Narrowing College Choices by Location

Quick Links: How to Get Your Teen into College

The location of a college is a contributing factor in the decision-making process of which college your teen will choose. Choices like in-state or out of state, travel time and method and where your study of interest is offered should be taken into account when weighing a college's location in order to narrow down your teen's college choice. Let's take each of those issues separately.

First, we'll start with where the colleges that offer your teen's major - main study interest - are located. If your teen is set on their major, this contributing factor of choosing a college is the most important, as your teen will need to attend where the major is offered. For instance, if that major is something like marine biology, the college will need to be near an ocean. This means an out-of-state college for a teen who lives in Kansas or Utah. But if your teen is undecided or unsure of the major they have chosen, a school closer to home or a community college are viable options until they are ready to make that choice.

Next, how your teen is going to get to and from home to college and vice-versa is a huge contributing factor when narrowing down their list of college choices by the location. Many teens dream of going to school in some exotic location, only to figure out that they will not be able to afford any visits to home if that is their ultimate choice. A simple gauge I have previously used was the cost of how much money and time it would take to get the teen home and back to each college on their list for Thanksgiving break. I used Thanksgiving as an example of a college break instead of the Christmas holiday because it is a reality that if a college is too far, the teen couldn't come home for the four-day break, or any other short break. This made a few teens rethink the location of their college choices.

Finally, let's take a look at the benefits to being in-state as opposed to attending a college that is out of your state. If your teen attends a college in-state, they will save a bundle of money as states offer a discount to their credits and overall tuition for in-state students. Not to mention the to and from traveling issue discussed in the last paragraph.

Be sure to talk to your teen about the issue of college location. Hopefully these ideas will help you help your teen think through colleges by location and narrow down their list of college choices.

Quick Links: How to Get Your Teen into College