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This past November, I applied via early action to MIT. I was hopeful, though not in any way certain of being able to attend this fall and fulfill my dream. I knew it was unlikely, because despite my 32 ACT and 148 IQ (and Mensa membership) my GPA of 3.2 finally did me in and I was of course rejected. Looking back, I'm not very surprised at all. In any case, the time is drawing very close that I must choose a second and I'm not very excited about any place in particular. Please suggest some schools in the northwest US (pref. in Idaho or one or two states away) that has a good business and tech school. Being a student of Objectivism, I'd very much like if it were an atmosphere that rewarded such an attitude. Thank you in advance for the advice, I wish I had asked a month sooner and gotten this out of the way.

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These aren't in the NW, but they're still pretty close:

CalTech is an excellent school, but I'm not sure what they have going on as far as a business program goes.

UC Berkeley is great in both areas, but is a little pricey for out-of-state students. My own tactic has been to attend a smaller school in California for all the GE classes, and then transfer after getting legal residency.

Edit: I don't think a 3.2 GPA is high enough to get into Berkeley as an out-of-state student, but if you went to a smaller school first, it doesn't matter.

Edited by dondigitalia
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I go to the U of I and their business school has an interesting approach to teaching business from what I little I understand.

http://www.cbehome.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=28787

check it out.

Undergrad work isn't as important as grad work anyways. You can save yourself a crap load of money wasted on paying for a big name university (like MIT) where a lot of undergrad classes are often taught by TAs *anyways* and go to a cheapo university like U of I. If you come out of a cheapo school with a great GPA and letters of rec, you can go to the grad school of your dreams which is what really matters when it comes to earning potential.

Here is a rhetorical question, but one worth thinking about if you don't want to be squeezed unnecessariliy hard by schools that cost a crap load to attend:

Is any company going to care if Matt J got his undergrad degree from Podunk State University if he got his MBA from Harvard?

Would it be nice to go to CalTech, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, etc as an undergrad? Sure. If you have the scholarships to pay for it, by all means. However, if you don't have money and your grades aren't good enough to get high powered scholarships (your 3.2 GPA isn't going to get you nearly enough to pay for a school like Cal-Tech unless you also happen to be a minority...in which case you might be able to squeeze by), you might want to lower your sights for undergrad work. If you DO have great financial resources, you might be able to get into a better undergrad school.

-E

oh yeah...here is a link to U Idaho's CBE:

http://www.cbehome.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=27417

Edited by Evan
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Very helpful.. I was stressing alot about the undergrads and I can see now that alot of it was unecesary. UofI ISU and BSU are definately more conveniently located, and if they can "not suck" at the same time, I'll welcome it. Good advice so far, thanks guys. I'll keep checking back in case theres a local gem of O'ist professors I'm unaware of.

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I'd suggest that you worry less about supportive attitude and more about basic technical competence. If you want to major in Objectivist philosophy (well, I don't have a suggestion... go to UT Austin, I guess). Otherwise, go somewhere good. There are rankings for schools for engineering and business, so pick the top 30 in each, find the intersection, then select geographically if you want. If you want a seat of the pants answer, go for UI -- I lived in Moscow for a very happy year and might even consider moving back there when I retire. Nuts to WSU. Except for wierd cases like living on Columbus, there are other Objectivists out there to make any place reasonably good, and I don't think you will generally be able to tell whether the engineering school you're in is highly collectivist of Objectivism. Even the commies now understand that collectivist theories of physics and engineering lead to death on a large scale.

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I'd suggest that you worry less about supportive attitude and more about basic technical competence. If you want to major in Objectivist philosophy (well, I don't have a suggestion... go to UT Austin, I guess). Otherwise, go somewhere good. There are rankings for schools for engineering and business, so pick the top 30 in each, find the intersection, then select geographically if you want. If you want a seat of the pants answer, go for UI -- I lived in Moscow for a very happy year and might even consider moving back there when I retire. Nuts to WSU. Except for wierd cases like living on Columbus, there are other Objectivists out there to make any place reasonably good, and I don't think you will generally be able to tell whether the engineering school you're in is highly collectivist of Objectivism. Even the commies now understand that collectivist theories of physics and engineering lead to death on a large scale.

I would like to emphasize that you should shoot for the highest ranking school that you can afford.

If you can only afford schools like UI, BSU, and ISU...you should only be concerned about how those schools stack up against each other. It doesn't really matter how UI stacks up against Cal Tech if you can only afford UI. ;)

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hmm, well okay. Firstly, I am an intelligent able bodied caucasian male. Yeah... no scholarships there. Second, I have 2,000 dollars and maybe another 2 in assets that I can liquidate. I can have maybe 7 or 8 grand more by august. not much more than that certainly. My parents will give me 2 grand for my first semester then I'm on my own. So thats my financial situation. Just thought I should clear that up.

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hmm, well okay. Firstly, I am an intelligent able bodied caucasian male. Yeah... no scholarships there. Second, I have 2,000 dollars and maybe another 2 in assets that I can liquidate. I can have maybe 7 or 8 grand more by august. not much more than that certainly. My parents will give me 2 grand for my first semester then I'm on my own. So thats my financial situation. Just thought I should clear that up.

If you are an Idaho resident, yearly tuition and fees are $4,968 ($1,984 per semester). If you pick up SHIP (the UI's insurance plan aka "Student Health Insurance Plan") then tack on another $1,036. If you don't go with the UI's insurance plan, you must be covered under another policy (like a relative's health insurance policy).

If you live on campus, be prepared to spend like an extra $5,00 or so per semester for room and board.

If you can get two guys together that are willing to live with you in an off campus apartnment, you can cut that cost drastically. I pay $160 per month in rent (I share a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 friends which costs $470 per month which we divide 3 ways) .which adds up to $800 in rent per semester.

Throw in like $300 per month in food (you shouldn't spend that much...but I'm high balling it to show you a worst case scenario if you are irresponsible and eating out all of the time instead of buying groceries like a responsible human being) and you have $1,500 per semester in food bills.

Throw in $150 per semester in utility bills, 7 bucks per month for a house phone with unlimited long distance,

Thus, off campus (if you are a big time eater) you will be paying like $2,488 per semester versus the $5,000 per semester you will pay if you live on campus.

Apartnments aren't really hard to come by in Moscow either. So if you are seriously considering going to the U of I, plan on spending a minimum of $5,472 per semester (and that is if you live off campus and are going with SHIP). If you live on campus, expect to pay like $2,500 more per semester for a smaller room, crappier rooms, and potential whack job roomates.

;)

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I pay $160 per month in rent (I share a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 friends which costs $470 per month which we divide 3 ways)

;)

Excuse the French, but: ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME?!

A 2-bedroom apartement here costs $1600-$2000/month. I pay $650 to share a house with 4 people, and people are usually shocked at how I found such a good deal.

Edit to add: And $1600-$2000 will only get you a place in a so-so neighborhood. If you want to live in the Gayborhood (which is universally the BEST neighborhood in every city), i.e. the Castro in San Francisco, it's even more expensive.

Edited by dondigitalia
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;)

Excuse the French, but: ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME?!

A 2-bedroom apartement here costs $1600-$2000/month. I pay $650 to share a house with 4 people, and people are usually shocked at how I found such a good deal.

Edit to add: And $1600-$2000 will only get you a place in a so-so neighborhood. If you want to live in the Gayborhood (which is universally the BEST neighborhood in every city), i.e. the Castro in San Francisco, it's even more expensive.

Nope...I'm not kidding at all.

Here is the website of one of the biggest appartment complex owners (Otto Hills) which owns several apartnment complexes in Moscow (including the one I live in):

http://www.ottohills.com/services.htm

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I would like to emphasize that you should shoot for the highest ranking school that you can afford.
Yeah, I suppose I did leave that out. Affording is relative to... a long list of long-term issues. If going to Cal Tech results in a doubling of future salary, it's worth paying more for Cal Tech; and a waste of money if it doesn't. If only you could see the future. Where I think the expensive purchased credential matters the most is in essentially social jobs, ones where connections and pull is more important than objective qualifications. I might be concerned about someone with their degree in engineering from Elk City Community College, but UI is a real place.

Good job on the rent, dude. We spent about $400/mo for a half-house in 1981.

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Yeah, I suppose I did leave that out. Affording is relative to... a long list of long-term issues. If going to Cal Tech results in a doubling of future salary, it's worth paying more for Cal Tech; and a waste of money if it doesn't. If only you could see the future. Where I think the expensive purchased credential matters the most is in essentially social jobs, ones where connections and pull is more important than objective qualifications. I might be concerned about someone with their degree in engineering from Elk City Community College, but UI is a real place.

Good job on the rent, dude. We spent about $400/mo for a half-house in 1981.

I agree 100% with what you said and thanks on the congrats! ;)

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