If you have a certain ‘radius’ for colleges…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our job is to prepare our kids to leave no matter how much that hurts that’s our job.

Now back to reality.

Amtrak tickets, plane tickets, storage units, time off from work to move the kid in and out--all of that adds up for some folks.

yes, for some and not for others

False. The kid has to get there and back.

True. We have saved enough to cover any and all of the added expenses for anywhere in the world kid wants to go to college. We hope they go far. There and back.

Great. Good for you.

[Anonymous]

Our radius was within the 48 states, within an hour of a major airport, with a semester abroad if desired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our job is to prepare our kids to leave no matter how much that hurts that’s our job.

Now back to reality.

Amtrak tickets, plane tickets, storage units, time off from work to move the kid in and out--all of that adds up for some folks.

yes, for some and not for others

False. The kid has to get there and back.

True. We have saved enough to cover any and all of the added expenses for anywhere in the world kid wants to go to college. We hope they go far. There and back.

Great. Good for you.

False

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our radius was within the 48 states, within an hour of a major airport, with a semester abroad if desired.

I love the “close to airport” with good flights. DS went to school in Miami which American flies a dozen times a day to DCA. We he took his car junior year, he used the auto train. A great college experience all around.

[Anonymous]

I won't let my child go to school closer than 60 miles from our house - he needs to be at least that far away.

I haven't limited him, but we have steered him gently towards places that are, at most, a short, direct plane flight away.

Who knows where he will end up - but I hope he stay son the East Coast.

[Anonymous]

I went to high school in the PNW and college in Chicago. I went home twice the whole time I was in college, both times by Amtrak because my parents couldn't afford a plane ticket. I went home for Christmas my freshman year, and then beginning of the summer at the end of freshman year. Was home for a month before taking a greyhound bus to NY to be a camp counselor for the rest of the summer. I took a greyhound back to school at the end of the summer and never left again.

So I can understand why some people would put limits to how far away they will allow their kids to go. I'm grateful that my parents let me go to school where I wanted to go, but I was pretty much on my own. They never came to visit, and I only went home those two times I mentioned.

[Anonymous]

My child wants the radius, because he’s close to his siblings and wants to be able to come home for family events now and then. We live in a region full of great options so we’re all happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our job is to prepare our kids to leave no matter how much that hurts that’s our job.

Now back to reality.

Amtrak tickets, plane tickets, storage units, time off from work to move the kid in and out--all of that adds up for some folks.

yes, for some and not for others

False. The kid has to get there and back.

And multiple times a year, for roughly 4 years.

Plus there is the first week if a parent is going to help set up the room and then whole family out and back for graduation. It really does add up.

[Anonymous]

For me, being able to afford to dorm was not guaranteed and was something we needed to be very strategic about, so my parents said I couldn’t dorm unless I went over an hour away. Dorming for me was more for practical reasons, so I wouldn’t need to buy a car if chose to. I didn’t grow up in Va, but they never would’ve allowed me to go to, say, go to GMU AND live on-campus. That would’ve been bizarre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shocked you did not mention cost of travel as a deciding factor.

I mean, a lot of us are full pay…..so….

Even full pay do consider this, we did.

Mind your own business and let your child decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child wants the radius, because he’s close to his siblings and wants to be able to come home for family events now and then. We live in a region full of great options so we’re all happy.

My older kids became SO MUCH closer with their younger siblings after they went to college. Between having Facetime calls for homework (for both) and putting the younger ones on a plane to spend weekends with their college-age siblings, they formed a much stronger bond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:within the state of Virginia (state school)

+1
I’m actually embarrassed for the OP and others who seem completely ignorant of other people’s financial constraints. As if we’re putting constraints on our kids’ college options because we somehow want to limit them? So absurd. Luckily, VA has wonderful schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid has had a lot of mental health crises in the past two years. I want to be able to drive to him if there’s a crisis or the warning lights start to flash.

I think the less stable the child is, the less it makes sense to fly him far away from his doctors/family/support.

I posted earlier, but I didn’t share this as being one of my reasons. I get it. My child also has ADHD and school has been a struggle. Hoping she is able to become a mature adult without too much more trouble, but I am keeping all options open for her.

One of my sisters kid with no prior mental health history had a first major bipolar incident in college and ended up picked up by police. It was scary as hell because nobody knew what was going on. He ended up committed and it was hell getting him released. They were able to drive there in less than 2 hours and transfer him to a facility near home.

A lot of mental issues, particularly male, first appear at adolescence.

I also had a friend get very sick/hospitalized and it took parents 48 hours to get there with flights, terrifying.

I prefer my kids to remain East Coast and if farther than 4 hours near an airport. One will be 17 when they head off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I won't let my child go to school closer than 60 miles from our house - he needs to be at least that far away.

I haven't limited him, but we have steered him gently towards places that are, at most, a short, direct plane flight away.

Who knows where he will end up - but I hope he stay son the East Coast.

Really strange. So the kid can’t go to Johns Hopkins which is only 47 miles away from DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I won't let my child go to school closer than 60 miles from our house - he needs to be at least that far away.

I haven't limited him, but we have steered him gently towards places that are, at most, a short, direct plane flight away.

Who knows where he will end up - but I hope he stay son the East Coast.

Really strange. So the kid can’t go to Johns Hopkins which is only 47 miles away from DC?

+1 Also, if the goal is to make them feel “stranded” (which is beneficial in a lot of ways because it teaches self-reliance), that will happen anywhere that they don’t have a car or long-course public transportation access.