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Hey TL, I’ve made my college decision. I’m just gonna say that this choice has been a LONG time coming. It has been two months of hell choosing this, but I think I’ve made the right choice. This won’t be the last college blog, but it will be the last one that has to do with choosing a college. This was posted the day after it was written because I had no internet, so I’m pretty much 1 day behind on posting these blogs. This technically happened yesterday, but believe me, I wouldn't be posting it unless this applies to what I'll be writing in the near future, which is a lot. Also, this blog goes out to Aerisky, who asked about an acceptance blog a long time ago  .
Choosing Impossibly
‘Men work together,’ I told him from the heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart.’ - Frost
I won’t lie; when I applied to colleges I was sure as hell I was going to USC. I was denied outright. I thought I would go to Claremont McKenna College, but I was denied to that too. It ended up that I was denied everywhere but about 4 mid tier schools, U of Miami for Spring, and waitlisted at Tufts indefinitely and Miami for Fall semester. I was crushed, and to be honest, the C I got after being .01 points off of and my shit SAT score really fucked me. That, along with the fact that this year was the strongest application pool in recent history according to every college I visited to, with record numbers of applicants and record levels of applicant “strength,” fucked me too. With all that said, I’m not unhappy with my decision.
Though the circumstances that led me to my decisions were not what I had hoped, and though I had to fight my primary and secondary schools non-stop since I entered them, my choice is not bad whatsoever. After my elementary school refused to send my transcripts to prevent me from transferring and my high school screwing me royally on more than just that one grade, I’m happy that I persevered; I say that with a bit of sarcasm, because what I’ve persevered through in school occurred in a high-powered private school where I’m sure I’ve been over-prepared for college.
Of course, to choose a college, I had to visit them. I visited the two I chose between, Rhodes and U of Miami, and to compare the two would be apples and oranges. Rhodes, a local, small liberal arts school ranks nicely and gave me a large portion of money to attend; Miami on the other hand is a semi-large research university that offered me no money and barely accepted me for the year. Sidenote about Miami people, I didn’t realize that all the stereotypes about Cuban girls were true. Literally every one of them that looked my age was 12, they all had larger-than-expected asses for their dainty physique, and they all smoked and drank café… a lot. They also all wore booty shorts and high heals everywhere, but that’s just a girl thing I’m pretty sure.
Back on track though, I racked my brain about where I wanted to go. I was in Miami and I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I had a headache all day, – which only got exacerbated more by the Cuban Cigar smoke, needless to say that “fumar” has a new meaning in my mind – and I was scared as hell when the information session speaker pretty much told me to go somewhere else for the first semester or I’d be behind an entire semester. The lady that led our tour was on a diversity scholarship, which made me cringe a bit more than I should have. I attended a lecture by a supposedly travelling philosopher and author whose philosophical thesis on care was wholly fallacious; I’m being rude about this because, an undergrad Philo-Major pretty much ripped her apart with the argument everyone in the room was thinking of. All’s well that ends well though. I met with the philosophy department head and he was awesome. I would love to take his classes, and I found out that U of Miami could accommodate me if I wanted to double major or major minor, etc.
At this point, it was between lots of money and a school I perceived that better fit what I wanted. All that was standing in my way was a fear that if I didn’t stay in my home town, my relationship would fall apart, I was afraid I’d cheat or I’d just lose my love; I was afraid of the dreaded midnight calls, asking me where I’d been, why’d I not call, who was I with. I realized, if that is what happens, then the love can’t make it, and I didn’t want that. Then I realized something else, I was being a dumbass. I didn’t trust myself to do what my heart told me to. I’m not gonna turn this into a sappy blog, but, at the risk of being saccharine here, I’m just going to say that if I don’t trust myself in love at this point (nearly 1 and a half years in) then it won’t make it no matter where I am. When I realized that, when I realized that que será, será was all I could do, love makes it if love stays true. I don’t have to go panty-chasing just because I’m in Miami, I can have the same self-control I’ve had in my home town.
The decision felt impossible, like I was choosing between the school or the girl. At first I thought, “I can’t give up the girl for 4 years of school, that would be so stupid!“ Then I thought, “But do I want to be in a relationship for this long, do I want to limit myself to one girl in a party city full of crazy clubs and beautiful women?” After that question popped, my thoughts disintegrated into chaos; I was fighting two parts of me that really wanted the same thing, security. Finally, I realized in the middle of the day, “WTF am I thinking? I can have both, because if I can’t now, I won’t be able to do the same in graduate school anyways. If I can pull this off, then graduate school will be another, harder obstacle; If it doesn’t work now, it won’t work like this ever, which is bound to happen no matter where she and I go.” After I realized that, the choice was simple to me. Just control myself, like I always have, keep my pants firmly zipped until I come home to my girl, and enjoy everything Miami has to offer me.
C-A-N-E-S, CANES
TL, y u no have orange color text T.T
TL, I’m being selfish, I realize that. I’m asking my GF to put up with my shit when I’m so far away I can’t even hug her over the phone. But, I have to do this, I have to make the decision right for me, and I know that no matter what that is, my gf and I have this under control. P.S. I met Eric Hutchinson at the MIA (Miami Int’l Airport). I derped and said, “I love you,” in the moment instead of, “I love your music,” good job, bro. Today was a good day.
  
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grats on making your choice... I can't decide on mine >>
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On April 22 2013 02:59 Pokebunny wrote:
grats on making your choice... I can't decide on mine >>
Go to U of Miami, that way I can learn to not suck at Starcraft lol. For real though, where are you deciding between? The people at TL helped me, especially Babylon and Micronesia. I feel your pain dude, I forced myself to make this decision cuz if I didn't, I'd never make it.
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Grats! 
Remember, as long as you feel good about your choice, you've made the right one!
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Congratulations!
 My own college choice is in a year and a half, it's kinda disheartening to see just how competitive the pool has become.
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On April 22 2013 03:16 Pokebunny wrote:
NYU Poly and RIT
I have a friend going to RIT, NYU poly is another great school haha. I would suggest you pick the one that fits you socially. When all things are equal, the kids that go to both aren't. That said, good luck. Also thanks on the congrats guys, feels good .
EDIT: Yeah, I'm not gonna lie Prae, it's hard as fuck now. Kill the SAT and you will be good, that was the trend this year, to accept high scores over high grades generally.
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Congratulations! I'm glad you made a decision that would make you happy instead of letting the money corrupt you (tongue firmly in cheek, of course).
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Congrats, skipping the fall session will give you and the GF time to adjust to the new situation and maybe resolve a few things by the end of the year. Starting in spring however isn't that best way to start your collegiate career though since people will have already made some groups and you'll be the lone new guy. If you can get a decent job this fall id almost say skip he soing semester :-D The folks I shared an engineering floor with I still converse with today vs major-friends I just have on Facebook.
Poke: NYU! Girls are hotter.
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On April 22 2013 04:09 docvoc wrote:I have a friend going to RIT, NYU poly is another great school haha. I would suggest you pick the one that fits you socially. When all things are equal, the kids that go to both aren't. That said, good luck. Also thanks on the congrats guys, feels good . EDIT: Yeah, I'm not gonna lie Prae, it's hard as fuck now. Kill the SAT and you will be good, that was the trend this year, to accept high scores over high grades generally.
Well, ideally, you know, you really want to kill your SATs and your school grades so that you get past the first level of screening. Then once you have the numbers, you should think hard about how to present your application in such a way that you'll come off as an intelligent, interesting individual who can contribute to the community.
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On April 22 2013 04:26 babylon wrote:Show nested quote +On April 22 2013 04:09 docvoc wrote:On April 22 2013 03:16 Pokebunny wrote:
NYU Poly and RIT I have a friend going to RIT, NYU poly is another great school haha. I would suggest you pick the one that fits you socially. When all things are equal, the kids that go to both aren't. That said, good luck. Also thanks on the congrats guys, feels good . EDIT: Yeah, I'm not gonna lie Prae, it's hard as fuck now. Kill the SAT and you will be good, that was the trend this year, to accept high scores over high grades generally. Well, ideally, you know, you really want to kill your SATs and your school grades so that you get past the first level of screening. Then once you have the numbers, you should think hard about how to present your application in such a way that you'll come off as an intelligent, interesting individual who can contribute to the community.
haha I'm much less than ideal xD.
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Good to see that you've made you're choice; a lot of my friends who are choosing now tell me that it's the most brutally difficult decision that they've ever had to make. Bizarrely, I'm kind of glad that I didn't apply to a ton of schools that I liked, because my decision process was pretty easy.
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never pick a school for a girl. if your relationship is good enough, it will survive the long distance. if it is not, you just put your career at risk for fleeting hormones. things aren't that black and white, but generally a decent guideline
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Very interesting read, and congratulations. I'm in the process of choosing between 5 universities myself, so I know the feeling.
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"In this fall...this is very tough...in this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach." - docvoc
Congratulations! 
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United States2192 Posts
I have to decide where I'm going to go. I have like 10 days T_T
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On April 22 2013 02:49 docvoc wrote:
I attended a lecture by a supposedly travelling philosopher and author whose philosophical thesis on care was wholly fallacious; I’m being rude about this because, an undergrad Philo-Major pretty much ripped her apart with the argument everyone in the room was thinking of. All’s well that ends well though. I met with the philosophy department head and he was awesome. I would love to take his classes, and I found out that U of Miami could accommodate me if I wanted to double major or major minor, etc..
I am rather puzzled by this segment.
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On April 22 2013 07:19 Jerubaal wrote:Show nested quote +On April 22 2013 02:49 docvoc wrote:
I attended a lecture by a supposedly travelling philosopher and author whose philosophical thesis on care was wholly fallacious; I’m being rude about this because, an undergrad Philo-Major pretty much ripped her apart with the argument everyone in the room was thinking of. All’s well that ends well though. I met with the philosophy department head and he was awesome. I would love to take his classes, and I found out that U of Miami could accommodate me if I wanted to double major or major minor, etc.. I am rather puzzled by this segment.
makes sense to me...
Have you talked to your parents about it? I'm making a college decision too, and my dad just gave me some great life advice.
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I hope you're paying in-state tuition for Miami. If not, you'd probably be better off going to junior college for 2 years, kicking ass there and then transferring to a 4-year school you're happy with.
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On April 22 2013 07:19 Jerubaal wrote:Show nested quote +On April 22 2013 02:49 docvoc wrote:
I attended a lecture by a supposedly travelling philosopher and author whose philosophical thesis on care was wholly fallacious; I’m being rude about this because, an undergrad Philo-Major pretty much ripped her apart with the argument everyone in the room was thinking of. All’s well that ends well though. I met with the philosophy department head and he was awesome. I would love to take his classes, and I found out that U of Miami could accommodate me if I wanted to double major or major minor, etc.. I am rather puzzled by this segment.
Long story short, the lady tells us how her caring for her handicapped daughter showed her the dichotomy of "caring too much" so she made a philosophy dissertation on it which was extreme, didn't make any sense, confused and misused two different conotations and definitions of the word care, but the worst part was that she tried to back off mid lecture into a less extreme thesis on care. Her thesis is that for someone to care, the party that received care must accept it and be better for it. The student brought up the case of the schizo who thinks the world is a conspiracy and his pills just keep him in the Matrix, while his mom knows he needs them to stay "normal;" in that case, not only does the receiving party not feel bettered by the care, the person caring knows that the care is working since her son acts normal while on the pills. Basically her extreme view was broken by the case of "tough love." Another part that broke her was the idea of caring for an inanimate object which cannot express positive side effects, after all, a 1969 mustang that is refurbished feels no different than a non-refurbished 1969 mustang, and while one drives better than the other, the mustang cannot care since it has no sentient feelings; yet, we call that refurbishing process, caring while it is wholly selfish and has no shared emotion or betterment. The other part that was annoying was that she tried to Normalize care. That is impossible because you can't point at someone and say "Go, now, care for that person!" That requires different activities and it can't be normalized in that manner. Part 2 of this is that, according to psychology, there is no true "normative" state. Psychologists like Thomas Szas argue that normal is simply a label and that normal is infact only what we perceive it to be, therefore care not only cannot be acheived because there is no "ground" or normal state to bring it back to, but also because we only put onto others the way we feel they should feel. All in all, it was a terrible lecture from a dissapointing lady who obviously had her heart in the right place and her mind in the wrong.
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EPT
