I wish I could have started buying in 2012 but unfortunately I was a broke college kid and did not know about real estate investing.Personally I still think Columbus is going to continue to explode - "Columbus’ population grew 1.1% in the second half of last year, which is faster than any other city in the U.S." 

@Seth Baumgartner this thread on student rentals may be helpful:Nearing 1,000 College Students: Here's What I've Learned

College house hack can be a real learning experience and maybe profitable for mom and dad. 

I am fourth generation for a family owned management/development/consulting company based in Southern California but I am in Idaho for college around 9 months out of the year.

That being said there are still close to 1% deals on the DFW MLS (I just sent 5 to an investor to check out) and smaller markets that are cheaper on the front end but have a good rental base because of a college or military base are good places to look.

Boston and the immediate surrounds are still the employment capital of the region and people are enduring longer and longer commutes for the opportunity to work in the colleges, hospitals, pharma companies and financial district of Boston / Cambridge.I wonder if there's a practical limit. 

like - your own market. or a market a couple hours away that you can spend some time in person in. or where you went to college. or where you like to vacation.

(i did the opposite as you, went to college in Nashville and relocated to Austin after!)

I have a 4 bed/4 bath unit in a college town that is in a complex that is popular with international students.  

Renovated it completely and turned it from a college rental into an Airbnb.