Friday, July 22, 2005

A hypothetical question

I love hypothetical questions because whatever answer we come up with, the answer will never have the opportunity to be exercised in real life. The hypotheitcal question that's been wobbling in my head is as follows: now that I have spent two weeks at Kenan-Flagler, if I were to get a call next week from Dawna Clarke congratulating me on receiving an acceptance off of the wait list, should I go ahead and change my plans for Darden or stay put and remain at Chapel Hill for the next two years?

In terms of rankings, career opportunities, and reputation, Darden is certainly ahead of Kenan-Flagler. In terms of quality of life, however, the advantage goes to Kenan-Flagler. There is lots more to do at the Chapel Hill-Raleigh area than in Charlottesville. The only advantage the Charlottesville location has is its proximity to Washington, DC. Then there's the issue of whether I should go back to my undergraduate alma mater for a graduate degree. I was talking to my realtor three weeks ago and mentioned UVA still being a possibility. He added that he is a believer in "having different networks of contacts." While I agree that there are merits to the argument that you should not go to the same school twice, I don't believe me returning to Charlottesville would be going to the same school twice. Even though Darden is part of UVA, it is located in a totally different part of campus. I have been told you can go through your entire two years at Darden and not set your foot on the main campus except to receive your student ID (in the very first week) and to graduate (which you're not required to attend).

So if I were lucky enough to get "the call" tomorrow, I'd still go to Darden but it would be hard to cut off all the friends I have made here.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

" I don't believe me returning to Charlottesville would be going to the same school twice. Even though Darden is part of UVA, it is located in a totally different part of campus. I have been told you can go through your entire two years at Darden and not set your foot on the main campus except to receive your student ID (in the very first week) and to graduate (which you're not required to attend)."

-- I have to reply to that with a simple "Bullshit"...now you're being way to literal.
You know UVA. You know the school. You know the system. You know the newspaper. You know the professors. You know what the students are like. You know what its athletics are like. You know the local movie theaters. You know where you'd hang out socially. You know where you can stalk attractive (republican and christian) undergrads...etc etc etc

You'd be going to the same school twice, not really experiencing anything new except a new building.

Anonymous said...

Congratulate me! -- I got into UMD (I applied when they extended their deadline).

Good luck with grad school [insert name here], whichever one you end up at!

Anonymous said...

and of course you know i say all this not to be mean but to stear you towards what i personally think would be the better decision...because the world revolves around me

Anonymous said...

Congrats Pingaling!  Is it for the MBA program? When is McCoy going to apply?  (When he does, obviously he wont apply to UMD b/c he doesnt want to go to the same school 2x)

Anonymous said...

Yep, this is for their part-time MBA program.  I think I'm more excited about back to school shopping rather than actually going to school.

Do you plan on taking notes with your laptop or the traditional paper and pen method?

Anonymous said...

So far I have been taking notes with pen/paper. I have seen some people utilize the laptop method but I personally find it to be too cumbersome.

Anonymous said...

You are correct, I wouldn't get my MBA from Maryland. Now...if I can only get you two to become big college basketball fans, and turn this blog into a discussion of MD and UNC basketball...that would be fun.