Subject: Re: colleges
From: Steven Gabriel (sgabriel@willamette.edu)
Date: Sat Jan 15 2000 - 21:09:11 EST
> > (my top three schools, in order, are Saint John's, Reed, and Oberlin, in
> > case that helps.)
Reed. Good pick. I wish that I had considered there when looking for a
place to study. VERY liberal. Very nice people. I dated a gal there for
a while, and found it a very lovely place on the few occasions I spent a
night or two over at her dorm. There were lots of smart people hanging
out, learning a few things in between getting high and enjoying the
lighter side of alcohol, or sun-bathing nude on the front lawn, or
whatever it was they did for kicks. It was perhaps not the environment
for a lot of people but I presume you know what you are getting into. I
did also, of course have a very limited perspective from which to judge
the place. I found though, that everyone there was proud to be
intellectually curious about the world and happy to be where they were at.
May I also highly reccomend Portland as one of the greatest cities I have
ever been in. It's a place where the bums recycle, the streets are clean
(well ... in comparision to most other cities), and the most wonderful
assortment of people pass by as you walk the streets (most of whom will
smile back or even entertain a conversation if you are willing to strike
one up). It also has great parks, great cuisine and great live music and
the best bookstore I have ever been in.
I myself am about to graduate from a nice little Uni that no one has heard
of, just down the road a bit from Reed. On to grad school I go. As I
type I'm rather avoiding the online application to Stanford that sits in
another window (and is due in .... 6 hours). I can't say that I've read
this thread thoroughly -- random pickings through email is all I have
energy for lately -- but I thought I might offer a few words on picking a
place to study. I found out that you get a lot of silly informational
packets and a lot of silly numbers that don't tell you anything about the
schools you are interested in. I got that anyhow. But the things that
will either make you happy or miserable at a place are so subtle and
hidden that you can never presume that you'll know them ahead of time.
It may be that girl you met at freshman orientation, or that one
professor, the city,the lack of a city, or that coffeeshop down the block
that makes you love or hate your time at college. Listen to Sartre: it's
not important how you choose but that you choose. I bumped into
one really nice guy from Willamette and went to a no-name college because
of it and I've never regretted the decision.
Oh, and a word on getting in. Numbers that can go in the guidebook are
what matter. Universities like to say that their freshman class has X
class presidents, Y national merit scholars, and Z students in the top 10
percent of their class. I added one to Y for my school and that seemed to
do it. Getting scholarships is harder though. If you can't afford to put
yourself through, hope financial aid covers it, or just hope that you get
lucky. I think usually the former works, if you have decent grades and
scores. Scholarships for pure merit are getting rare though in these days
of political correctness where no university dares to discriminate against
the stupid (well those smart enough to get in but not smarter than the
rest). I got lucky. It turns out there is a scholarship for children of
employess or ex-employees of Pacific Bel that are studying in somewhat
technical fields with a desire to someday teach. That happens to be. =)
You can hope that there's something out there like that for you, and look
for such a thing, but don't hold your breath.
S.
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