<p>I was not allowed to apply to any college west of Princeton (no kidding!), because my parents thought I couldn’t get anything outside New England that they were willing to help pay for. (Not that we lived in New England, but close enough.) However, my sisters went to college at Stanford and Arizona, so obviously my parents handled that question on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<p>My kids go to school about 700 miles away. UPS is definitely the way to go. Southwestern Airlines is a godsend. There are times when the airfare has been cheaper than gas and tolls would be, and even when it isn’t 3 hours vs. 11 or so for the trip is worth a few bucks.</p>
<p>If they don’t want to drive or fly there’s also Amtrak train service between Chicago and Denver and from there one can take other transportation to Fort Collins.</p>
<p>It seems out of whack why would the parents object to the distance based just on the initial trip out there so it leads me to believe it’s really just an excuse and there are other reasons they don’t want him that far.</p>
<p>DS goes on the “other coast”. There are obviously lots of ways to work out the logistics. Some cheaper than others.
The larger question here is: How adamant are the parents about not “letting” the student go to a school which is a distance from home?
How will their opinion affect their willingness to pay for the schooling?
Can they afford to pay for the tuition and the extra expense of the travel to and from, whether they drive or fly?</p>
<p>Yeah, I think there’s another reason behind it.</p>
<p>I’m planning on going anywhere between 8-10 hours away, and my parents don’t seem to have much of a problem with it. But then you get to the “Where do you draw the line” argument.</p>
<p>We tell our kids they can go to college anywhere they want within an 8 hour drive each way, unless there is a compelling reason (specialty major, Service Academy and the like). So far, they have all respected our wishes. </p>
<p>I was in college in Chicago with my parents in CA and I really missed them terribly when I couldn’t get home for breaks. My kids bring lots of kids home with them (for Thanksgiving, we are expecting 7 extras plus all of our own.). Most of our reasons are purely financial - we are just too cheap to pay for all that flying. But, we’ve also told each one that for graduate school, go ahead and go anywhere… since THEY are paying. :^)</p>
<p>I went to college a 14 hour drive away 30 years ago! Flying was a lot easier then, not as many restrictions, airlines were definitely friendlier, airports were not as crowded. Also, college students definitely had less “baggage” back then. After much thought, we advised both our Ds that in today’s world a driving distance of more than 5 hours or so would create some problems. Both chose instate publics about an hour and a half away. It worked out well for all of us, but sometimes I feel they may have missed out a bit by not going much of a distance.</p>
<p>Two kids in college more than 800 miles from home. Flew out with both of them for the first time and bought things locally at the Bed, Bath & Beyond. Both found summer storage for their limited amount of stuff.</p>
<p>Oldest is now a senior and drove an old car back. The car went over 200,000 miles during the trip. They both come home between semesters and for summers. Plane tickets are not really too expensive, particularly if bouht a bit in advance.</p>
<p>With the oldest graduating next spring I don’t think he is coming back here, though he does have a job offer here in NE.</p>
<p>Kinglin—hopefully by now you have seen ways in which your sibling could attend school in Colorado and not require 15 hours of drive time for your parents. It may be efffective arguments for your sibling to use in discussion w/parents. There may also be other issues, as pointed out, that play into their position-ie-expense of attendence. Colorado does offer an incredible education in Vet medicine-and a good solid base for undergardaute study for vet school. G’luck with your conversations with your parents-you have some wonderful ideas presented here. A mom w/D attending college near Chicago.</p>
<p>I’m in my freshman year at a college nearly 3000 miles from home. It takes me a day to travel here – I have to take a completely ridiculous serious of flights. When we flew out for move-in, I took two suitcases and my parents each checked one suitcase and one of my boxes, so we didn’t have to ship anything. We bought all my bedding, etc., here. </p>
<p>I’m currently dealing with my first break where I’m one of the few kids left on campus while everyone else is home. It’s a little lonely, but to me, it’s worth it to be at such a good school in a place that’s completely different than where I grew up.</p>
<p>Another look at the situation: when my husband applied to med schools, he found it impossible to get an interview for a Colorado med school because they had an unofficial rule that they preferred in-state candidates. In-state, however, was basically determined by current address/undergrad school. My husband grew up in Colorado, but he had moved to California for taekwondo and then undergrad. Husband was told this specifically from more than one person within the program. Apparently the reason is that many people want to come to Colorado for med school (The skiing will be great!), but they don’t stay (or come back after residency).</p>
<p>I don’t know if the same issue would apply to vet school, but your brother may want to find out. If he really wants to attend vet school there, it may be important for him to do his undergrad there as well.</p>
<p>It’s not so much distance as it is connections from school to home…there are vast distances like NY/SFO or NY/LAX that are easy, and there are shorter distances that are prohibitive because they are outside major air hubs. </p>
<p>D. is in one of those “you can’t get there from here” places relative to her hometown and she’s had to make compromises–because of the transport logistics it REALLY isn’t worth it to come home for less than a week, and some breaks like Thanksgiving are out of the question because of the jam at the airports.</p>
<p>University of MO-Columbia has a vet school and several pre-vet programs in the College of Agriculture, as well as others in the College of Arts and Sciences. It is probably less than 7 hours from your home by car, and one can get fairly close by train–one hour to the north, 30 minutes to the south.</p>
<p>Skiing, however, does not happen in central MO. And I suspect that is the real reason your brother prefers the program in Colorado, and your parents don’t share his enthusiasm.</p>
<p>Awww, dc89, that’s really a nice post! I could wish it came from my own far-flung kid, but then I see it’s the reverse coast. </p>
<p>Vassar is a fine place, and as they used to say on Dunkin Donuts, “worth the trip.” Can you get home for December? Hope so! Meanwhile, hang in there!</p>
<p>My son is a 3 hour plane flight from home. When he first went to school he flew down with a rolling duffle and backpack and we did the Bed, Bath and Beyond shop here and pick up there thing. No need to drive the distance. No need to drive ever, if you don’t want to. There is a company that comes and picks up storage items and holds them for the summer and delivers them at the start of the next school year, so no need to ever do anything but fly back and forth. </p>
<p>My son did take the auto train down this year because he wanted his car, but that was his choice. He didn’t need to do it. We are going to have him fly home and have a company drive his car back home.</p>
<p>I don’t think distance should be a factor if the school is a good fit and the kid is willing to be far away.</p>
<p>I had a “no school within 200 miles” guideline and D wound up 2800 miles away. At times it’s a nuisance but the school is such a great fit we wouldn’t have dreamed of objecting. Travel is an all-day affair by plane & shuttle, with a change of planes somewhere in the middle. We deal.</p>
<p>One of the meta-lessons of going to college is learning how to make things work. Transportation of self and belongings is just one logistical detail and this thread has several great suggestions.</p>