i.e. east coast)!! my post should be under "parents who went far, far away when their kids went to college" :-) its cool though 'cus i love the philippines and this would give me a great reason to go visit!</p>
<p>smc007, after reading your post i realized something about kids from the evergreen state... it seems like the east coast or cali is the popular choice for most washingtonians. and oh man, england is so awesome! (scotland too!) i promised myself i would go back some day and check out the spots that we sort of rushed through during a school trip. one of my favorite memories was watching the cambridge crew team practice.. ahh english boys! (and my friend's got it on tape!) disregard if you're a guy.. lols, or not.. its cool.</p>
<p>I live in Kansas, so the only nearby options are here at home, Western Kansas (ew), Nebraska (ew), Oklahoma (actually looking at OU), Missouri (ew), and Colorado (expensive out-of-state publics).</p>
<p>Around here, kids that aren't staying in-state and aren't recruited athletes don't go any closer to home than Chicago. A lot of low-population states are next to other low-population states, and that makes it hard to get a good education close to home.</p>
<p>But to break the mold of this post, I don't hate home at all. I think I'm really fortunate to have grown up here, but I'm tired of it and anyway the town isn't what it used to be. So I'll be going out of state to the Southeast, Arizona, or California, provided I can afford it.</p>