So, I've been doing some serious college thinking since probably last year. Junior year is "the year". You know, with all the SAT/ACT, class rank, GPA, etc. Called the worst year in high school. And rightfully so. Talk about the pressure. Anyway, college is looming ahead of me in a year. I'll be officially going to a next by this time 2011. Weird to think about, right? So here's my thought process as of now.
I've been to my top 4 colleges on either official visits or just various times. And my top four are as follows (in order from "I really want to go here" to "I'd be cool if I went here but it's not my favorite").
1. Texas A&M University (College Station, TX)
2. Oklahoma State University "OSU" (Stillwater, OK)
3. Baylor University (Waco, TX)
4. Texas Christian University "TCU" (Fort Worth, TX)
Now we're going to go backwards, starting with why I do/don't want to go to each school starting with the fightin' frogs of TCU.
It's a gorgeous school. The campus is beautiful, the people are awesome, the professors are great, the sports are above average :). It's an all around school in the heart of a true Texas city with a rich background of being totally Texan. I look good in purple and my family has a MAJOR leagacy (see "the first Superfrog" for more information...hi, Dad). Frankly, I'd be a shoe in for this school. So what holds me back? All I've ever known is DFW. Okay, that's not technically true. I do vaguely remember the year that I lived in Franklin, Tennessee when I was four years old. But that doesn't really count. I kind of want out of the DFW area. And TCU is way too close to home. And it's super expensive. And it sort of strikes me (though I know this isn't true for everyone) as the rich, preppy, Greek school of Texas. Generalization, yes. Completely wrong, no.
Baylor. The conservative, Baptist school of Texas that has Dr. Pepper Thursdays and 2 pet bears. It's smallish, friendly, and I know a lot of people who go/are going there. The school is beautiful and it has the 2 things I want to major in. Sounds like my dream school. Except that everyone at Baylor is the same. Most of them are white, Baptist kids who like Baylor because it's a white, Baptist college. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's a totally safe school that's part of the Big 12 and has a great reputation. But it doesn't have...the diversity that I want in a college. It's so picture-perfect. Except for their football program. I don't know. Baylor is cool but there just was something about it that felt like it wasn't my perfect college fit.
OSU is a school I would qualify as a place that's awesome but totally under the radar. It's a great school that's average in population but very confined geographically. The basketball game that I went to was amazingly fun and the dorms are way cool and different. My OSU analysis is short but I loved the campus (even though I went on a rainy day) because it's surprisingly small and so, so pretty. My only problems with it would be that the student life center was completely empty after a big basketball game. I found that really weird. And what's in Stillwater? Like, 6 restaurants? I know there's a dance hall but otherwise...not too much to do around there. I know I can get involved around school but everyone wants to go out on the town every now and again, right? I just don't know how much you can do that in Stillwater.
Last but most definitely not least, A&M. I've wanted to go to A&M since probably sixth grade. Then I visited Baylor and really liked it there. Then I got back on the A&M thing again. And I'm glad I did. Visiting College Station was...awesome. I felt so comfortable. Everyone was amazingly friendly. Campus was buzzing with life. The city of College Station has more restaurants than I could imagine. Everything about A&M felt...right. Whether I was saying "Howdy!" to random people on campus or going for an evening walk, I loved it. The tradition, the football, the people, the fact that I can get ice cream at 2 in the morning if I lived in the Commons. Everything just seemed to fit so well. Plus, I don't look horrible in maroon :)
All in all, I think I'll end up at Aggieland. It had enough diversity that I can expose myself to new people but also people that are similar to me and my values and whatnot. I know I'll find that at every college, but not all colleges have the history of A&M to me. I mean, how many people get to walk on some of the streets that my grandfather and great grandfather walked on. It just seemed right. They have exactly what I want for academics: major in English, minor in creative writing. They also have an awesome education school. Everything seems to fit. Of course, I'll keep my options open. But A&M... well, I'll just leave it at this... :D and GIG 'EM!
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