<p>I am a junior looking into various colleges. Thanks to previous help on the Parents forum, I've already picked out U Chicago, Brown, and Johns Hopkins.
Lately I've been trying to find safeties. Because I live in NC, UNC Chapel Hill is an obvious choice. My mother wants me to apply to Davidson College as well, though. I live in Charlotte, which is only about 15 minutes away from Davidson. Is living so close to home a bad idea, or does it not really matter?</p>
<p>My wife went to a school (Carnegie Mellon) that she got to go to for free (tuition-wise) because her father worked there. Her freshman year, she commuted and that was a disaster because she felt so unconnected to the whole campus scene. But for the next three years she lived in a dorm, working on-campus to pay for it, and thoroughly enjoyed everything! She just pretended her home was far, far away and did not come home for weekends. So if you can pull that off, it really doesn't matter that home is so close.</p>
<p>My S will be 15 minutes' walk away from home but living in dorms. I've talked to other students in the same situation. For them, it was not so much the closeness to home that was the issue at first, it was the familiarity of the surroundings. But they got so involved in their social life on campus that it ceased to be a concern.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! I had planned to live on campus, so I guess the closeness won't be a problem after all.</p>
<p>My son applied to the state flagship which is twenty minutes down the street. It is a good school with a lot to offer and the price was certainly right and he would have lived on campus but I really didn't want him to go there. Had it been an hour or two away maybe. I love my son and I miss him but if you can, if it is an option then going away is better - or at least I thnink it is.</p>
<p>IB--I think it depends on how you and your family feel about it and how everyone is going to treat the closeness. If your family intrudes on you, then it would be bad. If you stay too dependent on them for practical or emotional support (having them do errands for you, going home on weekends if you're not getting along with your roommates, etc.) then that would be unfortunate too. If everyone can really subscribe to the idea that one of the goals of college is to permit the student to experience living on his or her own, then it works okay. </p>
<p>My college freshman son is extremely close to home but I think that we have seen and spoken to him far less than many parents whose kids live far away. I have heard that this is a common experience for students who go to school close to home, and is their way of declaring the need to send the message that they really have gone "away" to college. I would love to hear from him more often but I have learned to respect the distance he has created. </p>
<p>If you stay close to home, you do lose the opportunity to experience life in a different part of the country. It sounds from your choices as if you're intrigued by going elsewhere so I hope that you are able to do so. Best of luck! Davidson was actually one of my son's top choices and you would get a great education there I am sure but I hope for your sake that you get to go a bit farther afield.</p>
<p>I did my undergraduate degree as a commuter, sometimes living at home, and sometimes living in various rented places (never college dorms). I then lived overseas for three years, so I got my dorm experience over there. Our current plan here (my son is still young enough that the plan might change) is to use the state university, a short commute from here, as a safety school, and otherwise apply only to out-of-state schools where it is routine to live in campus dorms. I think the earlier living away from home experience, if my son gets admitted to such a school, would be good for him, and DEFINITELY think it is good to get to know lots of young people from other regions of the country. I think we have to keep State U. in the plan as a safety, but I hope my son will gain admission somewhere far away where no one state provides a majority of admittees. </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>
<p>IMHO, if the school is the right fit then being in close proximity to home doesn't matter. I live in the Philadelphia suburbs and know many, many (!) local students who attend Penn and are very happy there.....as long as their parents don't drop by unannounced. ;)</p>