Often commuting to nearby schools, since most people do not relocate far from where they were born and raised.
It is no surprise that some schools offer programs that are specifically of interest in the local area. For example, it is no surprise that CSU Bakersfield’s engineering science major has sub-emphases in biosystems / agricultural engineering, energy / power engineering, and petroleum engineering.
@TheGreyKing and I have discussed this elsewhere and I’m not as convinced that location matters for k-6 education, so long as the student graduates with a certification in the state where they went to school.
Each state has its own rules and in some cases it is pretty easy to get licensed in that state. For example, my daughter simply had to take a couple of tests and do some first aid training to get her license.
I spent exactly 30 seconds on the J&J careers page and got Jacksonville Florida (a sales management trainee), Cincinnati Ohio (production management program) and Cork Ireland (management training something or other) as locations. I doubt J&J expects to fill their entry level roles globally with kids from New Jersey; I have seen J&J campus recruiters at universities across the country at career fairs and “dog and pony” presentations.
My daughter wanted to stay in the midwest post graduation. She opted to go to a college in the midwest. She did a lot of research on where schools have their biggest employer connections and while she could end up anywhere, the closest ties, seem to be with regional employers.
My kid didn’t necessarily want to live where he went to college…but as a musician, he absolutely wanted to be in a urban area with a great orchestra, and lots of opportunities to both go to orchestra concerts, and play on them. He also wanted other types of ensemble experience.
Therefore, he didn’t want to go to college in the boondocks someplace…although there were some excellent programs in some more remote areas.
“I do not think it is really true for computer science.”
It’s definitely true for CS, as ucbalumnus noted, your son going to CMU is the exception, since it’s a top school for CS, not the rule.
Nope. Many kids go on to work in CS from many colleges including many LACs not normally considered top schools for CS. I have too many examples I know of to be anecdotal.
Additionally, there are many areas for tech jobs. One doesn’t need to be in Silicon Valley.
After decisions come in, geography will play a part in S19’s decision. Does he want to go somewhere outside the Midwest to experience something different? Maine? North Carolina? Maybe. He needs to consider the location of the college and what it would be like to spend four years there. He also needs to consider post-graduation employment. If he goes to a NASCAC school, is he open to working in NY or Boston for a while after undergrad? If he went to Davidson, would most of those companies coming to the career office be headquartered in the south? He’s spent a little time thinking about it, but is being a bit superstitious and just wants to wait until he gets decisions before he spends a lot of time considering geographical preferences. Right now, he’s open enough to applying to schools in the NE and as far south as NC.
One of my kids went to college in Boston. That kid lives on Phoenix.
The other went to college in CA. That kid says she never intends to live in CA…ever again.
There are plenty of kids who go to college in a place…and experience that place…and then move on to different places to live.
I think it’s a mix: I have friends with kids that are interested in marine biology and they go to UCSD and Cal State Monterey Bay where they have easy access to hands on research. My son who is in NY for school got a summer internship in the Midwest and continues to work for them remotely.
Its not so much about kids realizing that there are opportunities outside of Silicon Valley. But some kids start with an idea of where they would like to work. If you are attending a top 10 school, maybe it doesn’t matter. But most kids are not. So, my question is, if you know you would like to live in Vermont after college, maybe it makes sense to look for programs in the area over programs in Tennessee. It certainly wouldn’t be a hard and fast rule, just something to investigate.
Vermont might not be the best example. They’ve had a declining population and with 2.8% unemployment and lower in areas like Burlington, finding a decent job probably isn’t that difficult even if you went to college elsewhere, especially an entry level job. 
@doschicos It was a random choice, but maybe I should look at moving to Vermont!
After a wonderful visit to UVA, which I have always loved and D1 fell for, as well, she knew she didn’t want to be in college in that locale.
But I think kids need to be cautious about too much certainty at an age when they’re still deciding on so many matters of importance and haven’t ever lived away from family, dealt with the solo responsibilites of young adulthood. Even when kids are pretty sure of their majors and some career ideas, they haven’t been tested, have only had the high school learning experiences. So many have no idea what the careers really involve.
Maybe they love those visits to Vermont, but aren’t ready to decide it’s the economy, social stucture and opportunities they will need and want, for certain. There’s time for that. You can get a job in VT with a degree from TN. You could go to college in VT and end up working in TN. Will the opps in TN match thosein NYC or SV? Maybe. Depends on many factors.
I think the initial question is the general one about environment. Some can’t handle rural areas and some may not understand the inherent competitiveness in some major urban areas.
I remembered seeing this article about being paid to live in Vermont pop up on my FB newsfeed and was intrigued:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/vermont-pay-you-to-move/index.html
My nephew grew up in southern NH, went to school in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is now in Burlington, VT. He went to St. Johns where you read great books, but I don’t think very many kids at either that campus or the one in Annapolis end up in the immediate vicinity.
In my area, most kids go to school within 2-4 hours of home and end up settling relatively nearby their home or the school. Employers I’m most familiar with are teaching and Civil Engineering. Both of those definitely prefer more local or regional schools. Engineering even gets specific about which schools. Teaching doesn’t, but they have some they like simply because they have contacts for student teaching, etc. I suspect Civil Engineering differs from other specialties in having local and regional preferences because Civil can deal more with local regulations. I doubt Mechanical does unless it’s merely preferences from schools the hiring folks have previous contacts with.
For the kids in my area who choose to go further from home to school, they often stay further away. It could be due to job opportunities. It could be due to finding their love life. It could be due to loving the area they found. It’s not absolute though. Even with my own lads, the one who went furthest away from home (FL from PA) is the one who returned - bringing his love life who he found in Jordan while on Study Abroad. She’s finishing up at a different US college (in DC) far from her home (in CA), so she will be far from her home when she settles down. H and I will admit to wondering if this place is “it” or if they will end up deciding to move elsewhere once together.
My oldest went to college overlooking Chattanooga and fell in love with that area. He also met his love life there. They lived outside Atlanta, didn’t like it at all, moved to NC, and tell us they plan to move again in a couple of years to the Chattanooga area. Without having gone to college there I doubt there would have been that appeal. Job opportunities didn’t really play a part in it all, though my lad’s job is from near Atlanta. He just works from home now. His job is portable.
Middle lad is in med school so who knows where he’ll end up. I know he already has two solid job offers for once he’s out of residency - a residency that hasn’t even been lined up yet since he’s just second year. So many places are that hard up to find physicians and he’s a very likable lad so I suppose they’re just getting their options in early hoping he’ll remember them and think about it. No love life to have a say in it all yet for him.
Does this also include neighboring states as well? D20 is interested in architecture so this information will help her narrow her choices down.
@tutumom2001 well, you could probably qualify my statement a bit. I went to architecture school in NYC. Some firms are located in more than one state and a handful have worldwide practices, but ultimately it’s going to be about who you know and if they like your portfolio. I went out to LA right after graduating - middle of a recession so not a lot of hires - but basically no one was interested in talking to me. Luckily I had a grant to do some research - so I had money to live on, but my first job was doing graphic design for urban planners and then eventually I got a job via a roundabout Columbia connection. After I came back from Germany - I also got a job via a Columbia connection. It may depend on how big a firm you want to work for. I never worked for any one big. First job just me and my boss, German job office of about 15, and then an where there were eventually three of us in addition to the boss.
In my class most people stayed in NYC, the rest went to their hometowns or where they had studied as undergrads.