Graduate School: Deciding Where to Live

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Applying for graduate schools is coming up quick.  If you have been reading my blog since the beginning, you may have noticed that my list of graduate schools keeps changing.  Over the past six months or so, a lot of things in my life have changed, so the things I want for myself has changed with it.  I am definitely in a different place in my life than I was in January.  I now have a better opportunity to branch out and live somewhere completely foreign and outside of my comfort zone.

I have lived in Missouri for the last 10 years, so I do want to leave the state.  Before moving to Missouri, I grew up in California.  Although I love California, I do not think this is the time for me to move back there.  My choices for graduate schools are limited.  Only 60-ish schools offer an ALA (American Library Association) accredited degree program.  The limitations are a blessing and a curse: It narrows down the schools by a lot, but not all of the locations are places that I want to live.

At the moment, I have a list of the top 25 schools posted on my wall.  I have also compiled a list of ideal living conditions.  For instance, I want to live somewhere that does not have snow as part of the weather.   I also want to live in a bigger city with a diverse population.  A great public transportation system would be great since I absolutely HATE driving.  I also do not plan on living in the city I attend graduate school permanently (mainly because I want to travel and not get tied down to just one place).

With the following criteria, I have narrowed down (again) the following schools: University of Hawaii, University of Arizona, and Florida State University.  All places experience absolutely no snow, which makes me very happy!

University of Hawaii:

Source: flickr.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Clearly, Hawaii is very beautiful.  I actually created a Hawaii vision board on Pinterest to imagine living there. The downsides of going to Hawaii is that it is VERY expensive to move and live there.  Also, I would be thousands of miles away from my immediate family.  I do have some extended family that lives over there, so it would be great to visit and get to know them better.  Also, I really do like the program offered at University of Hawaii.  And, the campus is absolutely beautiful and breathtaking.  This is my first choice because I think it would be an amazing experience for me to partake in and will challenge me to be more independent and brave.

University of Arizona

From the UA website

From what I can see from the internet, Tucson is very beautiful and so is the University of Arizona campus.  I think overall, this campus and city would be the wisest choice for me to make.  The city is very big.  Oh, and since its part of a desert climate, snow is not normally part of the weather pattern.  I am close to California so I can visit my family.  The tuition and cost of living is not outrageous like Hawaii.  I like this school a lot, but it does not captivate me like the idea of moving to Hawaii.

Florida State University

This school is in Tallahasse, Florida.  Its population is about 100,000 people.  The city dynamic is definitely a lot smaller than what I would like.  However, the campus of the school is absolutely breathtaking and the city looks very charming.  I am also fond of the program.

My issue is that I really like all three of these schools, and if/when I get accepted to these schools, I do not know which one I would chose to attend.  This graduate school process is absolutely daunting.  This is two years of my life!  So, we will see what happens!  As the months progress and I turn in all of my applications, I will find out where I will go!