<p>junior in hs and i live 3 miles from the end of telegraph. i'm interested in cal but, it's just so close! every other school im interested in is on the east coast (ivies and smith, boston college) and i would love to go away from home but also i realized that berkeley has a lot to offer, and its much less expensive than anything else (the only thing that compares is a princeton with financial aid package). </p>
<p>but basically i'm asking if anyone has experienced going to college near home and how it turned out for you? </p>
<p>(i would live in dorms i think...DEF not with parents)</p>
<p>My S who is a 3rd year at CAL dealt with similar issues. At first, CAL was low on his list. From his point of view, he already knew Berkeley. We live about 10 minutes away and used to live in Berkeley. During his senior year in high school as he went through the application process, CAL became his first choice UC.</p>
<p>He did live in the dorms his first year, and has been in the coops since. He has had a very good experience at CAL. He infrequently comes home, but we do get together for dinner or coffee periodically. </p>
<p>One time, he told me that although it would have been good to be at a school further away from home, that he suspects there will be opportunities later in his life to live in other places. </p>
<p>One bit that is different from your situation, he wanted to stay in California and did not consider any east coast schools, but under parental 'suggestion' applied to a few out-of-state west coast schools.</p>
<p>i just dont know how the whole family thing will affect my college experience, positively or negatively. i suppose i will almost definitely apply (none of the other UCs interest me in the least), and i have lived here all my life- i love berkeley and what a good place for a college! (although it seems the city has been shaped by the uni more than the city has shaped the uni)</p>
<p>I'm a first year student that lives 15 minutes away from CAL, and i'm having a great time. I live in the dorms(clark kerr), so i dont commute everyday to school. I'm independent just like the kids from socal yet i can go home on the weekends to get some of moms good cooking lol. I was originally dead set on UCLA, because i thought CAL was too close. But now i'm glad i stayed up here in the bay area, I dont regret it one bit.</p>
<p>Being that close will certainly affect your experience in that you have the mentality of knowing you can just walk home anytime you want, whereas a new location will be a brand new experience. Just don't live home like you said, but then again living off/on campus means you are paying for rent when you don't need to..</p>
<p>I live ~50 miles away so I also have the mentality of home is very close, but not that close because the two locations are so different.</p>
<p>Visit east coast schools and make a decision!</p>