How important is staying close to home when going off to college?

It really does not matter what school you attend, as the most important factors are how well you do with the school work, which is an indication to an employer about what kind of employee you will be, and the effort that you put forth in your networking to set up networking connections that will help you throughout your education/career journey. Here is an important video for you to watch: ## http://www.ted.com/talks/julie_lythcott_haims_how_to_raise_successful_kids_without_over_parenting?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=talk&utm_term=education ##

Here are some good tips on reducing college costs:  http://www.educationplanner.org/students/paying-for-school/ways-to-pay/reduce-college-costs.shtml

The most important thing is to get to know yourself well enough to develop a clear career focus and then talk to people who are doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can see what they do, how they got there, and what advice they might have for your.

Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Hi Destney,

Like Jacqueline mentioned, it is a personal decision (or one that you make with your family). But here are some things you should consider:

(1) If you get homesick, what would you do? Will you just up and leave? Or will you push through it?

(2) How often do you need to see your family? Can you get by with not seeing them every weekend?

I went out of state for college and saw my family every two months. I didn't have any issues with that though because I rarely got homesick. Going out of state was a great experience and I highly recommend it, but it's not for everyone.

Best of luck!

Hi Destney,

It's really a personal decision. My own experience was that I stayed local for my undergraduate degree degree and commuted to school. In part due to finances and at 17 I was not ready to live away from home. For my graduate program, I deceided that I needed to be within a doable driving distance, in the event of an emergency at home that I needed to come home for the day or weekend. For me, that distance was 4 hours. I looked at schools within a 4 hour driving distance, primarily in the northeast. I also had the option of applying to schools in NYC but decided that I would not have done well commuting by bus to NYC everyday.

Additionally, this decision might also be determined in part by finances and the distance of the school, you are attending, whether you have reliable transportation to school, etc.

Good Luck.