When I was an undergrad, I was pretty picky about location. I wanted to attend a SLAC on the west coast that was also in a city. I ended up finding a school that was all of these things and otherwise a great fit. I was particularly opposed to living in a remote rural area or anywhere in the South.

Ironically, now I'm looking for a tenure track academic job. I would pretty much live anywhere.

Mine applied all over. But when it was time to visit they were not willing to travel that far - not across the country. Four to Six hrs by car or train, yes. For some reason the same time traveling by plane, according to them, was "too far"

We have 2 in college and 1 who deferred for a year to go on a church mission. All 3 explored schools on both coasts or on a Great Lake, urban and rural. At the end of the process, all 3 expressed the same sentiments about the location of their chosen schools:
- within a 5-6 hour drive of NoVa
- urban or semi-urban, not rural
- relatively coastal (on the coast or within an hour or so from the coast)
- not small

It was an interesting process to observe. We put no limits on them and they formulated their own preferences based on the visits and conferring with each other. We have 2 more coming up (1 in high school, 1 starting elementary school soon). It will be interesting to see what they do.

My DC does not want small or rural.

Some kids can't handle the cold weather of the NE or Upper MidWest. I've never heard a student complain of the weather in the South or West (except for rain in the NW).

Not just warmth though, some people do much better in sunny environments. Results may vary.

Some kids are more affected by their surroundings then others so for some where the school is located will be a factor in their success in school. My oldest was very specific about the location and rejected some schools because of the comfort level (in her case she needed to be in a city and not anything that felt remote). My other kids were not as bothered, but neither wanted to be too isolated. If your child is indicating they need to be in a certain situation or location then respect that. For some it is the same as being in a big vs. small school in terms of their ability to be successful.

The end goal for college is success (whatever your definition of success is - it is not necessarily financial...). All we want for our kids is for them to be happy, healthy and successful. If finances are equal then why are you questioning the need for a specific location? Maybe you need to provide more information to get better answers.

OP, I think location -- whether you're talking about distance from home, or city v. rural, or which region of the country, or weather -- matters more to some students than to others. I don't think you're going to be able to discern a standard from a bunch of anecdotal answers. Maybe we could help you if you explained a bit more about why you think location is becoming too big a factor in your kid's decision?

Older kid has depression/anxiety that gets worse in winter, so locations north of DC were out.
Younger kid does not really have a preference.

Huge factor for me, but that was based on my Dad's advice to think about what the weather would be in January. He went to school in upstate NY and I only looked at schools in the southeast. DH was the same way - his parents started the college tours in Boston in March over spring break and drove south. When they got out of the car in NC he said "This is it!"

Both of our parents also strongly discouraged schools on the west coast due to distance.

Not a factor. Neither ended up applying to schools farther west than Missouri, but it wasn't because we limited their options. One ended up 2 hours away, the other is 8 hours away (but a short and inexpensive flight).

Part of the country, no that was not super important to my kid but they both had "types" of locations they wanted. DD1 knew she wanted a traditional college town type place, she ended up at Wisconsin (second choice was UC-Boulder). DD2 wanted to be in a big city and ended up at U of Chicago.

Op, you need to be way more specific!
Distance from home? for travel of comfort. Geographic fit?

It was somewhat important. We wanted DC's school to be a relatively easy drive or an easy flight away.

He chose a school that is a six-hour drive, or a quick flight + 20 minute drive away. Works for us.

For my older DC it was important. For my younger one, it does not seem to be a factor.

How much of a factor was location for your DC or family? I feel like it's weighing heavily for us, maybe even more than it should.