Should a student, in general go to a college in the state/area where they want to end up?

[Anonymous]

I'm not talking about going to Harvard or top-tier schools which will have recruiters from everywhere, but more average schools. For example, if my child wants to be a teacher and she goes to Towson, doesn't that sort of push her into teaching in Maryland, at least at first? Or if I send her clear across the country to Arizona, wouldn't she likely get a job out there? I have a niece who is a senior at Florida State and I asked her where most of the jobs are located that recruiters come to the school for, and she said "Florida."

My daughter who is a junior thinks she wants to go to school out of state, and I'm for it, as I think it will broaden her horizons. But it just got me thinking that there's a good chance the job that follows school will also be in that area, so she should really think about where she'd like to end up. She is thinking of teaching, and I think that major in particular lends itself to jobs within the state where you graduate due to the state's teaching requirements.

Any thoughts? Am I correct in this line of thinking or not?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

At first I was going to completely agree because the idea seems mostly correct. Then I thought back to my kid's teachers in elementary and middle school.

Several of them couldn't afford to live in Montgomery County, at least early in their careers, despite working in MCPS.

I don't know how they defined afford. It could mean, afford at all or it could mean afford to buy a house, I guess.

Some solved the problem by living and working in Pennsylvania.

Extrapolating, I think that if a future teacher got their degree in a high cost of living area, they might not be able to afford to start their career there and one option would be to live in their parents basement for a few years.

Don't know if my guessing is helpful or not...

[Anonymous]

If you lived in North Dakota, maybe. But this is DC and if you want to come back and get a job here, it will be really easy to do so.

That said, many kids don't come back here. Warmer weather, nicer areas, less traffic, more of a community feel, less expensive, etc... can keep kids elsewhere.

I think SLAC's all tend to go home from where they are from or move onto graduate school in a different area. They are usually rural, have no positions in the area, and don't cater to graduates and beyond.

Large university and state schools have a big local population in addition to research and graduate opportunities. But this also depends on the area that it is located in. Clemson, Penn, UConn, WVA, UVA, VT, etc... aren't in large cities or business areas. They will mainly only keep kids staying on for research and graduate.

Schools, like GW, UMCP, NYU, Villanova, Michigan, U Chicago, Wash U, Arizona State, Case Western, UF, UCLA, U of Minnesota, etc... have huge metro areas surrounding them. If kids end up loving that city, having more close college friends than high school friends, than yes, I think I could see kids wanting to stay.

DC is really expensive to live in. Only NY, Cali and parts of Boston are probably more expensive.

And really, do you want your kids and potentially grandkids growing up in this area anyway? It is so densely populated, transient, expensive, and pretty rude/stand-offish of an area. It is only going to get worse.

[Anonymous]

Maybe if you are talking about grad school. Not college. It's a lot for a 17-18 year old to know where they might want to end up and choose a college accordingly. You're still pretty young to have a good idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you lived in North Dakota, maybe. But this is DC and if you want to come back and get a job here, it will be really easy to do so.

That said, many kids don't come back here. Warmer weather, nicer areas, less traffic, more of a community feel, less expensive, etc... can keep kids elsewhere.

I think SLAC's all tend to go home from where they are from or move onto graduate school in a different area. They are usually rural, have no positions in the area, and don't cater to graduates and beyond.

Large university and state schools have a big local population in addition to research and graduate opportunities. But this also depends on the area that it is located in. Clemson, Penn, UConn, WVA, UVA, VT, etc... aren't in large cities or business areas. They will mainly only keep kids staying on for research and graduate.

Schools, like GW, UMCP, NYU, Villanova, Michigan, U Chicago, Wash U, Arizona State, Case Western, UF, UCLA, U of Minnesota, etc... have huge metro areas surrounding them. If kids end up loving that city, having more close college friends than high school friends, than yes, I think I could see kids wanting to stay.

DC is really expensive to live in. Only NY, Cali and parts of Boston are probably more expensive.

And really, do you want your kids and potentially grandkids growing up in this area anyway? It is so densely populated, transient, expensive, and pretty rude/stand-offish of an area. It is only going to get worse.

The most eye opening experience on college tours is how much nicer other areas of the country are. Genuinely nicer, friendlier, happier, and calmer. Not at just the college campuses, but in the surrounding areas. Around here, customer service at hotels, restaurants, fast food, parking, stores, etc... is abysmal. And people in the city and suburbs, elevators etc.. are just rushed and rude. It is much more apparent when you are looking at so many other areas. My daughter said even people in NY were nicer.

[Anonymous]

When better to broaden her horizons than when she is 18 and unencumbered by work or family?

[Anonymous]

"DC is really expensive to live in. Only NY, Cali and parts of Boston are probably more expensive."

Seattle and Chicago

[Anonymous]

OP, sometimes for unexplained reasons things "click" in a different part of the country. DD kept getting better, more opportunities in a different part of the country. Maybe they just "got her". I think you go where the *individual* opportunities are

[Anonymous]

No. She should go somewhere new if you can afford it.

Keeping kids close is just an odd way for parents who are too attached to keep control over their kids.

Teachers/nurses can work anywhere... let her explore for her 20's.

[Anonymous]

OP here. She will most likely not go to grad school. She is an average student and will most likely to go just undergrad. We don't live in DC any longer - moved out of state 5 years ago for a job and don't like it here, so she doesn't reallly want to stay in state, and I am fine with that.

At first she thought she wanted to go to school in Florida and teaching is one career possibility, but when I thought about it, it doesn't make sense to go to Florida for a teaching degree unless you want to stay in Florida. I doubt she knows where she wants to live after college.

We were also thinking of schools in the mid-atlantic (from PA to VA) because that's where we're from but I looked at Towson's website, and of course, if you go there, they prepare you for the Maryland teaching requirements. That's what made me post the questions.

Thanks for the responses so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. She will most likely not go to grad school. She is an average student and will most likely to go just undergrad. We don't live in DC any longer - moved out of state 5 years ago for a job and don't like it here, so she doesn't reallly want to stay in state, and I am fine with that.

At first she thought she wanted to go to school in Florida and teaching is one career possibility, but when I thought about it, it doesn't make sense to go to Florida for a teaching degree unless you want to stay in Florida. I doubt she knows where she wants to live after college.

We were also thinking of schools in the mid-atlantic (from PA to VA) because that's where we're from but I looked at Towson's website, and of course, if you go there, they prepare you for the Maryland teaching requirements. That's what made me post the questions.

Thanks for the responses so far.

For teaching, yes - you should probably think about wanting to maybe work there. Just because you will intern in some schools in the area. That said, Florida pays their teachers terribly and they have a massive shortage. I would reconsider. Truly looking into cost of living vs wages earned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. She should go somewhere new if you can afford it.

Keeping kids close is just an odd way for parents who are too attached to keep control over their kids.

Teachers/nurses can work anywhere... let her explore for her 20's.

OP again. I'm not sure you read my post carefully. I'm not trying to keep control over her. I am encouraging her to apply out of state because we don't like where we live (and DH and I will be out of here in about 6 years anyway). It's more of a question of where should she look - does it make sense to go to school in a particular state, even if she doesn't want to end up in that state after graduation, specifically if she decides she wants to go to school for teaching? Obviously, if she were going to law school, it doesn't matter the state for undergrad.

[Anonymous]

They are teenagers. They don't know what they'll want or where they'll want to be when they are older. Many of them will change their major or even transfer to a different school altogether. Maybe they'll get married and move to their new spouse's home town.

[Anonymous]

I went to Arizona State and never had a job in AZ. My jobs were here, San Diego, and Palo Alto.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if you are talking about grad school. Not college. It's a lot for a 17-18 year old to know where they might want to end up and choose a college accordingly. You're still pretty young to have a good idea.

I had a good idea 30+ years ago and I am still here!