Where else would you have gone? - Page 4

cuaphi · #46 11-20-2002, 06:59 PM

I didn't really have a choice. My dad informed me that my college education was as good as paid for as long as I went to a state school... in that state. We lived in Fort Collins which made CSU way too close by so I was off to Boulder. The bad part was that I assumed my GPA and ACT score made me a lock to get in so I think I actually jotted my application essay on a piece of notebook paper and shoved it in the envelope. I found out later that some of my classmates who had similar grades and activities to mine had been wait listed and were lucky to get in so that might not have been such a brilliant move on my part...

violets · #47 11-20-2002, 07:05 PM

If I could do it again I would love to try and go to a big state school like University of Michigan or Texas A&M or UT or UGA ....
Somewhere with tons of school spirit and a decent football team.
Oh well, in my next life...

skjackee · #48 11-20-2002, 10:44 PM

If I had gotten into UCLA, I would have gone there if I didn't go to UCSD. But out of the schools I did get in to, I probably would have gone to UCSB or SDSU.

tinydancer · #49 11-21-2002, 01:19 AM

I spent my freshman year at UT-Arlington, but it was too much like still being in high school since so many people I knew from high school went there. I think I was a little young to go too far away that first year. I never wanted to go to any other school but Texas - all my family went there and I just never gave anywhere else much thought. I didn't want to live at home and go to TCU. I think I might have gone to Baylor if I hadn't gone to Texas. It would have been far enough from home that I would have felt like I was "away."

Then I graduated and got to see plenty of beautiful downtown Denton. I got a Master's from Texas Woman's University and a Ph.D from University of North Texas.

Fewdfreak · #50 11-21-2002, 04:06 AM

Since I was little, I have always wanted to be a doctor, and I really wanted to go to Northwestern, and I wish I would have applied, because studing a lot doesn't bother me. However, Sophomore year of high school, I got super burnt out on school, and decided, I don't want to be a doctor, I want to be a health teacher b/c I can go to school for four years, and teach at my high school, and date one of the hot teachers... What the heck was I thinking??

Seriously, I would not make a good teacher, and my parents knew this, and tried to tell me it, and I did finally realize this! Plus, my heart was in becoming a doctor, not in teaching, but I just was taking an easy way out.

So, when college decsion time came, I wanted to still be health teacher, and go to University of Northern Iowa, because it had a health education program. That was the only college I wanted to go to at that time, and the only one I intened on applying to. Well, I realized I had to apply to a bunch, and I did. UNI doesn't have pre-med, and so I considered University of Illinois-Chicago because they have a program called GPPA or something, where you can get into a professional program easier if you go there. I also looked at New York University and Northern Illinois. I wasn't going even to apply to Iowa, but when all the mail from colleges started to pour in, Iowa had the biggest packet, and the fastest returns on applications and such. They didn't have health ed. but I just applied to appy. Well, then I narrowed it down to UNI and Iowa, and one day just out of the blue chose Iowa. In choosing it, I knew I was choosing it for the wrong reasons; it was big, had a larger Greek system, and was a Big 10 school. However hasty my descision was though, it was the perfect choice. I finally realized that I didn't want to be a teacher, and I wanted to go with my heart and become a doctor, not caring how long it took me, or how hard I had to work, so I switched my major in April, before I even was out of high school! Now that I am here, I have never even considered another major, because I am certain in what I want to do, even if I am in school for 12 years or something. I realize, despite choosing Iowa for the wrong reasons, I am here for the right reasons, I now realize. I am so happy at Iowa, and know that I'm getting a good education and I am pretty sure I wouldn't have liked anywhere as much as I like it here.

angelic1 · #51 11-21-2002, 04:09 PM

If I could do it again.. I wouldnt change a thing, though Virginia Tech was not my first choice at first. I knew that I would only be going to a state school, so i applied to JMU, Mary Washington, William and Mary, and VT. My main choices were either JMU or VT though. It was funny though bc at that time I had been to visit all of the schools except VT mutiple times (I went to JMU like 5 times and couldnt choose still) my junior-senior. My only recollections of VT were as a young kid coming to visit my uncle a bunch of times when he was here.. though I still kept that as a choice. Finally a month before my decision had to be made, I came to visit VT. I feel in love right away.. and it was an easy decision after that.

Now looking back.. I am so glad I came here

Now the big choice is which state to move to after I graduate...

adduncan · #52 11-21-2002, 04:44 PM

My choices came down to Boston U (where I did go) and Rutgers.

I do wonder how different it would have been and if I would have ended up pledging as an undergrad, because Rutgers' campus is very traditional, and BU's is completely urban.

Adrienne

Munchkin03 · #53 11-23-2002, 11:55 AM

I applied to four schools...
1. My first choice, where I am now.
2. The College of William and Mary.
3. Emory.
4. The University of Florida.

I applied to Florida because I am from FL and would have gotten a full merit scholarship IN ADDITION to the Florida prepaid deal. In my mind, of course, Florida was at the BOTTOM of the list. I had no desire to go to college with half of my HS class (keep in mind, my class was 40 people). I only applied "in case" I didn't get into my other three choices. I applied to my first choice early action, so as early as December, I was a lot more laidback about my decision.

Anyway, the long and the short of it was that I got into all four, and I chose my first choice. I guess I'm really lucky that everything worked out for me, and that I wasn't afraid about going all the way to my college alone (ie, without anyone from my town or region of the state!). I'm also really lucky that I love my school so much. I know that I would have had a less enjoyable experience at the other schools because my school is so different politically and academically from the other ones. I can't imagine myself in the South for anything! I KNOW I wouldn't have gone Greek. I know that there's no way I could have had fully funded research for my thesis and met with my advisor once a week during my freshman year at Florida, WM, or Emory (maybe W&M, but the other ones are sooo big).

Now I'm applying to graduate schools in architecture. This time, I was smart about it and didn't apply to a single school that I didn't want to attend.

maggieaxid · #54 11-23-2002, 12:20 PM

Elon was my number one choice-- and i applied early decision and knew i was going there by november of my senior year in h.s.. my parents really wanted me to stay in state (PA) or around PA- like in NJ, DE, or MD. i went to look at a few college's in pa- king's college in wilkes-barre, penn state main (i was so scared of it i wouldn't get out of the car!) and lehigh. they only one i remotely liked was lehigh but it cost more than the out of state schools i applied to!
so i ended up applying to:
Elon
Univ. of Delaware
UNC- Wilmington
Towson
Lehigh

but Elon was def. the place for me!

UofIL AXO · #55 11-24-2002, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by IowaHawkeye

- Illinois - i hate that campus, its so ugly and unfriendly, i know i never would have been happy there

While the city of Champaign-Urbana are not the most scenic, the *campus* has gorgeous 100 year old buildings, a great quad, an amazing engineering quad, picturesque student union, etc. And I am proof that we're friendly!

GiantsChic · #56 11-25-2002, 01:44 AM

If I hadn't come here to SDSU, I would have probably ended up at Univ. of Hawaii (offered me a pretty good scholarship) or UCI... but I'm glad I chose SDSU- looking back, I don't think I would have been as happy at any of the other schools I got into

aprilxo · #57 11-25-2002, 02:15 AM

In HS, I applied to Truman State University (that's in Kirksville, MO) and no where else. I went there for two years and didn't really make much of myself... it was a pretty boring existence. Second semester of my freshman year I met my now-fiance', who attended UMR and then I ended up transferring here after the end of my sophomore year even though it's known for Engineering and certainly not English. However, they do have a good department and in some ways it's harder because of the increased personal responsibility--I went from being one of hundreds to one of a little over 50 English majors! Some people think the English dept here is a joke--but I think the biggest factor on my grades was my personal happiness. I've kept a 4.0 every semester since I got here, something I never imagined myself actually accomplishing.

That said, I really can't imagine myself anywhere else. UMR is where I joined Chi O, and it's been the BEST time I've ever had.

~april

bcdphie · #58 11-25-2002, 03:14 AM

Simon Fraser
UVic
Western
Bishops
UT

Sister Havana · #59 08-11-2004, 03:10 PM

Growing up, I always thought I'd go to University of Illinois. Everyone else in my family went there (going back a couple generations) and I had family near there. As the time to apply got closer, I had a college counselor who encouraged me to look into a bunch of different schools, which I did.

I applied to 8 schools and got into 7: Indiana (obviously), Illinois, Wisconsin-Madison, Tulane, Oberlin, Washington University (St. Louis), and American University. The only one I did not get into was University of Pennsylvania...that was the "reach" school and I heard from them last anyway, so I wasn't too upset. I LOVED Tulane when I visited, but I didn't get money from them. At the end it was between Indiana and American, and though I love IU, I always wonder what would have happened if I had gone to American.

seraphimsprite · #60 08-11-2004, 03:49 PM

I really wanted to go to a small private liberal arts college so I applied to Swarthmore, Amherst, Pomona, and Scripps. At the last minute I decided to apply to the University of Oregon . I got in everywhere and Pomona was my first choice, but then I got a full tuition scholarship to the Oregon honors program. I ultimately decided that free school was better than $20K a year tuition (after financial aid. Don't even get me started on how middle class families get screwed.)

I'm actually very happy with my decision. I still have to defend my choice to some people, but I don't have any student loans to deal with, and I got a great job in DC within a month of graduating from college even though I went to a <gasp> state school. Plus, I had a LOT of fun in college. This probably sounds weird, but I appreciate the fact that most of my classes were pretty easy so I had lots of time for internships, work and partying.