Flip side: Over my dead body my daughter would go to...

[Low C Sharp]

I'd be thrilled to send a child to my alma mater's rival (both are highly selective private schools and very generous with need-based aid). But I admit that I'd have a little sadness to go along with my bursting pride if she got into both and chose the rival.

[DrPhil]

My universities were 5-10 minutes from my parents' house. My family almost never saw me.

I was having a gooooooooooooooood time living in dorms (in undergrad) and in apartments (in grad school). Hanging out, roadtripping, being awaaaaaay from parents and family stuff. A goooooooooooooooooood time.

[Munchkin03]

At my undergrad, it was required to live on-campus, so the local kids all lived in the dorms. They didn't go home all that often. Of the ones I knew, most of them ended up spending their whole junior year abroad (as opposed to the semesters that most of us did).

I guess it's different in the case of a major university. I can't justify letting my kid have an off-campus apartment when they're going to the community college around the corner.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I guess it's different in the case of a major university. I can't justify letting my kid have an off-campus apartment when they're going to the community college around the corner.

Agreed!

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

My universities were 5-10 minutes from my parents' house. My family almost never saw me.

I was having a gooooooooooooooood time living in dorms (in undergrad) and in apartments (in grad school). Hanging out, roadtripping, being awaaaaaay from parents and family stuff. A goooooooooooooooooood time.

Yeah. My oldest step-son was a college freshman last year and we made him live in the dorms eventhough it was 5-10 minutes from our house. We never saw him either unless he was out of money, university break where the dorms/campus are closed, or needed an extension of his meal plan.

If he had stayed home he would have stayed here the entire time and gone to class, rather than meeting people and learning how to take care of himself/being responsible and doing his own thing.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by ThetaPrincess24

If he had stayed home he would have stayed here the entire time and gone to class, rather than meeting people and learning how to take care of himself/being responsible and doing his own thing.

This would probably have been me.

I went to school close-ish to my mom/stepdad (30 minutes), yet still did the dorm thing. Looking back, I don't think I would have been as involved at school or made as many friends (and certainly not gone Greek) if I commuted from their house.

Living away from mom and dad (whether you're 30 minutes away or 3,000 miles) is SO important.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

This would probably have been me.

I went to school close-ish to my mom/stepdad (30 minutes), yet still did the dorm thing. Looking back, I don't think I would have been as involved at school or made as many friends (and certainly not gone Greek) if I commuted from their house.

Living away from mom and dad is SO important.

This is why I did not go to LSU. My parents wouldn't have been able to butt out if I was in the same town. I always wanted to go to LSU, but it was more important to be 180 miles away.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

This is why I did not go to LSU. My parents wouldn't have been able to butt out if I was in the same town. I always wanted to go to LSU, but it was more important to be 180 miles away.

I needed 1,500 miles.

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I went to school close-ish to my mom/stepdad (30 minutes), yet still did the dorm thing. Looking back, I don't think I would have been as involved at school or made as many friends (and certainly not gone Greek) if I commuted from their house.

Living away from mom and dad is SO important.

Cannot agree more. I went to school in midtown Atlanta, while my parents live in the south metro area (F'ville/PTC). The one summer I commuted was just ... not good. I learned the academic stuff, but there is so much more to college than just the academic stuff. You really need to be learning the whole package!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Living away from mom and dad (whether you're 30 minutes away or 3,000 miles) is SO important.

My mom's rule of thumb was that you should go to college close enough that you can get home when you really need to, but far enough way that you can't come home whenever you want to.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

My mom's rule of thumb was that you should go to college close enough that you can get home when you really need to, but far enough way that you can't come home whenever you want to.

Now it's so easy to get most places (maybe not cheap, but easy) that distance really isn't an issue anymore. I never felt like I couldn't get home if I *needed* to, and I rarely ever wanted to do so.

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

See, I probably would have gone somewhere far away if I had the kind of parents who were going to be all in my business. My parents were the "we call once every 2 weeks or so to make sure you're alive" type. They were also the "we don't care if you stay local for school, but you need to leave the nest" type.

My parents were definitely going to be all in my business, so I got as far away as I could (literally). Even now, I think my father would have a heart attack if he didn't hear from me for 2 weeks.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

This is why I did not go to LSU. My parents wouldn't have been able to butt out if I was in the same town. I always wanted to go to LSU, but it was more important to be 180 miles away.

^^^See, I probably would have gone somewhere far away if I had the kind of parents who were going to be all in my business. My parents were the "we call once every 2 weeks or so to make sure you're alive" type. They were also the "we don't care if you stay local for school, but you need to leave the nest" type.

[aephi alum]

Soooo true... the living-on-campus experience is so important, even if your parents live right around the corner. After 18 years, who wouldn't want to move away from mom and dad and curfews and expectations that you'll be in bed at a reasonable hour and "no beer pong for YOU, young lady / young man"?

My parents were ok with wherever I wanted to go to school as long as it was somewhere that would provide a good quality education. The only school where I was expressly forbidden to apply was Yale, as New Haven wasn't exactly the safest city at the time. (I wouldn't mind sending a hypothetical child to Yale, though. New Haven is reasonably safe these days, though there are areas I wouldn't want to enter by myself at night.)

My husband's parents, OTOH, wanted him to go to an Ivy League school close to home. He was forced to apply to Yale, even though he got into MIT early action, because MIT isn't Ivy League, and his mother wanted him 1 hour's drive away instead of 3-1/2 hours. I can guarandamntee you that if he'd gone to Yale she'd have driven up unannounced from time to time.

Anyway, like I said upthread, my hypothetical child's happiness would be most important, whether she picked a school around the corner or on the other side of the world - as long as she stayed away from HAHVAHD and from any school where "mandatory chapel" or "women must wear skirts" appears in the school rules.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

^^^See, I probably would have gone somewhere far away if I had the kind of parents who were going to be all in my business. My parents were the "we call once every 2 weeks or so to make sure you're alive" type. They were also the "we don't care if you stay local for school, but you need to leave the nest" type.

LOL. When my sister and I would come home for holidays and summer, my parents would give us a 10PM curfew! Seriously. At school we came home whenever we wanted. WTF? Thank God I didn't decide to stay in BTR for school. My parents are hyper strict and nosy. They would have been all in my business.

[DSTRen13]

In college, my mom was all the time "Stop calling me so much." If I was a more sensitive person, that might have hurt my feelings