Ugh. I've been there. It sucks. You want my honest answer? Break up now and get it over with, because it's only a matter of time. Unless your schools are next door to each other, the odds are against your relationship surviving.
High school is over. You're about to enter not only a new chapter of your lives, but the most socially intense chapter of your entire lives. You both are diving head-first into life's biggest dating pool, where you will be surrounded 24/7 by other guys and girls, some of whom will want to go out with you. Do you really want to forgo that so you can stay attached to someone hundreds of miles away who you never see? Do you really want to be that person (there's at least one on every dorm floor) who tells her friends, "Go ahead to the party without me, I promised ______ I would call him tonight," and then sit alone in your room on the phone with your long-distance boyfriend with nothing to talk about except how much you miss each other and nothing in common but the past?
Yes, there are always exceptions, and who knows, maybe you two are it. If you can't bear to break it off, at least give each other the freedom to date around. You owe it to yourselves to meet and experience people from places beyond your hometown, people with whom you interact every day and share new things in common. If you start your college career with one foot stuck in the past, I think you will be miserable.
Good luck, and thanks for the question. And thanks for asking me directly instead of sending the same question to all six guys. We don't particularly love that.
Honestly, it really depends on how long you've been together and the maturity of your relationship. When I was a senior (17yrs old) my boyfriend was 20, and I decided to go to school 4 hours away from home. We had been dating for about 6 months at that point. We initially decided to do the long-distance thing, but out of nowhere he wanted to apply to my college and go there too. Well, this was our first year (now 19 and soon to be 22)...we went to the same school...away from friends and family and everything familiar. It tore us apart. Completely. We recently broke up after 1.5yrs. He resented me for the longest time for him coming here, despite my "DO NOT do this for ME. Do this for YOU. I'm not making you do anything. You make your own choices and if you want to stay I won't be upset." He recently ended up finding a good job back home that just began so he up and left, abandoning the semester. In the end, he was glad he had the experience but wouldn't do it a second time if given the choice. So it can even be bad if you go to the same school (more so if it's a completely different city).
Be careful with your heart and your choices. Really think about the long run. Anything can happen in any given situation, just be sure to consider everything.
Sorry this was a novel! Hope it helps.
I'm a freshman in college right now, who, last fall, was in your same situation. At the time, I thought the relationship was worth keeping and figured it wouldn't hurt to let it continue on in college. Looking back on it now though, we probably should have parted ways because I missed out a lot on the chance to meet new people since I was constantly sitting in my room IM-ing my boyfriend (and you really don't want to miss out on making new friends in the first few months because after that, it gets tough). I eventually moved on and had a pretty emotionless breakup with the poor guy. If we had broken up before leaving, I probably would have had to deal with some heartache, but I feel like I would've had a more fulfilling first semester.
Ultimately, it is your own decision. One of my other friends is still with her high school boyfriend after a year at college now and just like Meepa said, the longer you've been together, the higher the chance it'll work out. Whatever you choose, good luck!!
My personal experience - I had been on and off with my high school boyfriend for 2 years before we went to separate colleges. We decided to break up and give each other the chance to see new people. However, a month into first semester, we both agreed that we missed being with each other too much. We've been dating ever since, and we're about to finish our 3rd year. Even though we only see each other once or twice a month, to me, those days together are worth the weeks we are apart. It all depends on whether you really, REALLY want to stay with that person or not. If you do, you can make it work even if everyone else tells you that you can't. Best of luck
My parents were high school sweethearts who went to separate colleges. But they were only about an hour away so I think that helped.
I think you should asses how committed you are because it's a lot of work.
My boyfriend and I had only been dating for about 2 months before we left for separate schools. We're almost at 1 year now and our relationship is better than ever(*knock on wood*). True, we're only about 1.5 hours apart and we see each other usually twice a month or so, but still. Separate schools is not automatically a death penalty, even for new relationships.
I guess part of our success is not letting missing each other effect our social lives. Sure, we wouldn't cancel on actually getting together for casual any-time plans, but we aren't afraid to say "Hey, I can't call you tonight because I'm going out with friends" or things like that.
As for the letting them have a chance to date the people around them thing, I just feel like it's the same as people who live in the same place as their S.O. deciding to date other people. If they decide they want to date someone else they know, then your relationship was just meant to end, and so be it. Being apart shouldn't really have very much to do with it.
Long distance isn't for everyone, and yeah, they have higher chances of failing than normal relationships would. But I wouldn't say call it off immediately. Try it for awhile, and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Just don't assume that the relationship is doomed without even trying.
My sister has had a very successful long distance relationship. After 2 years they are still going strong. Despite that it is still tough on them. If you decide to try to make it work technology has definitely made it easier. I know they spend quite a bit of time talking via Skype or just on the phone. Either way, make sure to be realistic and to make sure each of you have a time set apart to talk.:-)