What was your second-choice school?

I only applied at one school and I got in there...the state's flagship university which, at the time, had less-than-stringent academic requirements for entering freshmen. I guess my second choice would have been the University of Texas or the University of Georgia (I was a huge R.E.M. fan at the time and I figured I would bump into the band). Course, there's no way in hell my family could have afforded out-of-state tuition at either school, so I probably would have joined the Air Force for the scholarship.

 

Oh, you would have.

The running joke around Athens when I was there (and this was even truer before I got there) was that you couldn't spend four years in the Classic City without running into Stipe or Mills at least once.

I found this to be as true as they said it was.

 

Made a huge mistake on my first choice -- a female friend I had the hots for talked me into going with her. Only cost me $400/credit hour. : :

Secondary options were Wyoming, Iowa State and Northwest Missouri State.

 

I was set to go to Syracuse or Boston College -- both of which I got into -- but my dad offered to pay for my entire education if I went south and went to Big State University. I did and I'm loving not having to pay back $120K in student loans. The money I saved allowed me to take two study abroad trips (England and Costa Rica) and I've loved every minute of my college experience.

Also got into: McGill, Pitt, Western Ontario.

 

True, but you have to pretend like it's no big deal.

Before he moved to Seattle, I used to see Buck all the time at different clubs. Any time a decent band was playing, he was there.

 

It's Worcester. You SHOULD be put off by the idea of living there (hi Sweet Lou!).

Worcester does have two things going for it: More colleges per square mile than any city in America. And it's not Fitchburg!

 

It pays to be on the sailing team.

 

my second choice was texas a&m, because that's where my sister went

i was out of state everywhere (yeah, america does love its troops -- until it comes time to pay a bill)

chose the university of georgia. every damn day, i thank myself for making the finest decision i could make

and, yeah, i ran into stipe and mills all the time. although, as freshmen, we all thought it was cool the first time we ran into stipe. after living in athens nine years, well, let's say it happened quite a bit. especially when i lived across the street from the guy for a couple of years.

also as freshmen, we'd always guess which band name was actually r.e.m. doing a 'secret show.' my freshman year was '94 when monster came out, so we were convinced they'd do a 'secret' show. they didn't, at least that we found out about.

stipe and mills went to my bar all the time, too. so one day, stipe, mills and fred schneider walk into my bar -- schneider walks next to me and orders three beers and it sounds exactly like a bad comedian doing a joke about what fred schneider would sound like ordering three beers

 

I went to my second choice. My first choice, Northwestern, I didn't even bother applying to because there was no way in hell I could afford it. I had a state school or loans option from mi familia and wasn't about to be more than $100,000 in debt to major in journalism.
It worked out well. I'm now the boss of kids from more elite schools, which proved to me it's not the school you go to but what you put in.
You can go to the Cuse but if you're not putting in the work you'll still be lucky to end up at a 10,000-circ daily in some small Midwestern town. I interned at the nearest metro and strung for many local papers, which helped considerably when it came time for my job search.

 

Ohio was my first choice and I wouldn't have applied elsewhere if my mother hadn't made me. Texas was my second choice, although my father, a major Aggie booster, would have disowned me if I'd gone there.

I have no regrets about my college. Ohio fucking rocked!

 

t.u. would have made a lot more sense for me, and would have thought about it, but my sister - an ag -- would have disowned me as well.

she's already told her daughter, 5, she'll pay for her to go to college anywhere she wants except texas

my niece was cheering for the longhorns in january and it made my sister nuts

 

Georgia was my second school, though I didn't want to stay home for college. I was recruited by a few coaches about playing tennis, but I chose to drink beer and skip classes at the Harvard of the South.