I live in the state of Kentucky, and am thinking of attending WKU or Murray State if I must stay in KY. However, several schools in surrounding states offer in-state (Or close to in-state) tuition just because my state borders them. These include Southern Illinois, Southern Missouri, and Indiana State. I’m just wondering if it’s worth it to go a school like Southern Missouri almost 8 hours away. Going out of state sounds interesting, but I don’t know how well I’d adapt, or what types of challenges I’d face. Am I better off applying to some out of state colleges WITHOUT reciprocity and just hope for a scholarship? I’ll be a senior in HS this August, so I still have some time before I start applying, but I just need to think about this. If it helps, I’d like to major in Mass Communications/Journalism, and take some music and art courses as well.
Why don’t you look at the corse offerings online, and try to go for a visit?
Honestly a one state move should not be that large a cultural change. But all schools have individual personalities, even within a state, and you need to be sure that no matter where you end up going you feel comfortable there.
Go visit a couple campuses this spring while school is still in session, local and further away, just to get a feel for what college in general is like. They don’t even necessarily need to be schools you’re particularly interested in, just get the hang of taking tours, seeing kids and classes, sensing how different campuses can feel unique and what appeals to you or would not work. Then when you return to work on your list of schools you’ll have a much better idea what you want and be better able to gauge the fit when it comes to decision time.
What are your stats?
For journalism, the best undergraduate program in the country is Mizzou, so you should apply there for sure and yes it’d be worth going a few hours OOS for it (people come from all over the country for it).