As a sophomore in college, I never thought I would need to know how to purchase a home for a family and myself. This exercise gave me the opportunity to simulate the experience of buying a home, and therefore “buying” a school. To begin searching for a home, I first needed to find out what type of a home I could afford. I needed a home for my husband, a sixth grader, a third grader, and myself. After establishing an annual gross income of $66,000, with $5,000 saved for a down payment, and factoring in monthly debt of $500, I discovered that I could afford a home listed between $238,000-$260,000. To begin searching for a home I searched “Remax.com”, a website that lists homes that are for sale in suburban Hartford. I found three bedroom homes within my price range that were suitable for my family. The homes I found were in Bloomfield, East Hartford, West Hartford, and Wethersfield. I made sure that I could afford the monthly payments, and interest rates that came with these homes. The homes in Bloomfield, East Hartford, and West Hartford were located in areas that surround many schools, however, I wanted to find a district school because I know that my children would be guaranteed seats in a district school. In these school districts, I was unable to find a school that both of my children could attend. I had better luck in Wethersfield. I found a home located at 22 Fairview Drive with a mortgage $249,000. It will cost me $1,229 per month. After one year I will owe $10,539 in interest and after 30 years I will owe $192,668 in interest. This number is $191,443 over the principle amount, which is very high, and because of this I was not convinced that this would be my best option until I realized that the Wethersfield Public School District offers school that teaches kindergarten through sixth grade, and therefore both my children can attend it. This school, Charles Wright School, is less diverse than the schools I found in other districts. It is about one fourth black, Hispanic, or other races, and the remaining students are white (smartchoice). However, 79% of the students were at or above the test goals in 2012, which is higher than the Connecticut average (smart choice). Luckily, I do own a car so I can drive my kids to school, but in case I ever could not drive them, the school is only .3 miles away from my home. Before this exercise, I was unaware of how much interest rates can increase payments on a home. I also did not know that this much thought went into buying a home. I now better understand the pressures parents face when trying to buy a home for their families in areas where their children can get the best possible education.