Ive been planning for the last few months to head out to Mankato State University, which is just about 1.5 hours away. Now ive been living with my Mom for a long time and my Dad is in california, though they are divorced. Now its really getting down to the wire with registration for classes now, but Ive been having a lot of thoughts lately about if I should go.. I would just feel bad leaving my Mom to herself (who is single) with my dog.

I really wanted to go to MSU for Automotive Engineering Technology, Ive been reading a ton about this and its exactly what I wanna do. I do have a local school that is an option, which is Dakota County Technical college or I could just go to a community college to get the generals done.

If I did go to MSU I know I could just come back whenever I wanted, but that could just ruin the experience of MSU if all im doing is worrying about how my mom/dog is doing.

I know im part of the younger generation on this board, so let me here some advice guys. How should I go about this?

I am sure your mom with have no problem with you leaving her to get an education. I think theres no problem with that. As long as you come back with an education and not 20 pound beer belly lol

If you feel you can handle the general classes at MSU then go ahead, jump in. If you are unsure or want to stay close to home go to community college first you won't regret it.

Not sure if this applys (or if ya care) but I was in a similar scenario when I lived in Minnesota. I went community college route away from home because I had to raise gpa from high school. Once I did Iowa State wasn't so bad. So no matter what route you take you will end up getting somewhere if you do good. I'm sure whichever you choose will suite you well. It all boils down to what you want to do.

Best of luck to ya!

I highly suggest that you do the community college thing first. Get your general studies done for cheap and make sure you will stick with it. I understand you might know exactly what you want to do the rest of your life, but I have seen it happen a lot including myself... you start taking the classes and then your mind will change a couple times. I'm happy I went the CC route instead of "wasting" money at a big-time college. I only did 2 semesters at CC. I liked the school, but I was at a point in my life where I didn't know what exactly I wanted to do and also needed a personal change for myself. I'm doing alright in the position i'm at now, but I would like to go back if my company were to offer a "back-to-school" program like 90% of the other factories in my area. I would also highly recommend a technical/trade school too, since they will specialize you into the exact job/work you will want to pursue.

But good luck to you on your future decisions!

Check and see if general studies transfer. Not all colleges accept credit hours the same. So, double check that before going on place then switching midstream. It could cause you a lot of hassle and backtracking (and money).

Inver Hills Community College transfers to all major universities (and near Eagan) and was a good comm college for me. I would recommend it to ya jorgs, that is if they had what you wanted (probably not).

I knew I was forgetting something. Like Rook said, make sure your credits will transfer.