<p>I almost didn't apply to UCLA because ever since I was five, I made up my mind that UCLA was the one UC I did not want to go to because I thought I would choke on the smog there. Even though I knew that was a dumb reason when I was finally older, it was kind of a hard image to get out of my mind when it had been ingrained in my imagination for more than a decade.</p>
<p>So... I guess its a good thing I did end up getting past that image and eventually applied because I actually go to UCLA right now and have yet to choke on smog. =P</p>
<p>I applied to Tufts and NYU, but I didn't want to go because I thought the school colors and logo were ugly. Didn't apply to Middlebury because I thought it would be a farmhouse since it was located in Vermont. Stupid. lol</p>
<p>my friend is applying to sarah lawrence b/c she has a friend there who loves it. she's applying to amherst, middlebury, and reed (<--into the who free learning thing, plus they have had a nude dorm on campus)</p>
<p>OK so here is my list; i applied to: Swarthmore--i live like 5 seconds away and everytime i'm on campus i fall in love (plus swatties are absolutely insane and eccentric and full of quirky traditions that amuse the heck out of me, students are friendly and everyone gets to know pretty much everyone else) Brown--b/c it so laid back and EVERY current student and graduate i meet love it there (plus they have a campus music scene and liberal atmosphere...god i want to go there) Williams--never heard of it before last year...but got things in the mail from them and they paid to have me visit. it is in the middle of NO WHERE but...the campus is beautiful and the people are nice (the physics professor i talked with during a faculty dinner was awesome and funny...he agreed that biology sucks....)(plus vampire weekend just played on campus!) Yale--god i dunno why...anderson cooper went there? (for whom i have an inexplicable obsession...) Northwestern--love chicago, campus is by the water, spent the summer on campus and like someone said before the guys were quite attractive :P Smith--spent a summer there too and my sis went there, northampton is probably one of the coolest towns in the country, plus i like the whole feminist thing UPenn--cause its close by so what the heck</p>
<p>dude i have heard a lot of pennsylvania/philadelphia bashing on this forum :( i live 15 minutes away from philly and i LOVE it (live aid was held here...even if the london one was cooler...)</p>
<p>I DIDN'T apply to: tufts--really wanted to but i kept on hearing about the racial/class/social divisions on campus (my high school is already like that, i don't want to go through that again in college) cornell--my arch nemesis goes there (dumb i know but it is also on princeton review's list for "low race interaction" so i don't regret it) uchicago--the essays GOD the essays (also b/c everyone kept saying that's where fun goes to die...) pomona--the parents would not have me go to the west coast UC berkeley--^, though cool school, it is WAY to big colgate--the online videos/website seemed lame princeton/harvard--hate the jersey suburbs and boston (god i hate boston) wellesley--to snooty (smith rules) columbia--lets face it, in new york i would get nothing done...</p>
<p>plus i didn't apply anywhere below the mason-dixson line...</p>
<p>Like other posters, I think certain numbers are good and others are horrid. I like the number 8 better than 9, and I don't really have an affinity for 7. When deciding to apply to colleges, 8 seemed like a good number.
When I needed my 8 schools, it went something like this:</p>
<p>UCLA, UCB- Don't like the mascots, but B WAS a huge center in the hippie movement, so...
Northwestern- I've heard it's a great journalism school, I think? (JK.)
UCSB, UCSD- Fee waiver.
U of Penn- One of the professors was in a Sean Connery flick, and I really like Philly Cheese Steaks.
Yale- Hmm, as much as I adore the school, Gilmore Girls propaganda probably had a bit to do with it.
Wellesley- Hillary Clinton went there AND Maya Angelou taught a class! Sign me up! Plus, I have a better chance of my parents letting me live on campus at an all-girls school.</p>
<p>I almost didn't even look at Swarthmore because I didn't want to be called a Swattie.
I applied to Tufts because the guy in the info session was insanely funny. me and my mom liked him so much we saw him again.
I didn't apply to Haverford because the tour guide made us stand/sit on the wet grass while he went on and on that about honor code and it ruined my shoes.
I almost applied to georgetown because of the exorcist.
I applied to Wesleyan because I heard they play Beatles songs on their bells.
I applied to Williams because they were no extra essay.</p>
<p>I didn't apply to Dickinson College in PA because I got sick of looking at that damn mermaid on the top of the tower in a photo on the viewbook cover.</p>
<p>I didn't apply to Penn State because I was angry their tuition for me would be higher than Cornell's, and it is only a state school. Screw that!</p>