With the rise of network society, consumerism, individualization, globalization and contemporary change forces, students are pressured to both perform well in standardized academic assessments while at the same time constructing a non-standard, unique project of the self. I argue that this generates a particular set of place-based tensions for rural students. The paper analyses data from a three-year study of youth educational decision-making to explore the tensions between place-based habitus and the mobility imperative in formal schooling. (Contains 3 notes.)