How far do you want to be away from home

[jacman]

Following recommendation of DD's PC, she determined how far she was willing to go, what she planned to study (for now), and then look at sb situation. She made a list of about 80 colleges that fit that description and pared it down to.about 20, with schools representing powerhouses to NAIA. Took her months because she read all the websites so thoroughly. DW and I only asked that she make sure schools have a broad enough curriculum to accommodate her if she changes her mind about her field of study.

Also told her she was welcome to live at home and go to school. Oddly, she didn't seem interested.

Started this year going to camps to check out schools. She's liked them all but one, so far. So much work to this for all of us, but how she's grown. A couple years back, she was a shy, quiet girl. Still a but on the quiet side, but not shy in the least. Fun to see.

 

[Mark H]

Also told her she was welcome to live at home and go to school. Oddly, she didn't seem interested.

Go figure.

 

[jacman]

Go figure.

I know, right?

 

[Bchbum54]

Funny, I stayed local for college. My parents ditched me and moved from SoCal to North Carolina during the last few months of my senior year in high school. The plan was for me to stay with relatives and finish high school then move to the east coast and and look for schools during the summer but in the end I just stayed put and went to school locally

To me the more important thing is that no matter how far DD goes, I hope she comes home when she's done. Unfortunately I only get to visit my parents 2-3 times a year and I don't want that to be my situation when DD grows up. I want to be right next door, lol

 

[BobInMadison]

Some of my kids will probably be in a similar situation soon.

A little over 2 years ago, I was given the choice between relocation to Germany or else losing my job. Every European I talked to said I should keep my kids in American schools no matter what. The parents of DD #1's BFF offered to let her live with them for her last 2 years of HS. (That couple is divorced and has joint custody, so BOTH parents made the offer. Truly kind of them).

I've been doing consulting jobs for the past almost 2 years, and every job has been in a different city. I promised DD #1 she would graduate from HS in Madison, and I will keep that promise. She graduates in June, and has her tuition and fees paid for by an academic scholarship to Wisconsin. DW has been living in our house in Madison along with all DDs 1, 2 and 3. And our dog.

Meanwhile, DS is finishing up his sophomore year about 80 miles from home in Milwaukee.

At this point the most likely option would be for DW, DD #2, DD #3 to join me in the NYC area this fall. Which means DS and DD #1 would be in college close to home, but their parents are getting ready to ditch them.

Not sure what to do about my Siberian Husky, who turns 10 this summer. It would be really hard to take him to NYC. May have to find a home for him in Madison.

I will really miss that dog. I'll miss DS and DD #1 too, I suppose.

 

[Indiana]

DD will be a six hour plane ride from home next year (about 2000 miles; would be a 3 1/2 - 4 hr ride, but there are no direct flights). On the other hand, she'll be a 2-5 hour car ride from aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and family friends. Everyone has chipped in and offered a home away from campus or emergency campus visits if needed. It all worked out very nicely (so far!) - DD gets to spread her wings away from mom and dad but will still have a pretty substantial safety net.

The school is private; with the merit scholarship that she received, we'll be paying less than what we would pay for our in-state school here in Colorado. The travel costs end up making it about even.

 

[cuzmail]

I have always said it is a process of elimination, not selection.

Internet win of the day!
DD is a 2019 and we are in the process. I am constantly amazed with the bazillion college choices out there, the number of true options are actually very small once you consider the requirements needed.

 

[BobInMadison]

Internet win of the day!
DD is a 2019 and we are in the process. I am constantly amazed with the bazillion college choices out there, the number of true options are actually very small once you consider the requirements needed.

Yes, a lot of truth to that.

DS had certain requirements: the school had to be fairly close, but not TOO close to Madison, in a bigger city than Madison, and with a rowing team that was good but not top-notch (since he wanted to be able to make the team). That narrowed his choices down to two schools. He applied to those schools plus a backup, and one of them accepted him (as did his backup, but he went with one of his top two choices).

DD #1 narrowed her choice to two schools, got accepted to both, and chose the one which gave her a scholarship (which was her preferred choice anyway). She applied in the fall. We wouldn't even let her apply to her back-up choice, since the application deadline for her backup was several months past when she would find out about the other schools.

 

[slingnit]

Once that circles gets to be 6 hours plus then it really doesn't make a world of difference. You can get anywhere by plane in that time or less. You do want to look for accessibility of airports. If it is a smaller airport you can fly into the city but may cost a little extra. You could fly into Eugene but it would cost $500 plus or fly into Portland for about half that but then you have an hour and a half drive. So there are many things to consider when making a decision based on geographic location. Mine went from 1700 miles away to 360 and it has costed me an arm and a leg. She decided to come home at least every other weekend. On the up side I will the majority of her games.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

the school had to be fairly close, but not TOO close

What was his concern about being TOO close? Did he think you'd make him live at home?

IME, TOO close is not an issue for them if they're not living at home and you give them their space. My kids are only 20-25 miles away and it's like they're in a different world. The nice part is it's fairly easy to occasionally get the family together.