Only applying in state- good or bad idea?

[hnotis]

I am currently finishing up my undergrad at University of Northern Colorado.

After a lot of thought and careful consideration, I decided that it wouldn't make sense financially or personally for me to go out of state for my MA.  

Therefore I have decided to only apply to Colorado schools.

There are 6 schools in Colorado that I think would fit wonderfully with what I want to study.

At the same time, I haven't heard of anyone applying to schools in just one state.

 

Thoughts?

[nugget]

Perhaps many students don't apply to schools only in one state because they aren't lucky enough to find so many good programs with a good fit all in the same state. If you could see yourself attending any of those 6 schools, then go for it. Why should other people's application patterns impact yours? Six programs is a decent number and there's no need to apply to more if you don't want to study out of state.   

[TakeruK]

Your reasons for applying to Colorado schools seem sound to me and I don't think it's a bad idea at all. 

[fuzzylogician]

There are certainly lots of people who only apply to schools within a certain geographic region for all kinds of reasons, like family ties or a job. If there are 6 schools that you'd love to attend in your state, I'd say there is no reason not to apply to them all and see how it works out. There's nothing wrong with that.

[ginagirl]

If there are other universities you think you might be interested in but they are out of state, you should look on their websites or ask if they have reciprocity agreements with Colorado, meaning as a Colorado resident you might still be able to get highly reduced out-of-state tuition or even in-state tuition in that state. I am an AZ resident currently and I was offered in-state tuition at CU-Denver as part of this agreement. I don't know much about it other than this, but I think it probably is most common in neighboring states.

 

Of course this only lessens the financial burden and might not help the personal aspect you mention, but it could be something else to consider.

[starofdawn]

You sound just like me! I applied to 6 schools, all of them in California. There were many reasons why I wanted to stay in California (could not afford out-of-state tuition; green tech industry is booming; wanting to settle down in California to be close to family; boyfriend didn't want to leave). Thankfully California had many programs that fit my needs.

[RunnerGrad]

I only applied to universities in Ontario, and only to universities within commuting distance of my current residence.  My husband and I aren't about to sell our home and move at this point in time, so we made a decision that I would only apply to the two closest universities to our home that offered the program I am interested in.

 

I'm amazed at the number of programs people apply to in the U.S. - I can't imagine applying to 10+ programs.

[Flandre Scarlet]

I only applied to two schools, both of which is in NYC.  I didn't think of it at the time, but if I had applied to more, I would still only pick schools in the city.  The city had what I wanted and I couldn't afford to pay living out of state.  On top of that I have to live with my family, so applying in-city was pretty much my only option.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Flandre Scarlet

[hnotis]

Thanks for all the insight!  One person told me that I should be casting a wide net to increase my chance of getting funding, but I think that's a hit or miss with MA programs in general.  And I just can't imagine applying to programs all over the place, spending thousands of dollars in application fees, and not being able to make the financial commitment of moving to a new state for what will probably only be 2 years.  I mean, when I'm applying for PhD programs here in a couple years, that will be a different story, but for a 2 year MA program where I may or may not get funding...I think I wanna save what I can by staying here.

[maelia8]

your reasons are completely legitimate. When I applied to schools I also only applied regionally (in my case, West Coast), because I honestly didn't want to move somewhere where I'd have to fly there when I move and every subsequent time that I want to see my family. There's no reason that you have to apply to places far away just to feel that you're casting a wider net if you aren't interested in going that far away in the first place.