I love going to college out of state. I have much more independence and as much as I love my family it is nice to know that they can't just come up to school and surprise me. There are many differences between going to school in-state and out-of-state, but there are just certain things that you can expect if you have decided to go to school out-of-state.

1. Ninety percent of your friends will be "local"

The majority of my friends are from New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania. I love it, but I also feel a little like an outsider when they start talking about all the great local spots, like "O'Bagel", as soon as someone mentions "O'Bagel" there is an air of wonder in their eyes as they think about bagels, I am always lost.

Not to mention all the "small world'' moments they have.

"NO WAY! You know Sebastian?"

"Yeah! He's my brother's ex-girlfriend's, best friend's, cousin!"

I have met a solid three people from my home state and surprisingly, I didn't know them.

3. Your friends will (lovingly) mock you based on your home state

My friends seem to love how I say, Colorado. I say it correctly but that is beside the point. They say ColoRODo, and I say ColoRADo, but they love to impersonate me with a classic "valley-girl" voice and say "I'm from ColoRADo."

Or they use the same voice to impersonate me talking about how Colorado is actually warmer the New York because the wind is atrocious in New York. They don't believe me and thus the mocking continues, but I can't lie, it is pretty funny.

4. You have somewhere to stay after school finishes

If you don't want to go home just yet after school, you can crash and your friends' houses for a bit because they all live so close! Granted, I would not recommend just showing up at their door with a suitcase, but that's up to you.

You can also leave some of your stuff from school at their house...though again, I would not just show up with boxes for them to store, but you get my point.

5. When you go home you will have major FOMO

Even if your friends aren't hanging out without you, just the fact that they have to option to hang out without you gives you FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).

I know my friends are not the best at planning and don't love to drive, so even if they wanted to hang out, they never would, but I would never even have the option living on the other side of the country!