As the school year draws to a close, more than half of the seniors have decided to attend college outside of Maryland. Seniors’ decisions on where to go can be heavily influenced by the school’s location. Some may prefer a school near their family while some may favor the city life.

Dennis Kalinin is headed to the University of Maryland next year, majoring in information systems.
“The region of the school affected my college choice pretty strongly because with UMD, I’m able to stay close to home, family and friends. I also don’t have to get accustomed to a whole new life and I know my way around,” Kalinin said. 75% of UMD’s students are in-state, which has stayed constant for the last 3 years.

Niko Natsvlishvili is going to George Mason University to swim. He is majoring in computer science and minoring in data analytics and machine learning. “[The school is] close to home as well as great placement for city life,” Natsvlishvili said. GMU is around 30 minutes away from D.C. and is in Fairfax, Virginia. Over 75% of students live on campus which provides an active life for them.

Laith Tuma, continuing his journey as a student at American University, also said that the region affected his college decision. “I wanted to stay local and be close to home,” Tuma said. Tuma is majoring in health promotion. AU is right next to the nation’s capital and is a 10-minute drive to Georgetown. The University is around the country on average for yearly full tuition.

The common theme for the Seniors is that they would like to stay close to home. Being able to see your family throughout the school year is a big part of healthy, stable college life. Going to a college in-state is also a big factor when choosing where to go due to the cost of tuition falling drastically.