What was your second-choice school?

my 2nd choice was actually to stay at Valdosta State instead of transferring to UGA.

 

Duke or Vandy

 

maryland - had tons of friends going, and i love the school.

 

I applied early decision to a good school and got in, so I didn't apply anywhere else. Nor did I stick around to graduate.

Others on my list were Reed, Oberlin, Bard.

 

Applied three places, got in all three. Went to my first choice. Second was Harvard. Third was Texas A&M.

Still kicking myself in the ass for not going to Harvard, even though I'd be paying off student loans until I was 95.

 

I guess the University of Chicago was my second choice, but I didn't particularly want to go there. I was up for a full academic ride but only landed a half, so the cost savings (U Chicago was expensive even among expensive schools) wasn't that great compared to my first choice, the small liberal arts college that I really wanted to attend (and loved).

Late in the process, my parents were upset that I hadn't chosen cheaper options. (We were in a teenage-parent war zone at the time but now get along well.) Thus very late in the game, I applied to UNC to appease them. The reason I chose UNC is because I noticed in the fine print that out-of-state students that apply late CANNOT be admitted. Perfect.

Somehow UNC put me on the wait list, however. Then in the summer, after the 'rents had finally agreed to pony up for Preppy U, I took in the mail to discover that UNC had now admitted me, making a mockery both of its own rules and my evil plan. I wrote back "No," hid the letter and didn't tell my parents about it for over a decade, not until we could all have a good laugh and not a bad caning.

 

The school I wound up at, Baylor, was my mother's choice. I'd wanted to go to Texas since I was 6, but she wasn't about to turn me loose in Austin before I even turned 18. I was told I could go to any school in the state except UT.

Most of my relatives (Dad, sis, several cousins) went to Texas Tech, but so did about half my graduating class and I had no desire to spend another four years with them.

I also pursued an appointment to the Air Force Academy. I had (just barely) good enough grades, solid SAT scores and was among the last dozen or so trying to bribe curry favor with the Congressman from our area.

Two things blew that all to hell.

A USAF recruiter visiting my high school went over my stuff with me and admitted that while the Congressional appointment was the only thing between me and a spot, my nearsightedness would have me classified as "non-flight personnel" the moment I hit Colorado Springs. My ego couldn't handle that; it would be like everyone at Annapolis knowing you suffered from incurable seasickness.

Then our county Democratic Party chairman got into a pissing match with someone on the Congressman's staff over some inane situation, and my meeting with the politico somehow never got scheduled.

Baylor ended up being one of the most un-Christian experiences of my life. This was just as the Moral Majority was gaining prominence and I got a little tired of hearing from those on the righteous right just why I was going to hell. It took me three semesters to get out of there and I eventually wound up at a cow college in the middle of nowhere.

Looking back, I realize I should have paid attention to schools like Texas-Arlington, North Texas or Southwest Texas State. But I was determined to go somewhere that played big-time football (Baylor went to the Cotton Bowl my senior year of high school).