Piggybacking off Inky's thread: What colleges did YOU visit?

[Driftwood]

Visited: OU, Tulsa, SMU, Rhodes

Attended: Arkansas (unofficial visit) and Central Arkansas (site unseen)

I majored in Dickson Street at Arkansas. I had to go to a school in a dry county to finish undergrad and work on a Masters.

Worked out for the best. I quit working on an accounting degree and decided to study American Literature with a minor in Journalism. That led to newspapering. And then I met my wife about five years later on her second day in the newsroom.

I also met my wife because I thought it would be a good idea to get a journalism degree and go into newspapers. We first met when I was interviewing her at a press conference. Two years later, we went out. Been married 21 years as of yesterday.

 

[maumann2]

Such a fascinating question in hindsight. I am perfectly happy with my University of Florida degree and my career, but I truly wish my high school guidance counselor and my parents had been more proactive in helping me make that decision 50 years ago.

I went to high school in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I had a ton of options. I had grades and an SAT score good enough to get into any UC school, but Mom and Dad were completely flummoxed by the UC system. In fact, still today, Mom will rant about "13 UC and 19 Cal State schools and all I had to choose from in 1953 were Michigan or Michigan State." They're great parents but terrible at doing research for major decisions, as I've found out over the years.

Short answer: If I could go back in time to 1976 with what I now know, I'd have immediately applied at UCLA, followed by San Francisco State. Instead, I wound up in Fresno State, which puts out good broadcasters IF you want to work in Merced, Modesto, Bakersfield or Visalia. Uh, no thanks.

The high school counselor was completely useless. He just kept saying, "you don't want to go into broadcasting." Yeah, that's your opinion -- and probably good advice -- but he never gave me options in my field when I persisted. Actually, his push was to go to two-year Diablo Valley College (free tuition at that time!) and then worry about choosing a school after that. Talk about kicking the can down the street.

Our high school did have a day visit to San Jose State and Santa Clara, which were nice but I was looking to get farther from home and they weren't really stepping stones into my field. UC Santa Barbara has always fascinated me just because of the location and size of the university. At 67, I'd go back there in a heartbeat if I somehow win the lottery.

When the family moved back to Florida, that was a huge break. Fresno had a "practice station" that didn't have a transmitter. UF had two radio stations, a PBS affiliate and competed in major sports, so I got chances to build a resume that I would have missed in Fresno. Unfortunately, I didn't understand the idea of "networking" enough to parlay that into gigs in places like Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa or West Palm Beach. Once I established myself, then I could go to a major market.

Back then, UF's idea of job placement was a binder with available jobs in it, none of which were doing sports play-by-play.

Instead, I went back to the Bay Area right after six months of doing agate at the Sun-Sentinel. Unfortuntely, a degree from UF meant literally nothing to anyone in California compared to the people who graduated from UCLA or San Francisco State. Again, some helpful advice from a college counselor might have been handy but I was headstrong and stupidly thought I was talented. I spent the better part of two years getting doors slammed in my face before a chance meeting led to an on-air job.

I eventually broke into the business but I wasted too much time and got paid way too little for my trouble. Although I have some tremendous crazy stories!

 

[maumann2]

I also met my wife because I thought it would be a good idea to get a journalism degree and go into newspapers. We first met when I was interviewing her at a press conference. Two years later, we went out. Been married 21 years as of yesterday.

Happy anniversary! Sorry I missed sending you a card.

 

[Spartan Squad]

I didn’t visit anywhere when I was deciding. It was odd because my dad was all about the college application process. There might have been some mitigating factors, but he was very invested in making sure I had what I needed to apply. (If I ever do an outing with people, ask me about taking my SATs at a place that was definitely not my high school).

Ultimately, I got into three or four California state schools plus ASU and CU Boulder. The greatest thing my dad did for me was let me make the choice. He really wanted CU because it carried more prestige than the state schools. But I couldn’t bring myself to go so far from home. Ended up at SJSU and the first time I stepped on campus was to take a placement test.

I took my baby sister on a tour of Cal Poly when she was deciding. I hope to take my son on some tours when he’s ready (in 12ish years).

 

[The Observer]

Only visit I made was to Indiana. Bob Knight was winning championships and it was a no-brainer. Never dreamed Curt Cignetti would show up!!!

 

[Batman]

LSU and the Edison, New Jersey campus of the DeVry Institute.
In hindsight, I did not understand the process all that well.

 

[Gym Beam]

My folks really didn't care where I chose to go to college. I think they were still smarting from my brother flunking out of a prestigious Texas private institution that cost a bit of money. My guidance counselor at our snooty private school looked at my test scores and said I should definitely apply to Harvard. At which point I asked him if he had actually looked at my transcript. I hated school and the best part of each day was woodworking class and PE. No way was I going to a school that was demanding. I loved the decade I spent at the school I chose, as a student, a grad student, and an employee. I would probably have been a lifer there if not for a boss one year who was a complete ****. When I told him to pound sand after our "performance review" I knew it was time to look elsewhere and ultimately ended up freezing my ass off for four years in the Land of Leinie.

 

[wicked]

While I was in high school, Michigan, Michigan State and Syracuse (I thought I was going to be a sportscaster). I took the bus to Syracuse and then to visit family in Michigan, which is the only reason I visited those schools. I had no shot in hell of getting into any of them, even Sparty, because I never applied myself in high school and I was too busy writing things to care about homework.

The only school I visited before I transferred up from community college was Penn State main, but that was more so to make sure I wanted to go there and that I wouldn’t hate it.

 

[Flip Wilson]

I also met my wife because I thought it would be a good idea to get a journalism degree and go into newspapers. We first met when I was interviewing her at a press conference. Two years later, we went out. Been married 21 years as of yesterday.

Happy anniversary!

I met my wife when I interviewed her for a story. We’ll be married 30 years in December.