I keep thinking I should move to Virginia ....

[Anonymous]

yeah, but if you move to Virginia you won't get to pay as much in taxes . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So your kids have to go to a state school? That's awfully limiting. What if they want to go to Pennsylvania, or Massachusetts, or California? Or what if they would prefer a smaller college?

In other words, no WAY would I move for this reason.

This was clearly written by someone who has no concept of needing to stay in-state due to tuition costs. Duh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yeah, but if you move to Virginia you won't get to pay as much in taxes . . .

...but if you have liberal views, Virginia politics will drive you insane...

[Anonymous]

re the college experience

I really valued it. (So much so that I went on to get a PhD) To me, it wasn't partying -- it was having nothing I had to do but learn and relatively free choice about what I learned and how I managed my workload.

My parents, both of whom did college via night school (while working/raising kids) were eager for me to be able to do it FT and away from home (where I would have had other responsibilities). They felt they'd missed a lot (not partying, BTW -- they were the only ones in their group of friends that had their own apartment, so our house was where everyone congregated) by virtue of living off-campus and having other demands on their time.

How a kid will use that freedom depends on the kid. But it can be an amazing gift.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. As far as the college experience, I'm talking about learning to live away from home and managing on your own, getting exposed to a new city/town ... I'm not talking about partying. That could happen wherever they go.

For me, moving away was part of growing up. I guess I see it as an important part of that transition to adulthood.

"Managing on your own" while someone else is footing the bill doesn't prepare one for adulthood. College is one big bubble, and not at all similar to adult life, quite the opposite. it's even less similar than living with parents where at least you need to adapt to the person who holds the purse (something that will be happening to the rest of one's life).

NP here. I disagree with this as too broad a statement. It all depends on the situation. My oldest kid goes to an out of state school. She has scholarships and such and we pay the difference with her tuition. But she has to work to pay her rent and buy her groceries. So we are "footing" her education bill and she is managing her "living" bill. My second oldest is on athletic scholarship and she EARNS every penny. Not every college experience involves the parents footing the entire bill. I told my kids that if they wanted to go out of state, they had to have skin in the game. They have done that and they are learning life management. Frankly, I know very few familes with kids in college and the parents are paying the full freight.

I also take issue with this. Our son goes out of state and has had to learn how to hold down a part time job while juggling a demanding course load as an engineering major. He's had to negotiate a couple of tricky living arrangements with roommates, and he's learned the value of having good friends to call on when it's been time for them to move to new dorms and apartments in the Fall of each year. He's had to figure out how to manage his finances -- sure, he calls once in a while and asks for help (we many send some extra money or offer some guidance about dealing with his bank, the financial aid office, etc) but he's pretty independent. Sure, he has fun on the weekends, but it's great for him and for us to know his social life is in a little bit of a "bubble." This will end soon enough when he graduates and must face more of the real-world experience of working fulltime or grad school. While I understand that it's not practical for all families to send kids away for college, I do think living away at school has some distinct advantages.

[Anonymous]

According to the new ranking...John Hopkins ranked 12th...

Also on the list:

Georgetown University at No. 20

University of Virginia at No. 23

College of William and Mary at No. 32

George Washington University at No. 52

University of Maryland-College Park at No. 62

Virginia Tech at No. 69

American University at No. 75

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Montgomery County and really like it, MS- age kids are happy in good schools, we like our house ...

but I keep looking at in-state tuition for very good Virginia universities and comparing it with our more limited options in Maryland. Aside from UM College Park, I don't know that there are really attractive options. And even College Park isn't ideal -- so large, and not really far enough away from home to constitute what I consider a real college experience.

Contrast that with Virginia options ... UVA, William and Mary, Virginia Tech, and JMU ... they all seem so much better. And the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition is so significant. I could pay my kids' tuition in state without any issue at all.

Would you move just to get in-state tuition in Virginia?

Right, because they won't be able to party all day without parental supervision? My kids are going to attend college from home. There, I said. I am from Europe, and it's very common there, and both DH and I did it. I find American approach to college ridiculous, parents paying tens of thousands of dollars to have immature persons attend party schools (pretty much all schools, compared to where I went to college) thousands of miles away. No, thanks.

I don't get the emphasis on the "college experience" either. I thought people go to college for an education, not an experience. It is just such a bizarre way of looking at such an expensive investment to me and I'm not sure uprooting kids from their support systems and communities is that good for them either.

My daughter may or may not attend college from home but thankfully the conversation is centered on her specific interests in majors and not "experience."

This is true. The idea is to send your kids away to school to meet new people and live in a different area to get out of your high school bubble. But what happens is that many students actually delay maturing and spend way too much time getting drunk. They would be better off living close to home, going to school, working, saving money and would actually mature faster. Now that colleges cost so much, I think parents question the idea of sending their child away for what has become a four year party.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Montgomery County and really like it, MS- age kids are happy in good schools, we like our house ...

but I keep looking at in-state tuition for very good Virginia universities and comparing it with our more limited options in Maryland. Aside from UM College Park, I don't know that there are really attractive options. And even College Park isn't ideal -- so large, and not really far enough away from home to constitute what I consider a real college experience.

Contrast that with Virginia options ... UVA, William and Mary, Virginia Tech, and JMU ... they all seem so much better. And the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition is so significant. I could pay my kids' tuition in state without any issue at all.

Would you move just to get in-state tuition in Virginia?

Right, because they won't be able to party all day without parental supervision? My kids are going to attend college from home. There, I said. I am from Europe, and it's very common there, and both DH and I did it. I find American approach to college ridiculous, parents paying tens of thousands of dollars to have immature persons attend party schools (pretty much all schools, compared to where I went to college) thousands of miles away. No, thanks.

I don't get the emphasis on the "college experience" either. I thought people go to college for an education, not an experience. It is just such a bizarre way of looking at such an expensive investment to me and I'm not sure uprooting kids from their support systems and communities is that good for them either.

My daughter may or may not attend college from home but thankfully the conversation is centered on her specific interests in majors and not "experience."

This is true. The idea is to send your kids away to school to meet new people and live in a different area to get out of your high school bubble. But what happens is that many students actually delay maturing and spend way too much time getting drunk. They would be better off living close to home, going to school, working, saving money and would actually mature faster. Now that colleges cost so much, I think parents question the idea of sending their child away for what has become a four year party.

Ok, but don't underestimate American college students. They work hard. It is a small group that does the major partying. And many of them look like college students, but they are not. Just hangers on to the campus.

[Anonymous]

Why not move to California? 6 of the California PUBLIC universities are in the top 50 of the National University Rankings - and this is after budget cuts supposedly damaged the state colleges -- the impact of the brain drain to the west the past 30 years is starting to show itself in college rankings.