By Alek S.
As high school students begin to shop around for the perfect college, there are a lot of factors that must be considered. Certainly not the least of these deciding factors is the cost it takes to go to school, nowadays. Because of this factor, many students think that their only options are to go to school in the state that they already live in. However, there are certainly affordable schools for out of state students all around the country, if you look carefully. On top of that, even with the extra costs, there are several benefits to going to school out of state that might make it worth it, to the right student (after all, there are benefits of going to school instate, as well. It all depends on the student). Here are several reasons to look at going to college out of state…
Find the program you want
The first thing that you should be looking at, when it comes to picking a school, is how your education there will affect what you want to do with the rest of your life. If you want to go to school for economics, then picking a school with a poor economics program isn’t going to do your career any favors, even if it is a cheaper option. The truth is that, sometimes, the right program is in a different state (take a look at accounting, where four of the top accounting schools in the nation are in Utah–who would have thought?) The key here isn’t to look for the perfect school, but to get even more specific and look for the perfect program that suits your learning style and aspirations. If you want to get even more specific, looking for the right instructors at your desired schools will have an even greater impact on your education.
New places help you find yourself
It’s important to be pragmatic and logical about your education goals, when it comes to picking the right school, but it would also be foolish to ignore the importance that this period of your life will have on your development, as a human being. The truth is that, sometimes, getting out of the state you grew up in is a crucial part of growing up and finding the person that you want to be. Being able to separate yourself from the baggage or benefits of where you grew up helps you take wider steps into your own adulthood, and going to school out of state can be the perfect way to explore this. It’s for this very reason that destination rehabilitation facilities are so popular, as they enable their patients to be introspective, without the external factors in their own lives.
Live in your own space
Going to school in your own state enables you to live at home, while you are getting an education. This can be a very practical choice, but there is something to be said for losing some of your safety net in your college years. Going to college out of state gets you away from home and is a very important learning opportunity to figure out how to be on your own. Whether you are living at home, or looking for a living situation that is fitting for college students, going to school out of state is a situation that forces you to learn to be independent.
Meet new people
If you go to college in the state that you grew up in, you will definitely meet new people, but you will also always be surrounded by people that you have known for your entire life. This can be a very useful thing, but it can also be an important aspect of growth to head somewhere that is completely new to you (again, it all depends on the student). Going to school out of state is a great opportunity to meet new people, since you won’t have old friends to fall back on. This teaches a very important life skill. On top of that, going to school out of state will put you in a new environment that probably has a very different culture from where you grew up (there are so many different cultures in each state, as we are a vast and diverse country). Getting out of your comfort zone teaches you about the world, and teaches you how to mingle with the people in it.