<p>I’m not going to over-think travel. My daughter went to a college 16 hours away. A year after she started Southwest airlines came into her closest airport which was 45 minutes away. No campus shuttle. She didn’t have a car until senior year but somehow found a ride home or got a flight without a lot of anxiety for every break. She actually flew out by herself freshman year and we brought her stuff home at the end of senior year. We visited once a year. During the summer the school had a small storage space available. </p>
<p>Older son went to a college 7 hours away and took a car with him. We dropped stuff off freshman year and helped bring it home senior year. We also did NOT do the yearly move-in with him. I tried to talk him into renting a storage area but he would just pack his car to the gills and drive it home in the Spring and then back down in the fall. At the end of Junior year he and friends rented a house with a lease starting in June so he didn’t have to do that. </p>
<p>Youngest son has applied to colleges all over the place. I must say, I toyed with the idea of looking for colleges with Southwest airlines within 30 minutes as a must have for him, but had to drop that idea in favor of the major being more important.</p>
<p>As an aside to the distance and travel conversation, one of the small pleasures of three children applying and then going to colleges has been the opportunity to visit and then get to know in more depth other parts of the country. I’ve driven a number of these trips and discovered really interesting towns and parts of upstate NY, going to cider mills and beautiful lakes, driving past huge, now abandoned auto plants in Ohio, eating Hallal food in Michigan. We flew going down to Vanderbilt a couple of years ago, but I’m thinking of driving with D to JMU and Elon if she gets in (or maybe to demonstrate her continuing interest if deferred). Might still fly though to Charleston if that happens.</p>
<p>Southwest has not worked for us, and it has not mattered. My son has enough clothes at home that I told him to just take his laptop any school material that he needs as a carry on. He came home for one week so far, and he did not check baggage. If I want to give him something from home, I will mail it to him. </p>
<p>We did move him in and we plan to move him out every year. Our son is 11 hours from home.</p>
<p>Need to add that my son is about a 20-25 minute ride to the airport. He managed to get rides, but if necessary a cab ride would be a flat fee of $25 or $30 (I think depending upon traffic, not sure). Many colleges do offer shuttle rides to the airport for major breaks. These are often sold through the student center for a fee.</p>
<p>Distance has not been much of a factor in the schools that we are looking at. D refuses to look in state, so there goes that! The closest school she is looking at is Delaware which is just under 2 hours away. The furthest is University of Denver. We have schools all over the place. It just makes it that much harder to plan trips to look at schools, because not many are near eachother. </p>
<p>We did eliminate CA because of distance. She didn’t want to be all the way across the country. Other than that it will be more about fit and finances. </p>
<p>I am not concerned about her being away, she has been at overnight camp since 5th grade, did a pre college program for 2 weeks and has been on an international flight by herself. She has a good head on her shoulders (most of the time!).</p>
<p>I think I said in a previous post her sister is more worried about the distance. She wants to be able to visit her big sister easily.</p>
<p>^^mdmomfromli, you hit the nail on the head as to why we cast a wide net. It was about fit and finances for us too. I did set a limit of 12 hours from home, but it was not set in stone. Our son did end up applying to two schools that were over 20 hours from home by car, but we never visited one of them. The other one happened to be one that we could drive through on our way to a vacation destination (we did not have time for the full tour and info session).</p>
<p>mhc48 - we seem to have very similar tastes in schools. We visited JMU - beautiful scenery with the Shenandoah Mtns. We did not have time to explore the surrounding area more thoroughly. Elon - a new outlet mall that look really nice just opened nearby - I can see DH taking S2 out to golf while I shop. If both boys end up in NC - I can see vacations to Asheville, NC beaches and so forth. We are planning to visit Charleston in the spring - and to stay for 4-5 days so that we can have a mini-vaca rather than just a college visit. I agree completely that visiting colleges gives a family opportunities to explore other parts of the country - that’s a really nice way to look at it. With S1 - he was accepted at William & Mary and that was my favorite. I love Colonial Williamsburg and thought how great it would be to visit him there periodically. Somehow - my love of colonial history did not factor into his decision making!</p>
<p>Spectrum2 sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I have anew computer and my password was lost. Any way I am lol with the discussion of distance. In /texas if you want Jewish and in state our choices are limited. SMU does not have education, TCU has tiny jewish population ( I think that will change in time), Trinity has small Jewish pop and too clse to home, A&M growing Jewish population but too large for my d My d’s list was UT, Georgia, Muhlenburg, University of Delaware, Chapman,Layola Marymount, CofC. Tulane didn’t have education andUniversity of Miami would have been a stretch. ( i do regret not insisting she apply) We have relatives in Pa and California. She was insisting on a college with a school of education. While some schools you could get certified they were not a part of NATE, a national accredidation for education college programs. that is where muhlenberg and Chapmanfell off. Also california education was not her cup of tea. Ultimately she also was insisting on a smaller school as her preference which meant the two contenders were CofC and Elon.</p>
<p>We dreamed of visitng her at CofC. My husband saw wonderful visits in Charleston with extended vacation golfing. We both saw wonderful visits with ome beach time.However She chose Elon where we said great we will visit the mountains. And so we did, where after our first parents weekend I fell and broke my leg hiking. </p>
<p>The discussion between CofC and Elon was so interesting. I am a big fan and we as noted above were planning her four years there. I saw the differences as a poster did. Elon more conservative, CofC more liberal. I thought that was so much a better fit for my d academically, Jewishly, socially. I never saw Elon as the right fit. However at our first visit after she was accepted in March she saidthis was it. I pointed out the percentage in greek life, the dress, percentage of kids from private schools etc. She heard me but said it just felt right. So my d who /Thrift store shops, has multicultural and gay friends found her place at Elon. She has thus far been very happy in every aspect of Elon life.</p>
<p>I had to cast the net very large in order to find the right fit. If I had restricted her to driveable schools she would have gone to UT, an excellent school but according to her she would not be as happy as she is now. It is most definately harder and more expensive
to do the oos thing. I am glad this is my last child.</p>
<p>Sorry Spectrum2 this was long - hope it was helpful.</p>
<p>Texasmother - I really enjoyed your post. As a parent, I tend to approach college selection in a very logical, organized fashion - with lots and lots of research. But much like choosing a mate - it comes down to a gut feeling in the end - fit, compatibility, etc. I remember some of your posts from a while back where you expressed concern about Jewish life at Elon. I am so glad your daughter is happy there; sorry about your broken leg though! Maybe the outlet mall next time. :)</p>
<p>Texasmother, I was amused reading about your D liking Elon despite your feeling that CofC was a better fit. My older daughter, five years ago was accepted at both Oberlin and Colgate. I was pushing (as subtly as I could) for Oberlin: she seemed to me the typical vegan, hippie activist who would have loved it there. But she fell in love with Colgate. She did well there and loved it all the way through. It was also wonderful for her as far as education and post grad job. Still, it’s a bit strange seeing her now sometimes in black dress and pearls (with a very nice but non Jewish) boyfriend and imagining what would have occurred had she gone to Oberlin.</p>
<p>So, this is an exciting day for us! I have twins and my “non B student” was accepted ED today to Wash U in St Louis! He’s so happy! My “friends” keep sending me the crime statistics for St Louis which has the dubious honor of being the least safe city in America, and my “dumb” friends keep telling me that University of Washington is a great school but they felt sure he was Ivy bound! sigh! I’m proud that he made a decision based on good fit for him- it was tough because Ivy is so much more impressive but this is a nice school with a whopping 30% jewish population (not a factor for him but I’m glad!!) I’m also glad that Hanukkah is over!!! (Sounds a little scroogish but it came way to early this year!!!)</p>
<p>2flipper2: Congratulations! Wash U is a wonderful school and it’s great that he chose based on fit. And don’t sweat the ivy thing. My daughter goes to Penn and people either assume it’s Penn State or feel sorry for her that she couldn’t be a Nittany Lion. You’ve got one down!</p>
<p>2flipper2, one of my daughter’s friends got into Wash U today too and another got into Cornell, so they are all excited. </p>
<p>BTW, the Rabbi at Bnai Amoona, Carnie Shalom Rose used to be at my old shul until a couple of years ago. He is about one of the coolest and most dynamic and spiritual Rabbis in the country. Young people love him. I don’t know how close it is to Wash U, but your twin definitely ought to check it out.</p>
<p>Congratulations! My son is a Wash U grad and absolutely loved his 4 years. Don’t worry about the crime rate, tell them the school’s actually in Clayton! And as for name recognition, my other 2 went to U of Chicago, and I can’t tell you the number of times I was asked, “why did they go to the University of Illinois in Chicago?”</p>
<p>Awesome news! Congratulations! It’s great that your S felt comfortable with the “fit”.
We wish him 4 years of growth, fun and lots of new experiences! :)</p>
<p>Good luck to all the other ED people and seniors who are still applying and waiting till April!</p>