Emphasis on polar.

December 11, 2008, 4:15 PST:

Los Angeles, CA: partly cloudy, 77 degrees (high: 77 degrees, low: 48 degrees)

Ithaca, NY: light snow, 25 degrees (high: 28 degrees, low: 25 degrees)

 

Going to school in Ithaca to experience New York culture is like going to school in Fresno to experience Los Angeles culture. Both are just over 200 miles (and about three worlds) away.

 

espelir went to an incredibly rigorous high school; I (highly suspect I) went to the same school a few years prior to him.

I placed 114th of 400 in my class, and boo-hoo, I haven't retired at 28 (unlike 4 of my classmates). There again, at 18, I had every intention (and desire) to work until I was 65 for only nominal pay.

However, my high school education allowed me to sleep through college, and do a 180 degree career change with no college education (in the second career). All that with the paltry GPA of 3.5 non-honors.

Placing at the top of the shitpile in High School means you desperately need the gold star to validate your existence. If you're smart and savvy; everybody will know in due time. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but when left to one's own devices, the right things often happen.

In terms of State vs. UC vs. Whatsamatta U. = for business, it's about connections for your internships. . . at least at the Baccalaureate level. For an MBA; that's a different meatball (but yes, the connections are important).

SJSU is well-regarded in the tech industry for generating tech-savvy business people and good engineers. Frankly, between a Bachelor's from SJSU or a bachelor's from a certain highly-lauded private school near SJSU; I'd hire the kid with the better internships. . .

 

Yea, I just talked to my friend right now and he said the same thing. He also said trying to get out into the big city is a pain in the ass because Cornell is in the middle of nowhere. Is NYU or Columbia a better alternative? Oh yea I forgot who said Stanford is a better option, but I'm applying there too.

 

Columbia FTW.

Go there if you want to go Ivy with the big city experience.

 

I recommend the rigorous big schools.

Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, UNC Chapel Hill, Wisconsin, Washington, UCLA.

I am an economics senior at the University of Oklahoma. I applied and was accepted to a few acclaimed liberal arts schools (Grinnell, Hendrix, Colorado College) but choose OU because they pay people like me to come here.

In retrospect, I wouldn't have made the same decision. The best thing about OU is the athletics and partying scene, and you only get that at the big schools. But you dont get the academic rigor or a learning environment.

I thought small schools were cool at the time, but after a number of my friends attended such places, I am glad I didn't go. You know everyone within two weeks, random parties are non-existent, and they are generally full of....well.... i'll leave it at that.

 

UCSD!

I just applied to UC's so that was only 1 application for me. Got rejected by LA and Cal. bastards.

 

This thread makes it feel like California is separated from the rest of the country with all the talk of cal's & uc's.

 

[QUOTE=espelirS2K,Dec 11 2008, 03:32 PM]

Sorry I didn't get a 4.0, I found out early on it wasn't necessary to try SO FREAKING HARD and STRESS CONSTANTLY to impress the wrong people .

 

I'm really tired of the fact that 3.33 is average. Isn't a C to C+ supposed to be average? Isn't that the point of the grade? Oh well... too much grade inflation has occured in our educational institutions.

Also, Size vs. Research opportunities:

It has been my experience (and mind, there are more factors involved--such as money funded, quality, etc): but often smaller schools provide more research opportunities due to less competition. Though mind, by small, I mean sub 2,000.



[QUOTE]So yeah, let's wait 5 years and see what each of us are doing, because unlike what you think I won't be flipping burgers. As a matter of fact, in 5 years, I'll be graduating from medical school with my MD, bitch. Who's the asshole now?