Did the cities where the universities were located influenced your choice of university/college?
September 7, 2025
Like, you wanted to live close to the beach so you applied to California or Florida.
Why?
49 comments
Of course.
Simply put, yes.
What mostly influenced my choice of college was which one would accept me.
We are looking at colleges for my kid — he wants a rigorous STEM school in an naturey spot. So yes, quiet leafy campus with lots of nearby nature is important.
Nope. The biggest influence was, ‘This is the best university I can afford.’
When I went to college – no.
If I were doing college today – hell, yes. Not because of the beach or something like that. But because of the huge differences in culture between states, and even between cities in the same state.
Yes.
In the first place, the example you cited answers itself. If you want to live near something, you should live where that thing exists. There are no beaches in Iowa, so if you want to live close to the beach you should not go to Iowa.
In the second place, it’s an even better idea to go to college where you might eventually want to live after college, both for connections to local employers and a strong alumni network.
Yes. It was a few miles from my house and I didn’t want to go away.
I just wanted to stay in state and didn’t want to go to a big school like Rutgers.
It should have been
I ended up miserable and unhappy in the middle of nowhere
Yes, of course. Often people will choose between schools in the same state due to tuition but sometimes going out of state can be cheaper if you live in a place like Vermont or get a scholarship at a private college.
Absolutely, but less that the cost of the particular university or the presence of a specialized academic program.
Yes, i went to the college in my hometown because it was in my hometown
Not for undergrad, although I do love Chapel Hill as a town.
Sure.
I wanted to go away to school but stay relatively close to home.
So I applied to schools in the biggest city near where I grew up.
Being that I almost went to Rutgers… no.
I followed a boy to college. 0/10 do not recommend boys OR following them to college.
I had my choice of any college I wanted. Within daily commute distance.
So yes, the city it was in made a big difference
Yes. Of course. And money.
I went to college in New York City. That’s not a random pick for sure.
Yes, I attend the college 10 minutes from my house, its a nice school, I got a good scholarship, and its 10 minutes commute.
No, I picked based on educational quality.
Yes.
I didn’t apply anywhere less than a 5-hour drive from home. I wanted to be on my own.
I chose University of Montana over Montana State because Missoula was smaller than Bozeman.
Even though I wanted to move to a different area I went to the specific college I did for undergrad so I could live at home and save a ton of money. For grad school I went to a different one so I’d say yes in both cases
I didn’t have a choice. I got a fat scholarship to a small liberal arts college in town and my parents said, “Well, that’s where you’re going.”
It can play a part. I grew up in NC and knew many who wanted to go to App State because it was located in the mountains and I knew many who wanted to go to UNC Wilmington because it was close to the beach
I guess so, although in my case the University *was* the “city.” I wanted to get as far away from Charlotte as I could, but still be in state.
It being very isolated made it even more appealing.
A little bit. I mostly applied to schools close to skiing. But when I got into an Ivy, I went there…and my skis got dusty.
Yea. Williamsburg, VA is a Mecca of culture and social dissonance.
Yes. I could have gone to a great school in a boring, somewhat isolated suburban environment, or a great school in a grittier, more interesting urban environment. I chose the urban setting.
No. Unless you come from a wealthy family you go wherever gives you the most scholarship money. My college was free probably wouldn’t have been if I limited myself to one area.
In the sense that the school I picked was 15 minutes down the freeway from home? A little….
My parents weren’t willing to pay for anything, but they were willing to let me live at home during college.
I wanted a car more than I wanted my own place…. And there was a fairly decent private engineering college nearby (which I liked because the curriculum focused more on technology than anything else – no foreign language, minimal general Ed courses)……
So that all lines up & that’s where I went …..
Not at all. The school I went to (Colgate) is in the middle of nowhere.
To an extent I chose to go to a more rural university as I knew I was likely to stay in a “college bubble” not leaving more than a few miles from campus for months. Plus my work was likely and this has borne out to be mostly in cities.
100%
There are great schools in every region of this country, so as long as you have the resources to get to somewhere, there will be a good school within a reasonable distance of wherever you pick.
I actually picked region before schools. I had never lived in the south before, so I’d decided o was going to apply to only schools on the south.
If I was interested in mountains, University of Vermont, the Colorado Universities, are both good schools. If I wanted beach, UC San Diego or University of Hawaii are good schools. There are great schools everywhere here. It’s actually a pretty incredible thing we don’t recognize enough about the US
Yes for grad school. Am part of the LGBTQ and wanted out of my conservative state.
I knew a lot of people who said “I just wanted to go to school in Boston” as the chief motivating factor in their choice of college.
Yeah. The local state university had a decent computer science program and I could live at home while attending to save lots of money on room and board so that’s where I went. It helped that the tuition, fees, and books were low enough that I could pay it by working a full time minimum wage job in the summer and part-time minimum wage jobs during the rest of the year.
Now, of course, that would be completely impossible. If I’d had to take out student loans to attend college I probably would have chosen something far from home to get some independence.
Yes, wasn’t allowed to stay in a dorm or go to school out of state.
Absolutely. But scholarships were also a major factor. My parents couldn’t afford to foot the entire bill (verrrrry common in the U.S.), so I had to weigh that in, along with quality of education, size of school, setting (I wanted a cool, college town vibe), and proximity to home and a major city. It’s why lots of Americans apply to a bunch of places that seem like a decent fit, and then see what looks like the most viable option once acceptance letters and financial aid packages come in.
My sister picked based on if they offered the degree she wanted to major in.
For some people, absolutely. But for the “average American college student,” no–most students go to one of a few public universities in their home state where they can pay in-state tuition. Location would only play a part for different parts of the state, like desert vs mountains in Arizona or cornfields vs city in Illinois.
Not for me but location is definitely a factor.
Heck, many if not most are specifically choosing public schools in their state because of in-state tuition.
Sure, my family lived on the West coast and we didn’t get along well, so I went to a school on the East coast.
In that I picked a university that was in the same city I already I lived so I wouldn’t have to go anywhere else, yes.
Kind of, although it wasn’t really about the cities themselves. I had two pretty equal scholarship offers, one in New Orleans and one in New England. The schools were both highly regarded in the subject I initially wanted to study. I picked New England because I don’t like hot, humid weather and I do like fall colors and snow.
Most universities have a lower tuition for in-state students. So the answer is yes for the majority I expect.
No, but it really should have been. I studied engineering so this mostly applies to engineering.
– Go to school where there’s an industry for your major. Your professors will be from industry. You will have an easier time getting internships and building a network.
– Go to school somewhere that you reasonably have a safety net from family if you can. I wanted to be independent and went to college across the country. When I got very sick, there was no one who could help me. Holidays were lonely. If a family emergency happened I was $1000+ and a day away. I learned that you can experience the same level of independence even “close” to home. My sister, for example, went to college some 30 miles and 45 minutes (no traffic) from home. She got to be as independent as she wanted to be but still had support when it was time to move, or she was hurt, or she just wanted to come home and hug the dog on Thanksgiving. I never even had the choice.
– I grew up in California with beaches and mountains around me. I went to school surrounded by flat nothingness and a lot of cornfields. Nothing against it necessarily, but I never again want to live somewhere that I can’t see mountains to go clear my head.
College is first and foremost for learning, not partying at the beach. I never realized how critically important location is for your future career potential. Secondly, college is a shock change and it’s best for most people, assuming you have a good relationship with your family, to keep your family closer than you think you need them to be. Location has a lot to do with this. Location has a lot to do with culture, too.
I hated college. I succeeded in my career in spite of where I went to school, not because of it. Even though it was a top ranked national engineering program, practically speaking I found myself working the same jobs as smart friends who went to the local state school and worked internships across the freeway from the campus in the tech industry. To expand on that a bit with specifics, my first job was working at NASA Ames Research Center near San Jose CA. There were a lot of engineers and scientists from MIT, CMU, Purdue, Stanford, etc. But the most common school for engineers there was San Jose State and it literally was not even remotely close. Like half of the people I met came from SJSU. And that has stayed largely true throughout my career in tech/engineering here in the Bay Area. Stanford, Berkeley, and SJSU are talked about in the same breath because they benefit from just being close by.
I think I would have hated college no matter where I studied because I was not born to be a good student. But if I had seen the wisdom about how where you go to school can impact your life, I think the life crisis I endured throughout undergrad would have been significantly mitigated.
49 comments
Of course.
Simply put, yes.
What mostly influenced my choice of college was which one would accept me.
We are looking at colleges for my kid — he wants a rigorous STEM school in an naturey spot. So yes, quiet leafy campus with lots of nearby nature is important.
Nope. The biggest influence was, ‘This is the best university I can afford.’
When I went to college – no.
If I were doing college today – hell, yes. Not because of the beach or something like that. But because of the huge differences in culture between states, and even between cities in the same state.
Yes.
In the first place, the example you cited answers itself. If you want to live near something, you should live where that thing exists. There are no beaches in Iowa, so if you want to live close to the beach you should not go to Iowa.
In the second place, it’s an even better idea to go to college where you might eventually want to live after college, both for connections to local employers and a strong alumni network.
Yes. It was a few miles from my house and I didn’t want to go away.
I just wanted to stay in state and didn’t want to go to a big school like Rutgers.
It should have been
I ended up miserable and unhappy in the middle of nowhere
Yes, of course. Often people will choose between schools in the same state due to tuition but sometimes going out of state can be cheaper if you live in a place like Vermont or get a scholarship at a private college.
Absolutely, but less that the cost of the particular university or the presence of a specialized academic program.
Yes, i went to the college in my hometown because it was in my hometown
Not for undergrad, although I do love Chapel Hill as a town.
Sure.
I wanted to go away to school but stay relatively close to home.
So I applied to schools in the biggest city near where I grew up.
Being that I almost went to Rutgers… no.
I followed a boy to college. 0/10 do not recommend boys OR following them to college.
I had my choice of any college I wanted. Within daily commute distance.
So yes, the city it was in made a big difference
Yes. Of course. And money.
I went to college in New York City. That’s not a random pick for sure.
Yes, I attend the college 10 minutes from my house, its a nice school, I got a good scholarship, and its 10 minutes commute.
No, I picked based on educational quality.
Yes.
I didn’t apply anywhere less than a 5-hour drive from home. I wanted to be on my own.
I chose University of Montana over Montana State because Missoula was smaller than Bozeman.
Even though I wanted to move to a different area I went to the specific college I did for undergrad so I could live at home and save a ton of money. For grad school I went to a different one so I’d say yes in both cases
I didn’t have a choice. I got a fat scholarship to a small liberal arts college in town and my parents said, “Well, that’s where you’re going.”
It can play a part. I grew up in NC and knew many who wanted to go to App State because it was located in the mountains and I knew many who wanted to go to UNC Wilmington because it was close to the beach
I guess so, although in my case the University *was* the “city.” I wanted to get as far away from Charlotte as I could, but still be in state.
It being very isolated made it even more appealing.
A little bit. I mostly applied to schools close to skiing. But when I got into an Ivy, I went there…and my skis got dusty.
Yea. Williamsburg, VA is a Mecca of culture and social dissonance.
Yes. I could have gone to a great school in a boring, somewhat isolated suburban environment, or a great school in a grittier, more interesting urban environment. I chose the urban setting.
No. Unless you come from a wealthy family you go wherever gives you the most scholarship money. My college was free probably wouldn’t have been if I limited myself to one area.
In the sense that the school I picked was 15 minutes down the freeway from home? A little….
My parents weren’t willing to pay for anything, but they were willing to let me live at home during college.
I wanted a car more than I wanted my own place…. And there was a fairly decent private engineering college nearby (which I liked because the curriculum focused more on technology than anything else – no foreign language, minimal general Ed courses)……
So that all lines up & that’s where I went …..
Not at all. The school I went to (Colgate) is in the middle of nowhere.
To an extent I chose to go to a more rural university as I knew I was likely to stay in a “college bubble” not leaving more than a few miles from campus for months. Plus my work was likely and this has borne out to be mostly in cities.
100%
There are great schools in every region of this country, so as long as you have the resources to get to somewhere, there will be a good school within a reasonable distance of wherever you pick.
I actually picked region before schools. I had never lived in the south before, so I’d decided o was going to apply to only schools on the south.
If I was interested in mountains, University of Vermont, the Colorado Universities, are both good schools. If I wanted beach, UC San Diego or University of Hawaii are good schools. There are great schools everywhere here. It’s actually a pretty incredible thing we don’t recognize enough about the US
Yes for grad school. Am part of the LGBTQ and wanted out of my conservative state.
I knew a lot of people who said “I just wanted to go to school in Boston” as the chief motivating factor in their choice of college.
Yeah. The local state university had a decent computer science program and I could live at home while attending to save lots of money on room and board so that’s where I went. It helped that the tuition, fees, and books were low enough that I could pay it by working a full time minimum wage job in the summer and part-time minimum wage jobs during the rest of the year.
Now, of course, that would be completely impossible. If I’d had to take out student loans to attend college I probably would have chosen something far from home to get some independence.
Yes, wasn’t allowed to stay in a dorm or go to school out of state.
Absolutely. But scholarships were also a major factor. My parents couldn’t afford to foot the entire bill (verrrrry common in the U.S.), so I had to weigh that in, along with quality of education, size of school, setting (I wanted a cool, college town vibe), and proximity to home and a major city. It’s why lots of Americans apply to a bunch of places that seem like a decent fit, and then see what looks like the most viable option once acceptance letters and financial aid packages come in.
My sister picked based on if they offered the degree she wanted to major in.
For some people, absolutely. But for the “average American college student,” no–most students go to one of a few public universities in their home state where they can pay in-state tuition. Location would only play a part for different parts of the state, like desert vs mountains in Arizona or cornfields vs city in Illinois.
Not for me but location is definitely a factor.
Heck, many if not most are specifically choosing public schools in their state because of in-state tuition.
Sure, my family lived on the West coast and we didn’t get along well, so I went to a school on the East coast.
In that I picked a university that was in the same city I already I lived so I wouldn’t have to go anywhere else, yes.
Kind of, although it wasn’t really about the cities themselves. I had two pretty equal scholarship offers, one in New Orleans and one in New England. The schools were both highly regarded in the subject I initially wanted to study. I picked New England because I don’t like hot, humid weather and I do like fall colors and snow.
Most universities have a lower tuition for in-state students. So the answer is yes for the majority I expect.
No, but it really should have been. I studied engineering so this mostly applies to engineering.
– Go to school where there’s an industry for your major. Your professors will be from industry. You will have an easier time getting internships and building a network.
– Go to school somewhere that you reasonably have a safety net from family if you can. I wanted to be independent and went to college across the country. When I got very sick, there was no one who could help me. Holidays were lonely. If a family emergency happened I was $1000+ and a day away. I learned that you can experience the same level of independence even “close” to home. My sister, for example, went to college some 30 miles and 45 minutes (no traffic) from home. She got to be as independent as she wanted to be but still had support when it was time to move, or she was hurt, or she just wanted to come home and hug the dog on Thanksgiving. I never even had the choice.
– I grew up in California with beaches and mountains around me. I went to school surrounded by flat nothingness and a lot of cornfields. Nothing against it necessarily, but I never again want to live somewhere that I can’t see mountains to go clear my head.
College is first and foremost for learning, not partying at the beach. I never realized how critically important location is for your future career potential. Secondly, college is a shock change and it’s best for most people, assuming you have a good relationship with your family, to keep your family closer than you think you need them to be. Location has a lot to do with this. Location has a lot to do with culture, too.
I hated college. I succeeded in my career in spite of where I went to school, not because of it. Even though it was a top ranked national engineering program, practically speaking I found myself working the same jobs as smart friends who went to the local state school and worked internships across the freeway from the campus in the tech industry. To expand on that a bit with specifics, my first job was working at NASA Ames Research Center near San Jose CA. There were a lot of engineers and scientists from MIT, CMU, Purdue, Stanford, etc. But the most common school for engineers there was San Jose State and it literally was not even remotely close. Like half of the people I met came from SJSU. And that has stayed largely true throughout my career in tech/engineering here in the Bay Area. Stanford, Berkeley, and SJSU are talked about in the same breath because they benefit from just being close by.
I think I would have hated college no matter where I studied because I was not born to be a good student. But if I had seen the wisdom about how where you go to school can impact your life, I think the life crisis I endured throughout undergrad would have been significantly mitigated.