If you could get into any university you wanted (tuition is not an issue), what would you choose and why?

Not American

UVA

Beautiful campus, looks like a resort

very good cross/distance programmes\

absolute top-notch academics

cool traditions

Yale, for academics and the library.

Stanford

oregon no doubt... the tradition, training partners, coaching. top notch program

formerly present wrote:

There was a similar thread some months back, and it got me thinking about this. If I were to attend college now, I might go for Cambridge (England), which I think has the finest intellectual atmosphere of any English-language university.

The University of Chicago if that's truly what you are looking for.

Being that I'm reasonable smart but not genius level in the classroom, I'd pass on my first choice of Stanford because I'd be overwhelmed by the genius around me. Taking my second choice, I'd go to Oregon because it has solid academics, beautiful campus and TRACK & FIELD is king. They have the tradition and is presently the best school for running.

Ralphy wrote:

formerly present wrote:

There was a similar thread some months back, and it got me thinking about this. If I were to attend college now, I might go for Cambridge (England), which I think has the finest intellectual atmosphere of any English-language university.

The University of Chicago if that's truly what you are looking for.

Yeah, but come on: it's in Chicago.

Stanford definitely has a stigma at least on the west coast.ASU, FLA, ALA, FSU, TX and GA should head the list if my evaluation of cheering sections during football games is accurate. Some other schools have better cheerleaders (USC) but don't seem to have as much depth....

Mr 3472 wrote:

Co-sign on Stanford. Great school, great weather, great athletics. Not much else you can ask for really. All the accolades of an Ivy without the negative stigma.

Anyone picking MIT, Stanford, or Harvard type schools must not enjoy having sex with attractive girls.

obvious virgins wrote:

Anyone picking MIT, Stanford, or Harvard type schools must not enjoy having sex with attractive girls.

You've committed a serious logical error. Without commenting on the attractiveness of female students at any particular schools, I can safely say that obtaining a degree from Harvard tends to increase the probability of having sex with attractive women for many years thereafter.

It boils down to two schools which have the richest tradition in Track & Field, and whose athletes are synonymous with the best in our sport in the world. These are the dream schools for me:

USC, the only school to serve as the main host for the Olympic Games and they did it twice in 1932 and 1984, plus USC alums have won more major marathons and NCAA Football National Championships than any other school.

UCLA, the school that has won more Olympic and IAAF Outdoor Track and Field medals, the most NCAA Championships in basketball, and more NCAA Championships in all NCAA sports.

Interesting. For me, I don't think that the school's sports tradition would be a significant factor at all. Perhaps it might be different if, for example, I were a top high school football or basketball prospect -- although, even then, I don't think that I'd give much weight to UCLA's history of success in basketball unless John Wooden were reincarnated and immediately signed up for another five-year contract term.

I was in that position. I had a free ride for grad school where ever I wanted to go, and had schools actually paying for me to visit (academic-based). Went to UC-Berkeley and do not regret my decision.

The guy who implied that the women at Stanford are not attractive must have gone to a different Stanford

Harvard. Because everyone knows it's the best.

The Thing Of It Is wrote:

The guy who implied that the women at Stanford are not attractive must have gone to a different Stanford

I doubt very much that he attended any of the three places (MIT, Harvard, and Stanford) that he mentioned.

CIA

Beautiful Hyde park NY

I'm an Northeasterner and I'd still say Stanford. It'd be just as hard as my current school, but more well-known and without shitty winters. I kind of wish I'd applied there, actually. MIT sounds miserable unless you're a certain kind of person, which I am not.