College, Boredomn, LIFE

[soccerjock624]

OK well let me start by saying happy holidays to everyone and hopefully we can all leave our families soon and get back to fucking hot guys and enjoying our lives lol. NH is killing me.

 

Beyond this I am planning on transferring from my current school in FL, to either UCLA, BC, BU or NYU. While im sure many wont agree with my posting, and will see it as an unfit place for such a post, I couldnt disagree more. I enjoy some of the feedback I get on here and the willingness to help is always reassuring. So is there anyone that knows a professor or someone who works at/attends one of these Universities. Reading the websites, and getting feedback from biased opinions rarely is of any help, while actual human contact with staff and students can immensly help. If anyone has any suggestions, as I approach this task, feel free to speak your mind. I hope I get some of the same great responses I have had to other postings.

 

Now to get back to the important stuff, I will be in LA next week, and after a long drought in NH will definitely need some FUN . So I plan on "taking" anything i can get lol, well I lie but still i think the comment is fun. Anyway happy holidays and see you all soon.

[Epigonos]

Go to UCLA, if for not other reason than that, the weather in L.A. is one hell of a lot better during the school year. Seriously all of those school are excellent, so the real question is - Where do you want to live, Los Angeles, New York, or Boston? Answer that question first and your problem is solved unless the answer is Boston and then you do have to make a choice.

[Traveler North]

As a former college faculty and administrator, I would suggest that you check out the reputation of the program you want to enroll in at the different colleges and universities. All colleges and universities are not equal. The ones you mentioned have good reputations but again, you should check out the reputation of the program you want to follow at each of them. That should be the basis for your decision.

[Guest]

What's BU? Brown University?

[+ glutes]

>What's BU? Brown University?

I always thought BU stood for Boston University.

And SoccerJ, go to UCLA!

[Guest alanm]

I agree about doing further research, especially about the department

that offers your major. I graduated from Boston College (BC). I loved the university, but know too late (early during senior year) that I should have majored in history, not political science --- based on the weak poli. sc. department v. the strong history department.

 

On the other hand, NYU is the only one of the four that is located in a downtown area of a city. Although UCLA, Boston University and BC are close enough, if you have a car.

[+ deej]

I agree with Traveller North. You need to check out the program you're interested in. For instance if I was looking at music programs, I'd probably have a preference among those schools. And the preference might change if I was looking at computer science.

 

They're all great schools but not necessarily equally great across the board.

 

There is quality of life to consider, as mentioned earlier. In LA, we dropped below 40 degrees a few nights in the last month. In NY or Boston, that can be the high this time of year. Of course, that is offset by having to put up with earthquakes, mudslides, and wildfires in LA. ;-)

 

If you intend to continue escorting, please remember that both LA and NYC are fairly flooded markets. There will be a LOT of competition. Boston, not so much. Boston has never been known as the home of more than a handful of quality escorts. (And I'm being generous in that.) I never have understood why. Maybe there are only a handful of quality clients? Who knows?

 

If you genuinely have the luxury of choosing between those schools, congratulations! Choose the one that best suits your academic needs. Beyond that, life is where you make it. You'll have the hottest guys on campus after your cute little ass anywhere. ;-)

[jeddinger]

If it were me, location would be the least important factor unless you want to work in your chosen field while in school, then it would matter. But weather as a factor should be at the bottom of the list in my opinion.

 

College is expensive and you only get one shot at doing it right (unless you want to be a professional student), go for the best program.

 

I went to college in Boston, and have taught at NYU and obviously know folks who work there still. PM me with any specific questions.

[Louis]

Come to Canada....:-)...we have great universities here. We could use a person like you here....:-)

Louis

[Guest showme43]

leaving Orlando? WAAAAAAAAAAA :-(

[+ Tygerscent]

LA NYC or Boston??? No offense but... for easy traffis, good schools on higher education level, safe living, fre downtoan transportation to all, mild winters, (occassional drizzle and around 45 - 50 degree with little or no snow), food from every venue... um take a few moments to investigate Portland. half acre home with tropical and conventional fruit growing in your front or back yard... easy access to rest of world... although Texas seems to be somewhat difficult for unknown reasons~ (Honesty there). Inquire for more guidence!

Tyger!

[email protected]

503.317.8055

http://www.tygerscent.biz

[+ Tygerscent]

RE: Opportunities

 

You want science, polical training... come to Oregon. Great Law schools and Science opportunities here. Great freedom and amazing outdoor splendor minutes away from PDX downtown... safe and affordable here.

[+ Charlie]

I agree with those who say you should choose the school with the best program for you, not merely one with a good general reputation. I was lucky enough to have been able to go to any graduate school I wanted, but I made the mistake of choosing one solely because it was in the city I wanted to live in; I got a prestigious and useful degree, but if I had it to do over I would have chosen a different school where I would have enjoyed my education more, instead of the nightlife. If you do make the choice based on location, deej is right about the greater opportunity for an escort in Boston, but remember that Boston is a much smaller place than the other two, where academia is the major industry, and you are more likely to find your personal and professional lives getting awkwardly tangled.

[soccerjock624]

I completely agree with what you say, while location is on my list of things being coinsidered, it will not be my deciding factor. TRansfer applicants are very scarce in general and getting into any of these school will not be easy, some of the reason i could use a little help (interviews, essays and such...), all of the programs at these schools are very strong, and at each i think i would choose a slightly different program, all leading to the same outlook. I am not sure how to "PM" you on here but if you could send an email to [email protected], I would be very interested in talking with you. Thank you for your help.

 

Brett

[soccerjock624]

Follow Up:

 

Well lets start with addressing the comments I find particularly humorous. 1) Many thanks to all the people who have said i should move to where they live, in hopes that a cute boy might be coming your way, its flattering. 2) Weather,do people really go someplace strictly for weather? While its a factor to coinsider, it certainly isnt a priority.

 

UCLA is my top choice, problem is they accept such few out of state transfer students and no matter which of these schools, I want to attend more, I have to first be accepted, and that will be very difficult. That is more what i need advice/help with, the getting in process and maybe a little push/edge/advantage in the admissions office. All of the schools have strong programs, and at each i have already decided which major I would choose and such, once again the dilemma is being accepted. Many thanks to those who have thus far answered and if anyone could futher help in any of the ways stated above, i appreciate the help. HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

[jeddinger]

To Private Message (PM), just click on the icon that looks like a piece of paper with three wavy lines next to it. I'll shoot you an e-mail shortly.

[+ deej]

Wow, so you ARE more than just a pretty face!

 

Seriously, it seems you have a good handle on the situation. I'm sure you'll fare well. And for purely greedy reasons, I hope UCLA comes through for you! (It would be a blow to my personal finances, but you'd have a well-funded education! LOL)

 

As for relocating for climate, yes people do. I've never done it. My relocations have all been job-related. But for the six years I lived in Chicago, every winter some friend would finally scream "I've had it with this!" and within a year they were moving to a warmer climate.

 

Granted these were mostly people who'd never lived in a climate that has real winter, but some were native Chicagoans. So it does happen. You're choosing a temporary location for school, so climate should be lower on the priority list which it seems you recognize.

 

Good luck!

[+ cougar]

Brett,

First of all I am pleased to see that you realize the importance of getting a college eduation. You will not always be a cute young guy, therefore, escorting is self-limiting, and can take you only so far in life.

As I look back on my college life, the one item that meant the most to me that hasn't been mentioned, and that is the size of the school and the size of the city/town it is located in. As for me, I am very happy that my college was in a "town" ...a real college town! Without the college, the town would hardly exist. I think that is a very important thing to consider. Let me explain; UCLA, NYU and Boston are all located in great american cities, the university is just one small part of the city. Since it is likely that you will be a small fish in a big pond, I think it is more difficult to build and establish lifelong friendships when there are so many other local students and non-collegiate things around you. The student body at metropolitan universities will probably have a larger percentage of local students, who generally aren't too involved in student life and will return home after classes to socialize with their old local friends. With that being said, I would suggest looking at a school in a smaller city where the student body is why the city exists in the first place. Believe me, in that type of environment, you will be able to grow academically and socially. Your social skills will rank up there as high as what the books and classes taught you.

If I had a son going to college, this is what I would tell him!

[Guest alanm]

As I mentioned above, I graduated from Boston College and did grad school at Penn State (in the middle of nowhere) and the University of Pennsylvania (downtown Philadelphia).

 

It was slightly easier to make friends at Penn State, but you had to make major sacrifics being in a place with few social and cultural activity unrelated to the university. Large universites are usually broken down into Arts and Science, Business, Education etc. as well as specific majors. Students at large city universities are not necessarily as isolated socially as you say.

 

You do make some good points, but those points should not be the determining factors in my opinion. The right education for a particular student should be the first priority, friendships and social maturity should naturally follow (no matter where you are, even in a large city) if you are happy and fulfilled in what you are learning.

[Karl-G]

RE: Undergraduate?

 

If you are talking about an undergraduate education, it doesn't matter where you go. Departmental reputations are important only for graduate study, not undergraduate. It does not make sense to say "a strong undergraduate history program." Any decent school will have a strong undergraduate history program. (For a few specialized fields, this is not true. You do not mention what you would like to study.) You will probably get a much better undergraduate education overall at a small college, not a large one. If you are an undergraduate at UCLA, for example, you will be lucky to get T.A.'s who can speak English teaching your classes. The real professors are doing research or leading graduate seminars; they do not teach undergraduates. In general, they would rather get leprosy than touch an undergraduate with a ten foot pole. Geography is as good a reason as any to choose an undergraduate school.

 

If you are old enough to be serious about your studies, finish the undergraduate part as soon as possible anyplace that is nice, and then go on to graduate studies.

 

Ivy League schools are famous not for the quality of their undergraduate education, but for the opportunities offered to meet people and make friends who will pay off for the rest of your life. Remember, the average grade at Harvard is an A-. Students to whom I gave F's got straight A's when they transferred to Harvard.

[buckguy]

I started out as an academic and still have pretty extensive ties to the academic world. My impression is that academic advisement sucks as much as when I went to college. Feel free to send an email through the site. Absent some specifics on your major & career plans, there are limits to what one can advise. Here's my capsule, uncolicited advice.

 

UCLA and all of the other "public ivies" (Michigan, Berkeley, UVA, etc.) suffer from large classrooms and a lack of contact with faculty, even in upper division courses. The folks I know at UCLA rarely, if at all, teach because of support from research grants. Schools like this are better choices for graduate study than for undergrad. Many states have smaller schools that are either designed for undergrdaute teaching or, de facto, have grown into fairly strong institutions, although their reputations tend to be regional rather than national. If you're planning something that involves graduate study, then you want to be someplace that facilitates faculty contact, and this wouold be esp. true as a transfer student (I'm assuming you'll be losing a year or two in the process of getting integrated into the campus). You'll want to get involved in faculty reserach and have opportunities to get noticed in the classroom.

 

A strong liberal arts college, e.g., Swarthmore, Oberlin, etc. also is an excellent platform for graduate study. The drawback is the cliqueishness. You haven't told us much about your current school. Some large schools also can be cliquish--I've been associated with two very large Southern universities and a Big 10 school that were like this.

 

The reputation of a specific department or program will have more weight with employers or grad programs than the college or university, per se. UCLA has strength in the social sciences, although not like it did 10 years ago. BU has a very mixed reputation and I know people who've left the faculty there or turned down jobs there (in health and social science areas)---the university's overall academic reputation grew while John Silber was president in the 70s & 80s (he still wields some influence on the board of trustess, I beleive), but Silber also squashed any kind of academic independence. If it wasn't in Boston, it would have problems recruiting faculty in some areas. I have a relative who attends BU and loves it; he's a business major and wanted to be miles from family and in a different part of the country.

 

NYU is another place whose reputation has really climbed in the past few decades. It used to be a commuter school and once had a large branch in the Bronx I have several friends who are past/present faculty. NYU's niche has tended to be in more applied areas of the sciences and social sciences along with some humanities areas, but that has been changing in recent years, as they've been trying to compete with big name research institutions.

 

In terms of transfers--schools will be concerned about the academic reputation of your current school and specific programs within it (if you have a declared major), as well as your grades and test scores. The big public universities are sometimes the most snobbish about transfers. Geography counts, often in a good way, tho. There tends to be a certain amount of "affirmative action" that biases things toward parts of the country that are poorly represented in a college or university's current mix of students. A strong academic record and test scores will balance attendance at a lackluster high school. In some cases attending a high school that doesn't historically send students to a university is a plus.

[Traveler North]

Buckguy's advise is right on the mark. I agree that, for undergraduate study, a smaller school with smaller classes and a lot of faculty contact is by far the best route to follow.

[jeddinger]

I think Boston College (BC) was mentioned as a possibilty. That one would fit the bill of a smaller school, but still be near a large city, so you don't get bored, have employment opportunities, etc..

[buckguy]

RE: Undergraduate?

 

Having been party to graduate admissions, I can say that undergraduate institution does matter and to use Karl's example, there are any number of places with lousy undergraduate history programs. Given equal grades and enthusiasm from letter writers, many graduate programs will give the nod to someone who has GREs of 1200 and a degree from, for example, Brown over someone with higher GREs, but a degree from a good second tier institution, with a strong department in the applicant's field. I've seen it repeatedly. Also, letters need to be from people who have some stature and who can write at least a page and get beyond so-and-so got an "A" in their class and is a nice person, so getting access to faculty is important.

 

In fields like law, business, and the humanities, there is great overproduction of graduate degrees and getting positioned is important, early on. I wish I'd had decent advisment, as I would have had more options, as time passed. I've known people who've had a "nice time", they really struggle when they do figure out what they want to do unless they're Daddy has a name like "Bush".

 

BTW, Harvard doesn't impress a lot of people. Among the iviees, they're known for being a weak undergraduate school. Yale and U of Chicago, among other places, impress people more.

[soccerjock624]

RE: Undergraduate?

 

I dont appreciate Harvard, it has a huge name and as was mentioned before, that is what the ivies offer. Thank you again to everyones help. I am not preparing to reenter civilization, through leaving NH and flying to LAX. I hope everyone is having a great Year thus far, and I continue to welcome any advice.