Life after high school involves making many important decisions. For college bound seniors, an important decision is choosing between attending in-state or out-of-state schools.

    After all of the applications are submitted, the tough part begins once acceptance letters start rolling in. Seniors have to make a decision on which school they want to attend based on their acceptances and where they want to live in the next few years. While some students decide to leave home and study in a different state, others decide to stay and study at a school in Virginia.

    “I decided to go to an in-state school mainly because out-of-state is too expensive, and because Virginia has a lot of really good schools,” said future James Madison University student Kelly Bowen.

    Other students agree that the costly tuition fee deters them from applying to out-of-state universities.

    “It’s definitely cheaper to go in-state, which is a big reason for why I chose to do so,” said future George Mason University student Lentie Ward. “Also I don’t want to be too far from home.”

    Even with all of the benefits of choosing in-state some seniors decided to attend out-of-state schools.

    “I decided on an out-of-state school to get a different atmosphere, and to try something different,” said senior James Johnson.

    Out-of-state colleges can provide students the opportunity to really go off on their own because many times there is no possibility of weekend visits home until holiday breaks. But there are also tough drawbacks from being far away from home.

    “It’s going to be hard not being able to just come home,” said Johnson. “I’m going to miss people a lot.”

    Johnson, who will be attending Texas A&M in the fall, said the weather in Texas also factored into his decision.

    “It’ll definitely be different,” said Johnson.

    Whether they are attending in-state or out-of-state schools, college bound seniors are excited about the new experiences that await them.

    “I’m looking forward to meeting new people, and learning a lot,” said Bowen.

    Others are excited about not living at home and being somewhere new.

    “I think the experience as a whole is going to be really great,” said Ward.

    The bottom line for seniors is they should pick a place where they can succeed and be happy.