Given the popularity and good discussion initiated by the previous post about how I think it doesn’t matter what college you go to, I figured that I’d throw out another college related post.
So, if you could go to any college or university in the world, where would you go?
The parameters are that money is not an object. Not only is it assumed that you can easily cover tuition and living costs, it is also assumed that flights back home are financially possible if you go to Stanford or Oxford or something.
Alright, so just list the top 3 colleges you would attend (in no particular order) in this ideal situation and then briefly explain why those places top your list.
February 16, 2009 at 9:10 pm
In no order:
CofC – the only school i applied too for undergrad. 70% women and by the beach in a historic and beautiful city and only 6 other people from my high school went there and fraternities were basically nonexistant.
Duke – i would have failed out bc all i would’ve done is camp out for every single game, but it would’ve been worth failing out.
London School of Economic – i applied here for grad school and got waiting listed and then got in but they only told me this in like August and i’d already accepted to go to sussex. i find this unfortunate as i would have rather gone to lse (but i made some quality friends at sussex).
February 16, 2009 at 9:47 pm
CofC – for the same reasons you listed
UT – Mainly for sports reasons, but I also think it might have been fun to go to a big state school where few people from my hometown would go.
Full Sail – I always wanted to go to school for music production, but my parents said it was too expensive and I wouldn’t make any money in it.
February 17, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Wofford – even though I didn’t start here, I loved it when I got there. Small school, beautiful campus, short drive to both beach and mountains.
Sewanee- Everytime I visit Sewanee, I wish I had bothered to apply there. I love the mountains and I’ve met some awesome people on my visits there.
UVA – beautiful campus, wonderfully preppy and a big enough sports program to fulfill my love for college football.
February 17, 2009 at 2:30 pm
not to be mean lauren, but those choices suck. Wofford is fine but I can’t imagine going to school in Spartanburg a stone’s throw from my parent’s house.
uva i guess might be ok bc i hear charlottesville is nice and it is a really good school and all. but a rival acc school is not ok for this duke fan and their football and basketball teams stink.
sewanee is the one that kills me. or actually it would kill other people bc if i went there i would have become a mass murderer. it is full of preppy douches. it’s like if a fraternity at a normal univ isn’t gay enough for you, then you go to sewanee. you have to wear a tie to class for god’s sake! and seriously, how many non white people go there? 3? that school is for people that wish they could attend a boarding school in the 19th century. then they go on to take over daddy’s company and set up their own boring little suburban lives where they fear immigrants and laud the Sarah Palin’s of the world for being “real” americans.
sorry lauren, sewanee is totally unacceptible.
February 17, 2009 at 4:28 pm
The whole post is a moot point, so I don’t see how it can be “unacceptable.” Plus, I got a superior education anyway.
February 18, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Let me start by saying, dude, you cannot shit on someone else’s ideal schools when you listed College of Fucking Charleston. If you wanted tons of women, a real beach and a legitimately good school, you should’ve listed Pepperdine. Plus, the point is that it’s everyone’s individual opinion.
Anyway:
1. UVA. My dad went there for undergrad and my mom for grad school. I was born in Charlottesville and it’s one of the top 5 places in the country in my opinion. Had I not gotten into Furman on early (binding) decision I had my UVA app all ready to go including the damn SAT II’s.
2. Edinburgh University. Fantastic school, amazing location, beautiful and awesome city. Spending one semester there was just not enough.
3. St. Andrews University. Basically ditto on the reasons for Edinburgh. Really a top-notch school and within easy train ride of Edinburgh.
February 18, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I can’t imagine being ACTUALLY enrolled at University of Edinburgh…I mean, the studying would really cut into Hearts and Spades time. But since this is theoretical, I will agree with Mike.
University of Edinburgh – AWESOME Theology department. I had an internship there and it was amazing. Plus the British system of higher education is superior, in my opinion. If you know you want to get a phd in a subject you can just study it, instead of being required to dabble in a bit of everything. That being said, Edinburgh totally kicks ass and I would’ve loved to have spent my entire collegiate experience there.
Trinity University, Dublin – Guinness fresh from the source is so choice.
University of Chicago/Northwestern – UC is probably the better school, but its location on teh southside is troubling.
February 18, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I must also say that while I have to agree with Trey’s assessment as to the overall idea of Sewanee, I know several fine people who are alumni and I had an excellent time when I visited. Gorgeous campus.
February 18, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I applied to Edinburgh for grad school so I like that choice. St Andrews for some reason doesn’t sit well with me personally. Probably bc the Prince of England went there so it makes it feel like a bit of a snobby old school like Oxford but without the same name recognition. And it’d be cold.
As for sewanee, yes this is all subjective and i have already stated that it doesn’t matter where you go to school. However, I cannot and will not support that as acceptible school. Personally I think that would be my own personal hell.
Oh, Univ of Chicago is where Indiana Jones went so good call on that.
February 18, 2009 at 5:06 pm
A fair point but on the other hand, you state you’d never have been able to go to Furman because of the dry campus. But I went there and had a great time and thought it was the perfect school for me.
St. Andrews does get a bit colder than Edinburgh but mostly because of the wind. Really, it’s no colder there than anywhere else in England.
February 18, 2009 at 5:52 pm
That’s fair the choice is total up to the person. So let me put it another way.
If a child of mine came to me and wanted to go to Sewanee or unc I wouldn’t pay for it. If they came to me and said I want to marry someone from Sewanee or unc, I wouldn’t support it. If they wanted to do the same stuff for Furman I’d cope with it.
But as for St Andrews, was it your guess that it is indeed more snobby? I have literally no basis for that perception but I feel it nevertheless.
February 18, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Yeah, it’s a little snobbier. But not bad. Most of the people I met there were very cool and interesting. Yeah, most of them were mega rich but it wasn’t really about that. I feel like it takes a kind of self-aware person to go there because it’s in the middle of nowhere and a 15-minute bus ride from the closest train station. So if you’re there, usually you’re just there and that’s it.
February 20, 2009 at 12:03 pm
apparently Trey’s major at CofC was “Overwhelming Cynicism” with a minor in “Unnecessary Dickheadedness”
February 20, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Haha. I like that. I’m going to start telling people I majored in Overwhelming Cynicism.
February 20, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Oh, and my dickishness is almost always necessary