- Money
– how much can your parents afford to spend?
The MATURE THING TO DO is to sit down with your parents and
talk about this. Financial
aid and scholarships come into play later, but everyone
needs to talk about
the important stuff early.
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- Distance
– some of this is obvious: the cost of transportation affects overall costs.
Flights to Hawaii cost more than gas to Tech.
Don’t think it’s okay to skip holidays at home…that
doesn’t work out. {On
the other hand, if you’re planning on Mom doing your laundry on
the weekend, you’re too immature to be going to college anyway, so
check with Sister Mary Brian about Nolan’s Five Year Program For
Second Year Seniors.}
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Location
– city or country?
Practical
matters: if you have to
work to help with expenses, big cities have more job opportunities
than small towns.
If
you’ve grown up in Suburbia, can you take the noise of the Big
City?
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Climate
Yeah,
it’s close to the mountains – but do you have the time and money
to go skiing that often? Yeah,
you like winter weather – but have you ever done seven
months of winter? Can
you afford the clothes for winter?!
If
you feel depressed unless the sun shines every day, check the daily
weather forecast!
You
get the idea.
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Living arrangements
Have
you always had your own room? How
will you adjust to the dorm? Do
all freshmen live four to a room?
Check it out. Freshman
dorms are noisy, messy, uncomfortable – fun.
How does it change in later years?
Check the differences – understand them early.
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Going where
your friends go
College
is a great time to ‘begin again’ – create that new life and
get it right this time. A
friend close at hand is nice for the scary opening weeks – but too
often then can be a crutch. Make your own choices, based on what’s important to you.
Special
note on boyfriend/girlfriend: More
high school romances break up than ‘marry and live happily ever
after.’ If it’s
meant to last, it will survive at least a few hours distance.
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