Trust me when I say going to college is scary all itself, but when you add on the fact that you’re going to a university out of state, it brings the worrying to a whole new level. Three years ago, I was an overly excited senior who was so ready to leave my hometown and experience new things in the next chapter of my life. All throughout high school, I always knew I wanted to leave California, but once graduation rolled around and college wasn’t just some fantasy but an actual thing I was about to do in a few months, the anxiety of having to leave my family quickly set in. I spent hours online looking up college necessities on YouTube or finding blogs where girls talked about the things they wished they had or knew about before going away. To save you some time and energy, here’s a list of all my must-haves and tips for going to college out of state.
Another big tip is to get on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (honestly whatever you can find) and follow or join your graduating class’ page. It’s a great way to make friends before you get to campus and to get a feel for the types of people that you will be seeing around. Just keep in mind that everyone is trying to make friends, plus there isn’t a single person out there that is going to be a freshman in college and is going to reject an offer for a friend. I loved going on these pages and making friends because it gave me that little bit of comfort knowing that once I got to college, I’d already have people there that I could lean on and hang out with.
The next big necessity for going to college out of state would be to start looking early into student discounts or plans offered by airline companies. I cannot explain how much of a lifesaver flyer points are when I have to book flights constantly to go home for holidays and family events. A few of my friends even convinced their parents to let them get credit cards specific to certain airlines so that the more you use their card, the more flyer points you earned. It has saved them so much money in the long run.
