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Home from Portland in one piece and there is much to tell.

Stay tuned, folks.

Balance

Brains over Beauty, Beauty over Brains, can we find some balance please?

Me and my friend Maria recently had a lengthy discussion over deciding which college she wanted to go to and after a while of talking about courses and the like, the subject turned to the student body. She mentioned that one of her school's student bodies was ranked among the top in terms of physical fitness and overall hotness/attractiveness and jokingly said that may just make her go there. I then retorted that while I love the occasional piece of eye candy myself, I wouldn't want to go to a school where everyone was gorgeous and constantly image obsessed, plus if if I was constantly surrounded by gorgeous guys, I would become desensitized. Heck, the joy of seeing a really hot guy just walk by is like getting a letter from a long lost friend, it's great in small doses but much of the novelty wears off if it happens all the time. She conceded this but then we both had a laugh and decided that it would definately be really tempting.

But what is the ideal mix of beauty and brains?

The perfect mix for me is the nerdy-jockish guy who straddles the brains-beauty line just so. You know, the one who plays football or rows and has the body to match but also wears glasses and is just as at home reading in the library. Unfortunately that's hard to come by, especially in my school where it seems guys fall into one category or the other. My school has its fair share of pretty boys and an equal number of brilliant guys but few that carry the best of both worlds. Maybe it is asking a lot, but sometimes you need to rummage deep to find what you want.

Anyways, I hope life has treated you guys well. Allergies have been killing me recently but a storm recently passed by and that helped somewhat. I wore a pair of shorts for the first time this year which I rarely do. On Wednesday I'll be flying out to Portland, Oregon for a journalism conference (and missing three days of school!) which should be really fun, I haven't gone there since I was 4 so I plan to make the most of this experience. I'll be sharing a room with three other guys including one from crew and we decided we would be working out together each night. I only wish I wouldn't have to get up at 4AM to catch the flight to Portland, I really am not a morning person.

The college decision choice is close to being made and I'll be sure to let you guys know as soon as it's been set in stone, but it seems that I will staying local ;)

Enjoy your week,

JP

College Roulette

My college journey is coming to an end, and so far, things seem to be pointing to me a choice between three schools: University of Virginia, The College of William and Mary and Georgetown University. I didn't get into my top pick of The Wharton School at UPenn and I got rejected from Columbia University and I haven't heard from Harvard yet. All of these schools were my reach schools so I'm not devastated that I didn't get in.

But now that it seems the field has cleared up a bit, I need to get decision making. All the schools had their pros and cons and I want to make a firm decision and not end up playing college roulette or anything and make my decision based on chance rather than where I actually want to go.

Here are some pros and cons:

University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)

Pros:

-Arguably one of the best schools in the South

-Comparatively affordable (but at roughly $40K, it's hardly cheap.
-Not too far from home

-Lots of friends are going here

Cons:

-Not the nicest campus in the world (too big, spread out)

-Has a reputation of the people being preppy and stuck-up

-No financial aid

-It's in the middle of nowhere, nothing to do that's close by.

The College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, VA)

Pros:

-Beautiful campus, rural without feeling detatched

-Historic location and area and right next to Busch Gardens Europe!

-Relatively affordable (about $43K)
-Nice, warm, welcoming people

-Lots of friends are going here

Cons:

-More expensive (no word on financial aid offers yet)

-Farther from home

-The climate is a bit too warm and humid for my tastes

-It felt a bit....Southern

Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)

Pros:

-Felt most comfortable, I could actually see myself going here

-Nicest people

-Best campus and location. Felt like a separate world despite being in D.C.

-Close to home

-It's in D.C. so there's so much to do!

Cons:

-Again, close to home

-Holy student loans Batman! ($52K!!)

-I only know of two other people who got in/might go here

-Students admit there is a homophobia problem but that it's also getting better
-No financial aid

Notice that I didn't include Harvard on the list; I doubt I will get in and it's also hella expensive. Really, Harvard is a lot like a BMW or Mercedes, you buy it for the name first and foremost and everything else plays a minor role. Anyways, the campus felt old and stuck up and the people were much the same, it was really overrated in my mind.

This is going to be one hard decision...

All the best,

JP