Longtime lurker here. I’ve loved reading the advice and tips given here and on the many college threads I followed with D13 and now S17. Figured it was time to give something back.
D13 was completely uninterested in looking at any of the colleges near our house because she was afraid being too close to home would make her feel less independent. We are fortunate to have 3 good to excellent colleges within a half hour drive of our house. We insisted that she throw in an application to all 3(our first child and we were scared to let her fly too far from the nest)
She did, on the condition that we let her apply to some colleges that weren’t high on our list because of the distance. I suppose we compromised.
Long story short, her top 3 choices ended up being a college 25 miles away, one that was 500 miles away and the third 3000 miles away. Well, of course, we wanted her to drop no. 3. She did, even though that was the college with the best financial package, because she hadn’t visited the campus and had no real feeling for the college itself.
It was a tough choice for her between the remaining 2. We talked about it all through April. H and I used all the arguments to persuade her to stay close. In the end she did choose that college, has loved her time there and wouldn’t change it if she had the choice. All 3 schools were in the top 20 and great fit for her but the college closest to us was the highest ranked for what she wanted to study. That may have helped the argument a bit too.
But in terms of seeing her more often, she made the decisions. There were no spontaneous drop-in visits on either side. She came home only(not even laundry drops) during the big breaks when the college is closed. She called us once every 2 weeks, texted a couple of times a week if that and she threw herself into every activity that was available there even on the weekends. She found a great group of friends that first year and it has been a great experience for her.
FWIW, she does call and visit more often now. We have a closer relationship with her now and I think it’s because it’s on her terms.
Like @happy1, we are a full pay family. Our son’s choices came down to $40K (merit) 800 mi away, $100K 3 mi away, $240K 1100 mi away, and $270K (400mi away). The $100K/3mi school was the best rated (top 10) for his intended study area, the $240K/1100mi a close 2nd, and the $270K/400mi away was the school he liked best from a social perspective, but it was ranked a distant 3rd in his area. All 3 were top 25 national universities. The merit school was the lowest ranked.
Ultimately, it came down to desires vs economics. We chose the $100K 3 mi away school, deeming it the best value. He lives in a dorm. It has worked out very well. He stops by (15 min bus ride) when his roommate is driving him crazy or when he wants to use cook with his friends (also students) or during short school breaks. We even get to see him for family events or when out of town guests stop by on the weekends for a game (like @Fish125 , we never see him at games except with binoculars) . Any other visits are initiated by him. He says that despite living in his hometown, his experience is completely different and that he is discovering something new all of the time. So I think that in our case, being close has worked out for everyone.
@TooOld4School - And, move in & out days are really super awesome!! I’m an alumna of our son’s university, and on campus from time to time. One day, during an open house weekend, I saw him preparing to lead a tour. He was welcoming the families in line one-by-one, and was giving each one a tour sticker. (I try my best never to overstep our boundaries at the school, but this particular kid of mine is my stealth kid. He sometimes appears out of nowhere right in front of me, and can also sneak up on me and startle/surprise me like no one else.) So, I saw him working through the line, and I ran over and scooted in the back of the line without him noticing. When he finally got to me, he didn’t really look at me at first because he was pulling off the sticker, but he started his spiel of “Good Morning! Welcome to…” and then he looked right into my eyes and realized who I was, and I stunned him for just a second (which is beyond hard to do), and then he grinned and I winked and took off. I heard him tell the next folks in line, “that’s my mom. She’s an alumna and…” Since it was a fun, celebratory weekend for students, prospective students and families, the community, and alumni, I thought it was okay to do, and he approved. 
Great story, @fish125. You should have given him a big hug and kiss and really made the families in line wonder.
@doschicos - Ha!! This kid always has a comeback/response for everything. So hard to ruffle his feathers! To make him speechless, even for a second, made my heart smile!
Great story!
We live less than an hour from Rice and my S refuses to consider it. I don’t think he minds that it’s so close to us (actually my H works in downtown Houston so he’s even closer to Rice during the workday), but it seems to be more of a “familiarity breeds contempt” situation. The students he personally knows who have gone to Rice are not kids he likes, plus he didn’t really enjoy his tour of the school. To him it seemed like any other Houston site he visited (museums, etc) and not someplace he could picture himself living for four years.
I know you have been through this before, but your child may have somewhat forgotten that lots of students start out talking about going far away but many choose geographically closer schools in the end. Remind your child of this and use any specific examples you can from the sibling’s class to illustrate. It is good to apply to a range of schools regarding distance from home so that there are choices at the end. “Too close” may mean something different in April of senior year than it means today.
A summer romance with someone who goes to one of those schools “too close to home” will turn everything on its head. 
Anyone have kids doing the first year college abroad? Mine is considering this! Northeast college but 1st year away… oh my
Northeastern is famous for the first year abroad thing - a friend’s daughter was offered it, but not interested. Depends on the family/student. I have one that would love to start abroad, speaks four different languages, has been to Europe and could handle it. My other ones, uh, no. Whether I could is another story, but I would try to be open to it if she really wanted it. Of course, I didn’t suggest or encourage her to apply to Northeastern knowing that admissions play.
Of note, Northeastern actually has a question on the common app now that asks about your interest for the program - a student can apply and state they have no interest in it, would be open to it, or prefer it. It’s also the first semester, not the first full year. Of course, the admissions play is still there, but I was very happy to see that addition.
First semester abroad is probably an attempt to market spring admission (of fall applicants). Colleges do spring admission to equalize enrollment in fall and spring, since if new students all start in the fall, the fall semester will have more students than the spring semester due to students graduating one semester early or late having an extra fall semester.
Or a good number of freshman who drop out during the first semester leaving spots in class rooms and dorms…
A few schools encourage (or only accept you for) spring semester. UF has a pretty big program where the students have non UF classes in the fall (community college or on line) and start in the spring. Several of my daughter’s classmates were summer admits at schools in Florida because the schools could give them more attention in the summer when there were fewer new students on campus.
@ucbalumnus
Oh, agreed for sure. With NEU specifically, it makes even more sense given that the co-op design means that a significant portion of students elect to graduate in Fall, even when its “on time”. That isn’t a change from previous years, though - it’s always been a single semester. The nice change is that they actually ask for preferences on the program. I was a bit unclear there - the addition is only the question.
Florida public universities have a summer session requirement, even if the student could otherwise graduate in 8 semesters. So most students have to enroll for more than 4 academic years’ worth of course work (8 semesters plus a summer) unless they can complete all requirements in 7 semesters plus a summer.
This may have similar motivations as the spring admissions at some colleges. Many Florida public universities are only moderately selective, so many of their students may have difficulty finishing in 8 semesters. Having them take courses during the lightly enrolled summer session(s) (when there is plenty of extra capacity) is preferable to having them enroll an extra fall semester after their 8th semester.
There is a summer session requirement for all florida public schools, but it doesn’t have to be completed the first summer. FIU specifically accepted our neighbor only to start in the summer - she could not choose to start in Aug, but had to start in June just 2 weeks after her high school graduation, and she had about 4 weeks notice. Tthat was her offer. Most students from our school started in Aug, not June. Another friend started at FSU in late June, but that was her choice. (Most of the Florida schools have several summer sessions, starting as early as May 1 when most high school students are taking finals, but also have B and C sessions starting later). At UF there is a big program for spring admits and those admits have no choice to start earlier.