if your college student is only 2-3hours away how often do they come home?

[lynn]

Just curious.

[ecj98]

I was only 2 hours from home at college, and I rarely came home except for scheduled breaks. That is until my senior year when I was engaged and my fiancee lived in my hometown. Then I came home almost every weekend.

 

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[Tap]

My son is in town, but for friends with kids that are that far away.....

 

It really varies a lot on the students work schedule since most college students work at least one weekend day.  For those kids, it is about the same as a cross country school and they try to come home on long holiday breaks and at term breaks. 

 

For others, they often come home once a month, every other weekend, and for some.. sooner.  I have a coworker who has a son (has a very part time job midweek) who comes home every weekend.  He comes home for food, laundry, family/friends and to get some quiet time from his crazy living situation at school.  He says he can study better at home, so the drive isn't a big deal for him.  He leaves for school early on Monday morning and comes home on Friday night. 

 

 

[bettyandbob]

Neighbor's ds came home every weekend. Then, he made a schedule one semester where he only had classes Tus, Wed and Thurs and started coming home Fri through Mon. I think he was lonely and maybe depressed.

 

I went home a lot my first year. I know I was lonely and depressed then. I didn't come home the next three years. I even stayed on campus during spring break one year.

[ThisIsTheDay]

She's 3 hours away, finishing up her sophomore year.  During freshman year, first semester, she came home a lot.  It was hard, because she doesn't have a car, so my husband or I would pick her up on Friday, the other would take her back on Sunday.  She only came home for spring break during second semester, and she said it made the semester go much more quickly.

 

This year, we go up to visit about once a month, and she came home for spring break.  She's not active on campus and enjoys spending quiet time in her room. It's easier on her to not be constantly coming home.  It works well, and I'm just thankful that she is close enough to have the option!

[displace]

I don't have college aged kids but I remember when I was in college. My first year, probably every 2 weekends. I lived about 3.5-4 hours away. I had a lot of friends where I grew up and used to visit them a lot (plus my family). After the first year still every 3-4 weekends or so.

[Artichoke]

Usually during the scheduled breaks and occasionally for a long weekend, depending on his schedule.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I have two around that distance.  One usually comes home at mid-semester breaks and one or two times more.  He lives on a train line which is convenient.  Plus, now he has a car at school.  My freshman only comes home at breaks due to not having a car and no convenient transportation home.  They are both living and loving life at school. 

 

We usually try to go to see them once a semester as well.  My freshman likes us to bring the dog ... major pet-homesickness. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

This might also depend on the school.  I did once live a bit less than 2 hours and came home every weekend because the campus was completely dead on the weekend.  Lots of people just went home for some reason.  It was kinda weird.

 

 

[AnnE-girl]

I was three hours from home and rarely went home other than scheduled breaks and long weekends. I didn't have a car until my senior year and I was involved in a lot on campus. We often started back a week or two before Labor Day and it was so weird to me that people would go home when they had only been away for a couple weeks. DH went home a lot to see his high school girlfriend and has said that he wishes he had spent more time on campus getting involved and not let the old ties hold him back so much.

[Pawz4me]

DS is 75 minutes away and has a car.  How much he comes home depends on what's going on at school.  He's been home every major break/holiday, and several regular weekends.  He was home over Easter and we didn't think we'd see him again until the end of the semester, but then on the spur of the moment he decided to come home again the following weekend because he had a lot of work to get done and thought it would be quieter at home.  OTOH, he's had a couple of stretches where we didn't see him for five or six weeks.

[Susan in TN]

Ds is an hour away and he only comes home on breaks - fall break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break. He doesn't have a car, so that may limit his visits, though he is pretty busy at school and loves it there anyway.

[PrincessMommy]

So far all my kids have been within 2.5hrs of our house.  Each kid was different.  All came home for the major breaks, most came home sporadically during the semester..it kind of depended a lot on what was happening.  For instance; this semester we've had the birth of a new grandchild and her baptism plus Pascha/Easter.  Both my current college kids came home for those (one has a car though). 

[Bluegoat]

Back when I was a student, I was only half an hour away, and I saw my parents probably twice a month, but not always at home, sometimes we would meet for a coffee or something.

 

I lived in residence for a few years, and most people didn't even have a phone in their room, we shared a public phone in one of the hallways, so people didn't really even talk to parents that often - many people called once a week.

 

 

[1bassoon]

Ds is 2.5 hours away - but with no car.

 

He only comes home on scheduled breaks, and we try to go once a semester. The school is very big on community, and leaving every weekend doesn't help. He's really formed some great bonds with the guys on his hall; I don't think that would have happened had he been home more frequently.

[Jenny in Florida]

My son is about 90 minutes away, assuming decent traffic (never a safe assumption, though).

 

He comes home every few weeks when he can. Sometimes, as is true now, he has rehearsals or performance commitments on weekends that make it impossible or very difficult to get home for any length of time. But he usually comes home on any weekend when he doesn't have anything better to do.

 

In his case, it's a combination of wanting to be fed something other than what he can scrounge in the cafeteria, knowing I'll do his laundry for him and wanting to avoid the alcohol-fueled party atmosphere that engulfs the campus on most weekends.

[Wilma]

I was 2.5hrs from my folks for university.  And I went home only if the break was a week or more -- so Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break and Summer.  And maybe once or twice in four years did I go for the weekend.  But I didn't have a car.  I don't think it would have changed, though.  And my folks a couple or few times a year would stop in on their way to visit friends/family.

 

My kids' current plan (the oldest is 9) is to move into the house next door and go to the university in town and do all their homework at my dining table, but sleep at their house.

[J-rap]

My daughter is about 2.5 hours away, but with no way of getting home, really.  However, my parents live in the city her college is in.  So actually, we visit the "city" about once/month, and my daughter joins us there when we do, at my parents' home.  Even when were're not there, she usually spends at least one or two weekends/month at my parents' (her grandparents') home.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Dd is 1 1/2 hours away.  She's in the second semester of her freshman year.  First semester, she heeded the recommendation of the college counselors, and stayed away from home for over two months.  I think she came home a total of two times that semester.  This (2nd) semester, she didn't come home at first, but she's been home three of the past four weekends for various events (spring break, performances, recitals, performances, graduations, etc.) of her friends and siblings.  She enjoys coming home, and she has a car so it's easy for her to do so, but she has to pay for her own gas, so she's selective about when she comes up.  

[Mnemosyne]

I was 3 hours away, and came home 2x/month for the weekend, on average. 

[Mabelen]

My daughter is an hour and a half away. She is a freshman. So far, she has been home for all breaks and a couple of weekends here and there. For example, she was home last weekend for just over 24 hours because she had a summer job interview on Sunday, so she got home on Saturday mid afternoon and left on Sunday late afternoon. She has no car but she can take a bus or find a ride. She is happy at her college and she gets along very well with her suite mates with whom she'll be sharing an apartment next year.

[mom2att]

Mine is 1.5 hours away and finishing her freshman year. She probably came home an average of once per month. I imagine it will be less often next year, because she has found her tribe and will likely need to connect less with home.

[GailV]

Dd is 3 hours away with a car.  She has come home 2X per semester for fall break/spring break/etc, and we've gone to visit her once or twice.  She is in theater, so she's busy most weekends.  One weekend she did drive home and back on a Sunday so she could go see some local kids in a musical.

 

I was 1 hour away from home without a car.  I went home one "extra" (non break) time first semester, but after that I went home about as often as someone 8 hours away.