I lived in NY and went to school in CT, about 2 hours away. Maybe because we have family all over the country and we fly at least 4-5 times a year anyway, my D doesn’t see flying a big deal, almost the same as driving 2 hours. I personally would love for her to be close but the chances of her going to our state school is practically nil. She wants colder weather and she wants to be with kids not from Florida! The next closest school is a 10 hour drive.
@ChicagoSportsFn
“She’s the one I followed in my car when she drove for the first time by herself.”
Had to chuckle on this one. I was not really sure that d was doing a good job of staying in the middle of the lane. So, I also actually planned to follow my d the first time she drove- but I gave up on the idea… I decided to wait and observe her driving some more to see if perhaps I should correct her.
I am also a protective parent. My d is super smart but lacks attention to detail and is not the best on planning things out. I worry that the small things in life are going to catch up with her…
Although D is going to school OOS, she also will be 4 hours away.
@readingclaygirl
I think you might have a good theory. Both my spouse and I went to Ohio State and spent some of our college years living at home. OSU is in a large metropolitan area, so lots of kids who live in the burbs go back and forth between living on campus and living at home. My spouse lived at home for part of grad school also. So, yes I think parents who lived at home might be more inclined to encourage their kids to go to college closer to home.
@kittymom1102 Another Northeastern parent here. My D is a 4th year computer engineering major currently on her 3rd (and last!) coop. One thing she’s loved about NE is the ability to travel. Through the school she’s done a summer session in Japan, a study abroad in Denmark and a coop in Israel. And she was able to use grant money for both of the study abroads. Feel free to ask me any questions. NE has definitely been the right match for her.
As you all can tell, my D stayed close to home for the school, but says it has made it that much easier for her to go far away for different semesters. She’s now in CA for her last coop.
Her brother, my 2016 kid, looks like he wants to stay in the northeast. Furthest school is a 6.5 hour drive - some are very close. We’re waiting…
I went to a school about a 10-12 hour drive away. I was raised by a single dad, who I adored (still do) but drove me crazy (still does). I wanted a completely separate life from his as soon as I hit adulthood. Met my husband in college, and he was about as far from his family but that was to play football. Oahu has four four-year colleges with only one at all appropriate, but ultimately D did not apply. The closest college she applied to is 2,400 miles away & the furthest is over 5,000 miles. Insert Charlie Brown sigh.
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My college was about 5.5 hours away from home. I purposely went to a school that was about as far away as possible without being out of state since state aid was very helpful given our family financial status. I hated the drive when we made it, but liked the independence that it fostered in me. We really didn’t have a car since I turned 18 and I didn’t even get my driver’s license until I finished UG. Some shorter holidays I stayed at school, though my fourth year was part of a 3+1 program with a clinical school that was only an hour from home. Ironically enough I now work in the same building where that clinical program was held, an older hospital now converted to office space.
D16 has four schools on her list between 2-6 hours by car and two that are more properly measured in flight time. One has direct flights of less than two hours from our local airport, but the other would likely require driving to a larger airport and/or involve flights with change overs. Our trip to see the school in Florida was D’s first time flying since she was very young, kind of wish we were doing a second visit there at the moment instead of digging out from 30 inches of snow, though S21 is having the time of his life in it (-:
Congrats @kittymom1102 and good luck to those still waiting. At least in this area of the country delayed mail delivery is a very real thing right now.
I went to school about 1000 miles away from home. One of D’s favorites is about that far, the other is about only 500 miles away. I never considered going anywhere near home and my D is the same way. My H on the other hand grew up in MA, went to UMass Amherst, and has never lived outside the state. He is totally baffled by this desire to go somewhere else.
@palm715 , I think you and I are in similar situations. There are some in-state options, but they don’t have the language program that D wants. So, that means a flight of 1500 miles minimum. Likely she will end up further. I think it will be fine, though she is not particularly eager to leave home.
I learned with my oldest that the distance CAN be problematic (like when she suddenly needed an appendectomy. Even with getting a flight within a few hours, I still only got there in time to take her at discharge post-surgery.)
I went to college across the country from where I grew up, and moved even further after that. 
@me29034 - very similar to your experience.
I ended up about 1000 miles away from home. DH never even moved out of his parent’s home for undergrad & has never lived in any other city than the one where our current home is!
S16 will probably be 3-4 hours away for undergrad but, then in all likelihood will venture off to 1 coast or the other for grad school.
I view this as gradually letting him go.
D will be at least 5 hours away. Sad, but I’ve accepted it.
When your favorite teacher emails you a recommendation he wrote you for a scholarship (and very quick- I asked him on Thursday!) and you start crying because it’s such a touching letter. So blessed to have had wonderful teachers who truly care, and excited to become one
It is 2 pm here in So Cal and S portal has not been updated. Where on the portal did you all find the update? In case S is not looking in the right area.
Regarding the grades in the AP class. I can’t imagine the teacher expects the final grades to remain what they are through the end of the semester. I have had times when I give a quiz early on in the semester and everyone does poorly and then I make sure to do things to bring up the grades, ie more quizzes, more time on instruction and making sure students know the material better so they will do better, and maybe even some extra credit.
@Mysonsdad I wish my S had you for an AP teacher this year - or at least had an AP math teacher with your attitude. Keeping fingers crossed for your S.
I grew up in NY and did not want to go to school in NY. I ended up about 3 hours away, in PA. It was the perfect distance. I was closer to 6 hours away for grad school (where I met H). He lived at home for two years and went to a local state school due to finances, then transferred to the state flagship, which is about 3.5 hours away. We live near where he grew up and about 3 hours from where I grew up but my mom now lives in Florida so she is the one that eventually moved far away.
We let D apply to schools within a 6 hour driving radius of us plus WUSTL, which had been on her radar for several years. It is 900 miles away and that is where she went. She had other out of state schools but she ultimately decided that this was the best fit. No regrets as she has a fabulous 4 years. She also did not want to go to college in her home state. S does not seem to feel that way and has two schools on his home state list. We’ve taken the same approach with him and let him apply to schools within a 6 hour radius plus WUSTL. He has a completely different personality than my D and is younger (not to mention my youngest) so I’d feel much better if he were closer than 900 miles away. But since we let D go there, we could not deny S the opportunity to at least apply since he had his own visit and liked the school and the people there. I do know that he’d get a great education if he both got in and wanted to go there. What I wish is that D was back on the east coast as she is now working in the mid west and we rarely see her as she has so little time off. The thought that both kids might be in the mid west next year and 900 miles away is definitely a downer. Although, as empty nesters, we’ll be more available to travel.
Our mailperson clearly does not recognize that it is college acceptance season for the next few months. 11 pieces of mail in our box today, including 2 end of the year tax documents, that belonged to various other neighbors. Wondering how much of our mail is not in our box, like the final decision D16 is waiting on from Ithaca College EA.
Ugh- @labegg Hopefully if someone gets your mail, they will put it back in the box. When is your D supposed to find out?
Congrats @readingclaygirl !
I grew up in NJ, but did not want to go to school in NJ even though my mom (who was a single parent) did not want any of us to go away. My older sister went to school in Long Island. I ended up further -in Boston which was about a 4 hour drive from home. My younger brother, who was a bit immature for his age, commuted from home.
S16 also did not want to stay instate either. We took him to schools within a 6 hour driving radius. He felt schools in Philly were still too close. Four hours would have been ideal for me, but he’ll be 6 hours away. Six is my max, but D18 is trying to push those limits as much as possible!
Ugh. It is finals week and S is sick sick sick. It is looking very flu like. He never gets sick so this is odd. It started out as a cold then got better, then boom high fever, cough, nose, the whole thing.
I really think the the timing is not a surprize. He spent an incredible amount of time on college apps, getting the final ones in on the 15th. Each essay was considered important and he had over 20. He also did a music supplement. The stress would have been high for anyone, but one of the odd things about my kid is that he never feels stress. This is one of the ways the autism shows, he does not feel the normal anxieties that most people feel. The emotion is not there. Instead it comes out in other ways, most often a stutter, when things get hard. But I think that getting sick is the result this time. His body just said, enough is enough and shut down.
He has not done any kind of school work in 2 days. Instead he is reading, watching TV, and sleeping. He has not gone a single day, since school started, without some kind of homework, even on weekends. He deserves the break. I guess this is his body’s way of saying, take it easy!
@LKnomad Hope your son feels better soon.
Ugh @LKnomad I’m in a bad mood because I think my average will be just shy of a 90 so I’ll end up on NHS probation which is not good especially since I’m co-president. Ugh stress
On behalf of my little one and myself, THANK YOU EVERYONE!
I just came home from work. It was a long day for me. Finally the box arrived. No word about scholarship yet. We’ll see.
@Mysonsdad Sorry to hear that the box situation continues for your S. There were more than 30K applications seeking scholarship money. Only 1,200 were selected, although some of us don’t even know what we got. In my S’s case I’m guessing is the NMF 1/2 tuition discount. No good, but let’s see what happens.
Concerning the portal, it pretty much looks the same, except that new links appeared this morning.
Let me see if I can show you what appeared today:
Admission
Admission Decision (this link was not there yesterday)
Enrollment Commitment Deposit (this link was not there yesterday)
Withdraw Your Application
Submit Documents
Financial Aid
Apply for Financial Aid
Financial Aid Summary & Tasks (FAST) page
On-Campus Admitted Student Programs (this link was not there yesterday)
Explore USC
Preview USC
Admitted Student Day (this link was not there yesterday)
Campus tours (this link was not there yesterday)
Off-Campus Admitted Student Programs (this link was not there yesterday)
Apply for Housing (this link was not there yesterday)
The first thing S noticed this morning was the “Admission Decision” link 
He clicked on it and there it was
I am waiting for my DD as she having another lottery school interview. I didn’t bring book or something so probably going to use up all data on our shared phone plan. Again.