If you’re looking at going to college after you graduate high school, you know that college application season is overwhelming. Applications for schools and scholarships can seem never ending and convoluted, and it’s difficult to decide where to apply in the first place.
A lot of Shaler students decide that they want to apply to schools in Pittsburgh, or close by: Pitt, Duquesne, Penn State, and La Roche come to mind. These are all fantastic schools, and staying close to home has so many benefits. I didn’t write this to say that no one should go to college in western Pennsylvania. There are incredible colleges in the area that Shaler grads have thrived at.
But I’ve had an amazing experience moving out of state for college, even though the increased distance comes with challenges. If moving away for college sounds like something you’d like to do, then don’t be afraid to explore schools beyond where you’re familiar with.
Of course, going to college anywhere will expand your horizons and allow you to meet new people from all over. One of the most rewarding parts of college, regardless of where you go, is meeting people from different places and with different perspectives. This helps you become more aware of your own beliefs and grow and refine them. Going farther away for school can augment this, as I’ve learned as a student at Princeton University in New Jersey.
I’ve met so many people from the east coast, but as far as I know, I’m one of four kids from western PA in my grade. Everyone I meet at school has grown up in a different place and a different way from me. Getting to know them has expanded my world view so much.
Just being in a new place can open your eyes to new things, too. Living in New Jersey has made it so much easier for me to go to New York or the Jersey shore or Philadelphia, places I’d barely been to before college. The rest of the world is different from western PA, and living in a new place for school gives you a taste of that.

Moving away for college also has challenges. It can be isolating, and it can be more expensive than staying close to home. However, college can be isolating at times whether you’re living on campus 20 minutes or 20 hours away from home. Even though my family can’t quickly drive over to me, and I can’t go home on weekends, I have found an amazing support system at college and don’t regret moving away.
Moving away for school can be more expensive for several reasons. Going six hours away instead of 20 minutes away makes a big difference in travel time and price. To travel home from school, I take the Amtrak Pennsylvanian train across Pennsylvania, an 8-hour train ride that costs around $60 one-way.
It can also be expensive to apply to many different schools as application fees add up. Checking for fee waivers or discounts on college websites can help you. Tuition and fees for out-of-state schools will also likely be much more expensive. Many public schools have honors programs or scholarships available that can allow out-of-state students to pay in-state tuition, which can make these schools more financially viable. Also, private schools with the biggest price tags often have the biggest endowments, and the most generous financial aid.
If you are looking at applying to a private school but balk at the sticker price, check the school’s financial aid calculator. You can often get larger merit-based scholarships at private schools, and some schools offer need-based financial aid that can sharply decrease the sticker price.
I would’ve had to take out loans to go to Pitt, but I’m paying a fraction of Pitt’s cost to go to Princeton and will graduate debt-free. The average Shaler student is in an economic position to benefit enormously from the extremely generous need-based financial aid programs from some private schools. In sum, although it can be overwhelming, don’t be afraid to do research into schools you’re interested in, to see if they might be more affordable than you initially think.
Even if you have no idea where you want to go to college, I’d highly recommend two websites to use as you explore your options. College Board has a college search tool called Big Future that you don’t need an account to use, and it is a fantastic way to look at schools you might be interested in.
You can filter by location, cost, and a ton of other criteria, and it may be a helpful starting place for seeing what schools are out there. And, especially if you’re interested in applying to a more competitive program or a reach school, I think that doing the Khan Academy SAT test prep as much as you can and taking the SAT is an amazing idea.
It can feel worthless to study for and take the SAT now that so many places are test-optional, but colleges still value these scores in their admissions deliberations, so I think it’s a great idea to try and get the best score you can and send it in.
Khan Academy’s completely free site lets you take a full-length practice test and makes you a personalized study plan that guides you through the things you still need to learn. It’s all updated to cover the new digital SAT, and in my experience, it’s ridiculously helpful. If you’re able to take the SAT, you should absolutely give it a try and see if it helps.
I was so overwhelmed when I was applying to colleges, and I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I’m so glad I took a chance and decided to apply to schools outside of western PA. I hope that all of you who are thinking about college, especially the current juniors who are starting their college searches, are able to explore all of your options and enjoy thinking through different possibilities.
If you think that a possibility for you could be a school farther away, look into it! Going to school in a new place can be more expensive and daunting, but it can also be shockingly cheaper and open your eyes to new people and places in an amazing way. Shaler prepares us all incredibly for college, and we should all feel empowered to go out and explore the world.