I did this and have regretted it most of my life. Things are pretty great 10 years later, so I can’t complain too much, but I needed to get out of my home state to thrive.
The difference between my life there and my life when I said fuck this place and moved somewhere cool, outdoorsy, and away from all the baggage is night and day.
I've seen this in practice, but I don't think it's that you have to leave home to thrive. In my experience there are many places where the economy is just not strong enough for beginning a career, or there are too many applicants and not enough jobs.
I grew up in Southern California, and I don't know anyone that stayed there that is "thriving". All have college degrees, still living with parents, not making enough money for me to even consider them "living".
I would say it's a very wise decision to try and move to somewhere with a booming economy as soon as possible.
> I did this and have regretted it most of my life.
I think I can tell from context, but, just to be clear, is the 'this' you did "(1) Go to a public school, and (2) Stay in-state", or "choosing non-public and out of state schools"?
The difference between my life there and my life when I said fuck this place and moved somewhere cool, outdoorsy, and away from all the baggage is night and day.