What was your second-choice school?

[micropolitan guy]

Great replies.

My school's administrators always called it "The Princeton of the South." Whatever. That must be why half the student body is now from New Jersey.

Using that logic, Brockport should all itself 'The Clemson of the North (without big-time athletics)." The ultimate party school, safety school for Empire Staters.

 

[georgealfano]

I was kind of torn between Seton Hall and Temple. Temple was 90 miles away and Seton Hall was four blocks away.

I saw Temple has better facilities for communications and I kind of wanted to go there, but I would have had to take loans and Seton Hall was better financially considering that I was the oldest of nine children. It probably was a mistake, although looking 35 years backwards, I had no idea about college and what you had to do to succeed, 80 percent of which is showing up and paying attention. Temple would have been a better choice, but I wasn't ready emotionally. I also had no idea about what it meant to be at a really good college, and probably should have tried to apply to better colleges. I think that, unless you really are certain where you want to go, if you get into every college where you apply you probably didn't challenge yourself.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

I was a **** up, and not even an endearing **** up who did cool stuff instead of getting good grades. I failed at life both academically and socially until my senior year, when at least I got my grades up. Second choice school was Virginia Tech, but couldn't get in thanks to my ****ty first three years. Applied to state schools only, since I knew I'd be footing the bill.

 

[Songbird]

Like Bud Bundy, I went to city college. A few months into the semester I got a job as a stringer at a large L.A. paper and worked my butt off so much that it became a full-time stringing gig, at least enough money to pay for rent and such. Stopped going to school. At 18, I was working in a really cool, large newspaper sports department.

I was learning hands-on, and that's always been the best type of education for me.

If I had done the traditional thing, I'd have applied to USC and if that didn't work out, Long Beach State would've been No. 2.

 

[CradleRobber]

I was accepted at all four schools to which I applied: Indiana Bloomington, Mizzou, Webster (private school in Missouri) and Sacramento State in California.

After much help from the board, and a lot of weighing of pros and cons, I decided on the latter. In two Midwest visits since then, I can say I would have shot myself in the head by now if I had to live and go to school in that part of the country. I love the choice I made. There's no place like California.

 

[EStreetJoe]

Travelling across the country to the University of Arizona wound up being my second choice school and I got accepted there. I wanted to go there but my parents (who were alumni) talked me out of it (one using the "you'll probably have some of the same teachers I had and you don't want to be compared to me" argument; the other using the "it's a huge school all the way across the country, why not go to the in-state D-III school 90 minutes away for a year and if you still want to go across the country you can transfer" agrument).

Wound up staying at the D-III, spending two great years on the school weekly paper before landing my first real job in journalism the summer before my junior year. I'm still at that paper coming up on 17 years now.

 

[Matt Foley]

Because of the approach that my grandfather had had to it, my father felt for the longest time that if you could afford it, you went to private school no matter what, and he ended up having more than a little influence on my initially approach to the college selection process. In the beginnning, my top three were 1.Cornell 2.Northwestern 3.Dartmouth, I applied to the UC's only as a default. I got into all three of my top choices, and although I really liked them all, none of them really gave me that warm-fuzzy feeling when I visited them. Then, late in my senior year, I got a letter from UCLA inviting me down for scholars weeked (this big show they put on for the top applicants). All I can say is that it was love at first sight, and the rest is history (not to mention that I could bare the thought of sticking my parents with the bill for private school, especially since I'm the oldest of three). And if I could do it all over again, I would still make the same choice.

 

[Oz]

If I didn't go to KU, I would have gone to Kansas State and roomed with my best friend. But then, I never set high college goals -- in Kansas, if you graduate, the in-state colleges must accept you, which is why they created flunk-out freshman courses to see who was serious about it. I never really thought about leaving the state.

 

[FuerteJ]

I was accepted by all three schools in which I expressed interest.
One, Ohio State, was not financially convenient.
The other was University of Florida.

The third, chosen school, doesn't have the national academic recognition of the previous two, but has certain intangibles.

A mutual friend says you went to the Harvard of the South. Though, he said it the other way. Harvard is the XXX of the North. I laugh.

My backup was Florida, then Maryland. Got into my first choice, so it didn't matter.

I think he might have stolen that from me. Ask for verification. Regardless, he's a cat who experienced two of the three on my list and really you can't go wrong with either. Certain intangibles definitely weren't missing from your school, either.

Intangibles, indeed, were not missing from my college. And, our colleague says to you, piffle.

 

[viamsp]

My second choice was Missouri, up there on the list because of the j-school's reputation. But I decided to go elsewhere because I liked the other school much better overall -- liked the setting better, had a better reputation in programs other than journalism if I changed my mind about a career path.

Third choice was Rutgers, really just because it's almost a default top-three choice for New Jerseyans.

I have to say that I'm glad I didn't go to Mizzou. For some reason (true or not) I think I would have probably felt some sense of entitlement and not worked as hard if I thought I had the Missouri reputation to fall back on.

 

[Songbird]

Because of the approach that my grandfather had had to it, my father felt for the longest time that if you could afford it, you went to private school no matter what, and he ended up having more than a little influence on my initially approach to the college selection process.  In the beginnning, my top three were 1.Cornell  2.Northwestern  3.Dartmouth, I applied to the UC's only as a default.  I got into all three of my top choices, and although I really liked them all, none of them really gave me that warm-fuzzy feeling when I visited them.  Then, late in my senior year, I got a letter from UCLA inviting me down for scholars weeked (this big show they put on for the top applicants).  All I can say is that it was love at first sight, and the rest is history (not to mention that I could bare the thought of sticking my parents with the bill for private school, especially since I'm the oldest of three).  And if I could do it all over again, I would still make the same choice.

UCLA football sucks!

Better than Dartmouth, though.

 

[donnie23]

Flippin' Marquette.

Made the trek up during my senior year of high school, stayed with a student in a horrible dorm room, took in a couple of classes, actually loved the campus in beautiful Milwaukee.

And just as I was set to sign the papers, they pulled about half my financial aid. Something about FAFSA trouble.

With that, the choice to soak in the bright lights of Northern Arizona was made.

 

[sgaleadfoot]

my 2nd choice was actually to stay at Valdosta State instead of transferring to UGA.

 

[Beer_Baron]

Duke or Vandy

 

[Breakyoself]

maryland - had tons of friends going, and i love the school.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

I applied early decision to a good school and got in, so I didn't apply anywhere else. Nor did I stick around to graduate.

Others on my list were Reed, Oberlin, Bard.

 

[JRoyal]

Applied three places, got in all three. Went to my first choice. Second was Harvard. Third was Texas A&M.

Still kicking myself in the ass for not going to Harvard, even though I'd be paying off student loans until I was 95.

 

[Pete]

I guess the University of Chicago was my second choice, but I didn't particularly want to go there. I was up for a full academic ride but only landed a half, so the cost savings (U Chicago was expensive even among expensive schools) wasn't that great compared to my first choice, the small liberal arts college that I really wanted to attend (and loved).

Late in the process, my parents were upset that I hadn't chosen cheaper options. (We were in a teenage-parent war zone at the time but now get along well.) Thus very late in the game, I applied to UNC to appease them. The reason I chose UNC is because I noticed in the fine print that out-of-state students that apply late CANNOT be admitted. Perfect.

Somehow UNC put me on the wait list, however. Then in the summer, after the 'rents had finally agreed to pony up for Preppy U, I took in the mail to discover that UNC had now admitted me, making a mockery both of its own rules and my evil plan. I wrote back "No," hid the letter and didn't tell my parents about it for over a decade, not until we could all have a good laugh and not a bad caning.

 

[pressboxer]

The school I wound up at, Baylor, was my mother's choice. I'd wanted to go to Texas since I was 6, but she wasn't about to turn me loose in Austin before I even turned 18. I was told I could go to any school in the state except UT.

Most of my relatives (Dad, sis, several cousins) went to Texas Tech, but so did about half my graduating class and I had no desire to spend another four years with them.

I also pursued an appointment to the Air Force Academy. I had (just barely) good enough grades, solid SAT scores and was among the last dozen or so trying to bribe curry favor with the Congressman from our area.

Two things blew that all to hell.

A USAF recruiter visiting my high school went over my stuff with me and admitted that while the Congressional appointment was the only thing between me and a spot, my nearsightedness would have me classified as "non-flight personnel" the moment I hit Colorado Springs. My ego couldn't handle that; it would be like everyone at Annapolis knowing you suffered from incurable seasickness.

Then our county Democratic Party chairman got into a pissing match with someone on the Congressman's staff over some inane situation, and my meeting with the politico somehow never got scheduled.

Baylor ended up being one of the most un-Christian experiences of my life. This was just as the Moral Majority was gaining prominence and I got a little tired of hearing from those on the righteous right just why I was going to hell. It took me three semesters to get out of there and I eventually wound up at a cow college in the middle of nowhere.

Looking back, I realize I should have paid attention to schools like Texas-Arlington, North Texas or Southwest Texas State. But I was determined to go somewhere that played big-time football (Baylor went to the Cotton Bowl my senior year of high school).