Growing up, we spend a lot of time with our siblings. We typically attend the same school and have the same daily routine as them. We eat breakfast together, pack our lunches together, ride the bus together, see each other during school-wide assemblies, and even have playdates with mutual friends. We spend a lot of time with our brothers and sisters throughout our childhoods in addition to time at school. We eat meals together, watch movies together, make up games together (play house, doctor, chef, dress up…am I right?), do homework together, brush our teeth together, and go on vacations together. Of course there is fighting and bickering, but when it comes down to it, there is more time spent laughing and smiling than punching and crying.
Siblings have a deep knowledge of how you grew into yourself. They knew you (and loved you) through your awkward stage, your braces, your stress about schoolwork and relationship drama. They know and shared weird family traditions, hidden family gossip, chaotic family holidays, birthdays, graduations, divorce, deaths, and more. No matter what your relationship is with your sibling, they are a part of your life that cannot be replaced by anyone else.
Perhaps this relationship is most taken advantage of and forgotten as we grow up. As we get older, the arguing gets less, the bickering simmers out, and we begin to mature. We develop our own sense of identity and spend a lot of time with friends. We sleep out, drive ourselves to highschool, bring friends on family vacations, and eat dinner with our boyfriends or girlfriends instead of with our family. We become kind of detatched from our parents and siblings as we become more independent.
When we go to college, this relationship alters greatly. Our sibling may still be at home while we go off into the world of dorms, coffee, and cramming. While our parents make every effort to constantly check in, siblings tend to get lost in the mix. Although different people have different experiences, we all have experienced some type of shift in relationship while at college. However, if you end up going to college with your sibling, you might have a totally different opportunity to build an awesome relationship.
There are many benefits to attending college with a sibling. First, your parents are already familiar with everything they need to know about the school from the first child. Bill payments, which airport to fly into, how class registration works, what the best dorm is, and so much more, are already known. The younger sibiling has a huge advantage here because they have unlimited access to the inside scoop. The second thing that appeals to parents is you can visit both children at the same time! Especially if the school is a plane ride away, you hit two birds with one stone by paying for one trip to see both kids. This also can turn into a mini weekend family vacation, since everyone will be all together. A third helpful benefit is that you have a travel buddy. Whether this is a five hour drive home from a nearby school, or a six hour flight home from California, it is always comforting to know you don’t ever have to worry about traveling alone. The last thing is that parents love is asking their children about each other. “Is your brother alive? I haven’t talked to him all week!” “Is your sister okay? She was upset about her study abroad application!” Trust me, they fully take advantage of this perk.
Regarding friends and opportunities, you can expand the amount of people in your life. Your siblings friends, involvements, clubs, internships, professors, and jobs can also become resources to you. You have opportunities to connect with different people and know about different programs that they are involved in, that you otherwise may have completely missed out on! You also have a constant source of support for different projects, presentations, and productions. When it is your time to present your senior thesis, your research projects, or your first documentary, you know that someone who really cares about you will be there to see your hard work.
Even more than the standard logical benefits, there are some more important perks. If you are far from your family, you have a piece of home with you. This is so important and helpful at times of stress or difficulties. It is also important for happy times. You can rely on your sibling to vent to, go out to dinner with, see a movie on a random weeknight to procrastinate, go to the supermarket with, help find the perfect internship, compare professors, share successes, and meet new people. Siblings are better than friends sometimes, because you know no matter what the situation, what time of day or night, they will have your back and be happy to spend time with you.
I think going to college with your sibling can also have lasting effects on the stability of your relationship. You have a whole assortment of new experiences together that will create a bond never before possible. You rely on eachother, even if you are too busy to talk for a week or two at a time. You are making memories together that many other siblings miss out on. You have the unique opportunity to be independent and grow as an individual, while not drifting too far from your roots.