is it worth leaving where you live to go to college somewhere else?

Question

i'm wondering whether i should go to the east coast for college or stay here in cali. what do you think?

Answer 1

Going to a college in a new location can give you a new perspective on things. However, if there is a college offering a great program in your field, then it's worth going somewhere more local.

Answer 2

Well depending on your major, and how you are paying for college the answer varies. If the major of your choice has excellent schools known for that program in California, and if you are in anyway depending on grants to help you then it makes more sense to stay in Cali. But if money isn't an issue, and there's a better program in the east then definately go east, young one.

Answer 3

Where you go should be determined by what you can afford among the schools you can get into. Unless you have 4.0 and millions of dollars.

California has some very good schools and is a very big state. In fact, there are very good universities in a lot of places.

Another factor is the distance from home - how much is it going to cost you to go back and forth summers, breaks?

And just what are you going to study? Is this school better at delivering on your area of interest, or is that school better at it? And how about the weather? Would you like having only a few hours of daylight and cold, wet, freezing wind and schlepping through snow?

Generally, the closer to home it is, the less hassle it is and the cheaper it is.

Answer 4

Honestly, it depends. It takes a lot of guts to go cross country. You leave friends and family behind. Sure, there's telephone and email, but that only does so much.
If you have some relatives on the east coast, go for it. Freshman year is such a transition, that it's nice to be somewhat close to home, but not necessarily at home.
I went to school in NYC (where I had aunts and uncles within an hours radius) but was from north-central MA. My other option was a school in Syracuse (where I had NOBODY). Not a day goes by where I don't thank God I chose to go to school where I did. I had more than one home to escape to when things got bad, and I also had various people to ask for rides to/from family gatherings on holidays and such.

Answer 5

A good question that depends on several things. You are lucky that you can consider leaving home to go to school. Remember that many stay at home because of the costs involved. And many more can´t even afford to go to college or weren't brought up in an environment where they are prepared enough to be successful in college. Humility and compassion are the true traits of the wise man.

So, with that said, there are great advantages of going away to school. From my perspective, college is more a period of learning about life than it is about learning from books and teachers. How many people actually work in the field in which they studied? Not a tremendously high percentage. Going away to school facilitates the learning about "real things in life", such as independence, responsibility, and who you want to be. But be careful, as it can be riskier. You need to be at least somewhat comfortable and confident about yourself as a person. There are many distractions in college; many possibilities of running amok (drinking, drugs, laziness, or falling into hazardous behavior patterns).

For me, I feel that going away to college was tremendously beneficial. But I recognize that I was likely close to "going down in flames" at times. In terms of a particular institution, I always felt that the greatest detriment to learning was the institution, as was best said by Einstein. This has been interpreted in my ways. What I took from his quote is that any person can either learn a tremendous amount in any college or can learn nothing, depending on that person´s motivation.

Some colleges are more strict socially (restrictions of co-ed sleeping arrangements) and others are more strict educationally (you are not permitted to fail any classes). Others are very liberal (if you go to no classes no one says anything until you get your grades and are asked to leave). You have to determine what might work best for you, and to do so means asking yourself some potentially difficult questions, as to who you are and what are your strengths and weaknesses.

If you are totally motivated and dedicated to a particular field study then I would imagine that finding a school with a strength in that area of study would be important. Otherwise select a school that combines a good program with a location that "fits" you. Do you want to be in an urban environment, or have a traditional campus (green fields and building scattered around)?

For me I went to a relatively good urban East Coast university and was particularly pleased. In particular I excelled in an environment with a liberal atmosphere. Some friends went to more strict colleges and that was better for them because they needed more control.

Sorry if I made this a long response. It is an important question and I hope it helps.

Answer 6

Questions you need to ask yourself include such things as: is the program in my intended major better elsewhere than it is here; what do others say about the school; do I really want to continue living at home?

By going elsewhere, you'll expose yourself to different ways of thinking and different people, thus broadening your horizons and that's what part of the collegiate experience is all about.

When I went to college (back when we rode dinosaurs to class), I went to a school in the East because I hated it in the little Midwestern hick town we had moved to prior to my junior year in high school. In the space of just a couple of months, I had exposed myself to more liberal ways of thinking, new ideas and people of various ethnic backgrounds - things which would have never happened had I stayed in farm country, USA. I haven't regretted it for a moment......and that was a number of years ago.

Answer 7

it always depends on what you want to do in the future. if u want to go into the medical field, u could go to a college like the University of Michigan, or take law at Harvard. It all depends on whether you think the college outside of cali is worth leavin. and the best of luck to ya in college!!

Answer 8

I went from New Mexico to North Carolina for my undergraduate degree and I absolutely loved the east coast! I am now attending grad school in Virginia...I may move back out west someday in the future...but never New Mexico...or the southwest. I think it just depends on how tired you are of your surroundings now.

Answer 9

sure getting away from home is good it gives you a chance to see things and meet different people beside 5 years from do you want to say wonder what my life would have been like if I had good to school back east..

Answer 10

It depends on how comfortable you are being far away from home - I'm a few states away from home: far enough so my parents are coming to visit every weekend but close enough so I can still go home for a weekend if I want to =)