<p>I'm a senior in high school and will be going to college next year. The only in-state school I've applied to is University of Michigan, which is about an hour away from my current location. I was deferred from the school so I will likely be attending out of state somewhere. With that said and all of you back home for winter break, what is it like living away from home as a out of state student? Tell me anything you think I may be interested in knowing. How often do you visit home etc... How has it been since your back at home from break etc... So yeah basically tell anything of likely interest to me. </p>
<p>Oh yeah was it easy for your parent(s) to understand your attending a school out of state? My mom implies how she would like me to be in-state, bla bla bla etc.... Though with my own future interest of knowing that my current location is not the place I would even reside with my "job", " dream job", or just after undergraduate I think she now has come to the understanding its a best jump start to getting use to me (myself) living away.</p>
<p>I visited for Thanksgiving and came back for good a week ago (didn’t like the school for a variety of reasons I don’t feel like typing out). I have a girlfriend back here, yes long distance for two months without a hitch.</p>
<p>When I first visited for Turkey Day, it was great. I loved seeing my friends and family. I wasn’t homesick honestly, but it was just nice to see them. </p>
<p>Are your parents gonna give you spending money? If so make sure you’re comfortable with asking for more. If your parents don’t deposit at your bank and instead do an online transfer (this is assuming you have a different bank than them) it’ll take three days for you to get your money. And regardless, don’t wait till the last penny to ask for more. If they’re gonna ***** you out for spending too quickly, they’re going to do it regardless so you might as well ask for it before your lunch consists of potato chips.</p>
<p>It was somewhat easy for them. My dad didn’t really care that I was going so far away, my mom did though. Ironically I’m gonna be going to my state school now, which is what my mom wanted. My dad also admitted that he missed me being close to home.</p>
<p>I’m not only out of state, but out of country and off-continent. Still, being across the ocean and across the country, there are similarities. </p>
<p>If there might be a time difference, it probably won’t be too major, but even a few hours can screw up conversations sometimes. Even if it’s just, say, three hours, you might want to call after dinner, but your parents might still be at work. </p>
<p>You will be homesick. You will miss your hometown, your family, your friends. And since you can’t just drive an hour or two to visit home, you’ll just have to suck it up and deal. It’s hard sometimes. My family wasn’t always understanding of my decision, and I questioned it myself, too. But overall, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and getting to know another corner of the world is a good experience. It’s worth it.</p>
<p>My school is about 600-700 miles away from home. I’m fine with it; I never got homesick. When I go back for breaks it feels like I never left. Whether you go to a close school or far away school shouldn’t matter too much because I wouldn’t recommend going home all that often - you’ll miss out. But sometimes I do wish I had gone somewhere a little closer for the sake of convenience and traveling home for breaks.</p>
<p>My parents were very understanding of me choosing an out of state school. They knew I wanted to go somewhere good that fit what I planned to do in the future. </p>
<p>I got a little homesick my freshman year first semester, but not too much. The dorms kind of make you homesick just in the sense that you have a crappy room to live in, and you’re forced to sleep in the same room as someone, which can be irritating. </p>
<p>Once I moved into an apartment my sophomore year though, my apartment was now my “home” while my house back home was my home when I lived in the dorms.</p>
<p>Definitely don’t think too much about going home at all. It would be nice to be able to hang out with my dad more, but it’s also great to enjoy the freedom of knowing your parents won’t interfere with your life at all, and you’re free to do whatever you want.</p>
<p>I only visit home in during fall, semester, and spring break. Visited for summer break last year, but I’m going to stay in an apartment over the summer, and just go home for like 3 weeks at the end of the summer.</p>
<p>Living at home is about the same as it was before going away to school.</p>
<p>Go out of state if you want to. It’s a great experience.</p>
<p>I moved from a rural village of about 700 people in Louisiana to Atlanta, around 550 miles away. </p>
<p>I don’t really feel homesick unless something there bothers me, in which case it would be nice to have the old feelings of home to keep your mind off of whatever is bothering you. </p>
<p>I’ve been home for Thanksgiving and now Winter Break. I was ready to leave before the end of the week for Thanksgiving, and I think by next week I will be ready to go back to Emory, definitely. </p>
<p>I think of Emory as home now, and it is probably just because there is nothing to do in my village, and the people are so different here.</p>
<p>I love living away from home!!! It has helped me realize that my home in which I lived for 18 years is DEFINITELY not where I want to be when I grow older, especially since that is not where I can find any jobs related to my interests. When I applied to a bunch of out-of-state schools because I was so insistent on getting out of my home-state, my mom tried to convince me to stay at home and got to x local college (but I simply refused). She eventually got used to the idea, and although I am a poorer student for going out-of-state, I am way better off for it. The extra money spent is worth it, unless you really feel like home has something for you. </p>
<p>I am super-close with my family, although I have always been a very independent person so it is not that big-of-a-deal to be 3000 miles away for half the year. I visit during x-mas break and summer (thanksgiving i go to relatives nearby), and I call my parents once a week (and email them every-so-often). It is sometimes a bummer when you see friends visiting their parents so easily, but it is something that I can get over quickly. Coming back home from sophomore year has made me grow fonder of my family, surprisingly enough. Home-life does get boring (compared to college life) in about a few days though, and overall I am a thousand times happier going to school out-of-state.</p>
Very true, this is something I thought of that may be a bummer when I go to college.
This applies to me as well. I bought it to my parent(s) understanding that I will be living away from home persuing my career in the future so the best jump start to this is going away for college.
I’am also a low income student, my mom make statements as in how will I get to x or y etc… though I wouldn’t dare write a school off the list because of transportation reasons.</p>
<p>I went to a school 500 miles away without ever visiting beforehand. It definitely took some adjustment at first (pretty much felt totally dropped off in the middle of nowhere without anyone or anything familiar around) but I like it now. I hate living at home, having to answer to my parents, and having other people up in my business lol. I can’t wait to get my own apartment and move out of the dorms though.</p>
<p>I moved from Hawaii to Pittsburgh, and despite everyone saying I’m an idiot for making the move, I’m really enjoying the experience. I’ve always been a traveler, so I naturally enjoy being away from home. If you do end up going OOS, then I’d recommend making a close group of friends to support you (it kind of makes up for not having family near by), and not freaking out. College and life will be easier for you if you accept what you’re dealt and take as many opportunities as you can.
Remember, staying busy can be a good tool for fighting off homesickness. Also remember to get to know your new area so you’re not confined to your campus.</p>
<p>I don’t think the experience of an in-state and out-of-state student are vastly different.</p>
<p>Here’s my experience, as an IN-STATE student, that may shed light on why I think this:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I was a little homesick the first few weeks; seeing my parents on “parent day” - something many students in OOS schools don’t get to do - was a rush of relief and I never wanted to leave them to go back to my dorm. And then…</p></li>
<li><p>Since the one extra day my parents got to see me for me being in-state - “parent’s day” - I have not gone home once unless for a major holiday. Not once. Whereas kids who went OOS usually have this “Fall break” nonsense that we don’t get, and once a kid that went to WashU even flew home for a weekend just to “hang out”. I’m like, what? Ok, so maybe you won’t be flying home just to hang out…</p></li>
<li><p>Since I saved money by going in-state, I took summer classes with the extra cash and was hardly ever home during any summer months - I was constantly on my college campus all year round, except for winter break</p></li>
<li><p>And this winter I’ll be heading back up to school right after Christmas. No winter break for me. I won’t be coming home for summer break either. I live in an apartment with my friends and I like it there; I have a twelve month lease (And that’s what I spend my money on instead of OOS tuition). </p></li>
</ol>
<p>So, it seems to me that living in state has actually provided me with MORE opportunity to live away from home and I’ve seen my parents LESS. </p>
<p>The “dark side” to that would be it’s probably because I don’t appreciate them as much. I know my parents are within a stone’s throw so I don’t appreciate getting to see them - OOS students 400 miles away probably feel differently and appreciate family time a lot more.</p>
<p>Share THAT with your mom ahah…maybe she’d prefer you to go OOS now!</p>
<p>Wowie are you from NorCal or SoCal? If you’re from NorCal the switch won’t be that hard since you people have seasons. If you’re from SoCal, god help you. Apparently this weekend it was like 80 degrees in LA… here in DC, it was 27 degrees with a huge blizzard.</p>
<p>I’m from DC, I spent a semester at school in NorCal.</p>
<p>Wowie, I did the reverse, I am from Wisconsin and I go to school in NorCal, and I think it is hilarious to watch all the California people fret about the weather. For example, I am a Wisconsinite who loves flip-flops and hates socks (yes I know I am deeply conflicted). So, I have become accustomed wearing flip-flops until it hits mid 40s, once it gets below that I switch to Berkenstocks. It takes sub-zero temperatures for me to wear some sort of footwear that requires socks.</p>
<p>The people from California think I am crazy for wearing sandals so often, especially the ones from SoCal, but I don’t think that the weather is bad at all. Now I can’t speak from direct experience about going from warm to cold, but I have friends who moved here from warm places and they all had a similar experience. They suffer through the first winter, and then after that they are fine. Quite frankly, if you dress appropriately the cold can become just more of an annoyance than anything else. You can always put on more cloths to make yourself warmer (unlike when you are hot, you can only take off so many cloths and still be socially accepted. Although with global warming, NorCal might become like the Amazon, and then I would be able to walk around naked like the Amazonians in the National Geographic Magazine, but I doubt it). However, if you complain about the wether as much as some of the SoCal people do, you should stay away from cold weather. It all depends on you personally.</p>
<p>Now on to the main part of the thread. I really enjoyed moving away from home. I never really got homesick and I liked having the new experience.</p>
<p>Something that is important to keep in mind when you are going to your state flagship or any instate school that has a lot of people from your HS, I can tell that many of my friends are in some ways reliving high school. They kept the same group of friends and didn’t really try anything new. I was the only person who went to my school though, and I liked not knowing anyone there. It forced me to go out and meet new people, something I would have had a harder time doing had I gone to my state flagship since I would still be caught up with my HS friends.</p>
<p>That is why I’m worried I can’t handle the cold. Too many parents/teachers/etc are like “You can’t handle the change”. </p>
<p>Honestly, like I think I wouldn’t like it at first, but get use to it eventually. But everyone I know is backing out of going back east, or telling me there’s no way I’m going to survive the cold if I’ve only ever lived in Southern California.</p>
<p>If you can’t handle a friggin temperature change then boy you’re in for a world of hurt when you get to the real world and you have to handle layoffs, divorces etc :P</p>
<p>It’s really not that hard to adjust to weather. You’ll kinda have to either deal with it or wither, and you probably don’t want the latter. Just bring a good puffy parka (Patagonia not this North Face **** which will get you shot anyway), some super warm socks, and some snow boots (partly for snow, and partly for warmth). That’s for the really cold days. When you finally adjust to East Coast weather you’ll find yourself wearing jeans, a t-shirt, a hoodie and a puffy vest in 30 degree weather.</p>
<p>Thirty degree weather requires t-shirt, sweater, sweatshirt, wool coat, gloves. Scarf if windy. Sometimes I wear leggings under my jeans.</p>
<p>If it goes below thirty I take out the ski jacket. I don’t care how ridiculous it looks. </p>
<p>Some people are more temperature sensitive ;). I also get reallyyyy depressed in the winter. But I handle break-ups pretty well. </p>
<p>You can’t know how you’ll handle/adapt to the changes until you experience it, though…so eh. Worst comes to worst, even if you never “adapt” there’s always the option of like, you know, dressing appropriately. Then it’s like you never left SoCal…sorta :P.</p>
<p>“Something that is important to keep in mind when you are going to your state flagship or any instate school that has a lot of people from your HS”</p>
<p>Very, very over-exaggerated by people obsessed with going out of state (including myself), esp. if your flagship is large.</p>
<p>I’m super shy/etc. and did not hang out with my HS friends at all…you will be surrounded by so many new people in your dorm, etc. it’s not an issue.</p>
<p>In fact I do not know anyone who is really “reliving HS”. I think that is rare for people who do not want that…if that’s what you’re looking for you can have it, but if you’re afraid of it/want to avoid that happening, then it’s reallyyyy easy to do so. It’s like it requires more effort to seek out your HS friend who is in the next dorm over to you, then it does to run into the people on your own floor :P</p>
<p>Have you ever heard someone on CC say, I wanted to meet people that didn’t go to my HS when I went to my state college, and I didn’t!!!</p>
Cuz that doesn’t happen.</p>