He really wants a different experience from CA. I’d be happiest if he ended up at Washington or Boulder, as it’s a short flight. But I’m in NYC for work at least 3-4 times a year so I don’t mind the east coast/NYC in particular. We lived in NYC until D22 was 6 and S26 was 2. We took them back pretty regularly for a while, and my best friend lives there. So I think it doesn’t feel quite so scary to him.
That said, D22 was keen to be on the east coast and ended up at UCLA. Kenyon was in her top three but, in the end, the energy and opportunity in LA was too good to resist.
I think it helps to have a few different types of schools in the mix—even ones that they aren’t into during the application (we insisted D22 apply to UCs, as she was very keen to go east). But who they are today is not who they’ll be in April/May. I guess if I learned anything from D22’s experience, it’s that this is a wild ride and there’s just no way to know what will happen.