2 answers
Samantha
Student
Gallup, New Mexico
1
Question
Asked
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What part of the country do you want to live in?
# Austin Tx to go to school for #college
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2 answers
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Siegle
Developer Evangelist
11
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Elizabeth (Lizzie)’s Answer
Personally, I'd go where my family and friends are because I'm close to them. Some people want to leave where they grew up and live further from their parents once they graduate college.
One mentor from my first internship had recently moved to Austin, Texas to "start fresh." He'd grown up and gone to college in New Jersey and all of his family and friends were in that area (near New York.) I thought he was so cool for moving to a new place where he knew no one, but he told me it did get lonely and took time to get used to it and to make friends--so that's something to consider.
You may want to consider cost of living, how much you'll be making at your job (and how much you'll be able to save), job security or opportunities for growth based on location, proximity to public transit or an airport, the weather (do you like snow sports? Hot weather? Being outdoors? Accessibility of biking or running or sports like tennis?), the culture there (do you want live shows or music?), do you like going out to eat at restaurants (I have a friend who works in finance who loves exploring new places to eat--he's very adventurous.) You should also consider safety, which may apply to people of different races, sexual orientation, or gender more than others. You can read the local news or police reports to maybe get a better idea about safety, and Nextdoor.com is also a good resource now. You may also want to be around people your age, so you should research that too!
One mentor from my first internship had recently moved to Austin, Texas to "start fresh." He'd grown up and gone to college in New Jersey and all of his family and friends were in that area (near New York.) I thought he was so cool for moving to a new place where he knew no one, but he told me it did get lonely and took time to get used to it and to make friends--so that's something to consider.
You may want to consider cost of living, how much you'll be making at your job (and how much you'll be able to save), job security or opportunities for growth based on location, proximity to public transit or an airport, the weather (do you like snow sports? Hot weather? Being outdoors? Accessibility of biking or running or sports like tennis?), the culture there (do you want live shows or music?), do you like going out to eat at restaurants (I have a friend who works in finance who loves exploring new places to eat--he's very adventurous.) You should also consider safety, which may apply to people of different races, sexual orientation, or gender more than others. You can read the local news or police reports to maybe get a better idea about safety, and Nextdoor.com is also a good resource now. You may also want to be around people your age, so you should research that too!
Sandy Carnevale
Product Manager
1
Answer
Dracut, Massachusetts
Updated
Sandy’s Answer
What part of the country you want to live in will depend on multiple factors. If you are aiming to be a Plastic Surgeon, Software Engineer, Product Manager, etc. then you would want to live in areas where there are many opportunities for your career. With the current cultural climate, you may also want to take that into account as you plan where you live. If you are a minority or LGBTQ+, there are parts of the country that are not as open and accepting as other parts of the country.
My advise is to first research the career you are hoping to go into. For example, if you were hoping to become a Software Engineer, you should google factors such as median starting salary, best software engineering job locations, best software engineer schools, and average time to get a software engineer bachelor's degree. From the information you have gathered in the last statement, you will have a rough estimate of how long it will take you to get your degree, which you can then use to estimate how much money you will spend on your education. Once you have an idea of how much money it will take you to receive your degree, you can use the information gathered on the best locations for your job, look at the cost of living for those locations, combine that knowledge with the median starting salary information to get an idea of how much it will cost to live in a certain location and how much you will likely start out making. You want to make sure that if you are looking to live in a certain area that you can afford it so you don't incur massive amounts of debt just to get experience in your career.
The last thing I want to mention to help you decide on where you should live is based on the cultural climate I mentioned above. It is up to you to decide how comfortable you feel in certain parts of the country, based on your sexual orientation, race, and gender. If you are looking to live in a certain area, you can google that area to see if there are any red flags that would suggest it wouldn't be a good idea for you to live there. Red flag examples would be looking at the crime rate, look for any events related to what might concern you if you live there, such as any recent occurrences of unnecessary use of force on people of color, or shootings or violent protests at known LGBTQ+ locations.
It is important to do your research before you decide on a location to live because you want to be sure that you will have advancement opportunities in your career, the cost of living doesn't outweigh the money you will bring in starting at your career, and that you feel safe in the location you will be living in every day.
My advise is to first research the career you are hoping to go into. For example, if you were hoping to become a Software Engineer, you should google factors such as median starting salary, best software engineering job locations, best software engineer schools, and average time to get a software engineer bachelor's degree. From the information you have gathered in the last statement, you will have a rough estimate of how long it will take you to get your degree, which you can then use to estimate how much money you will spend on your education. Once you have an idea of how much money it will take you to receive your degree, you can use the information gathered on the best locations for your job, look at the cost of living for those locations, combine that knowledge with the median starting salary information to get an idea of how much it will cost to live in a certain location and how much you will likely start out making. You want to make sure that if you are looking to live in a certain area that you can afford it so you don't incur massive amounts of debt just to get experience in your career.
The last thing I want to mention to help you decide on where you should live is based on the cultural climate I mentioned above. It is up to you to decide how comfortable you feel in certain parts of the country, based on your sexual orientation, race, and gender. If you are looking to live in a certain area, you can google that area to see if there are any red flags that would suggest it wouldn't be a good idea for you to live there. Red flag examples would be looking at the crime rate, look for any events related to what might concern you if you live there, such as any recent occurrences of unnecessary use of force on people of color, or shootings or violent protests at known LGBTQ+ locations.
It is important to do your research before you decide on a location to live because you want to be sure that you will have advancement opportunities in your career, the cost of living doesn't outweigh the money you will bring in starting at your career, and that you feel safe in the location you will be living in every day.