[King Of LA]

In California, most people want to go to UCLA or UC Berkeley. If you do not get in, well then you must make due with one of the other University of California schools. I did not get into either and spent a few miserable years at one of the other UC schools. I did not mention Stanford due to its cost.

My question to you is what uni/college do most people want to attend where you live, and what do you do if you are not accepted into that school?

[Saith]

Fortunately, Virginia has a ton of good schools. Most want to go to VA Tech or UVA, but James Madison, George Mason, Mary Washington, and Old Duke Universities are all quality schools. Also, right across the Potomac in DC there's American University, Georgetown, and George Washington University, though DC is pricey. And of course there is Northern Virginia Community College (where the N stands for nollij) as the ultimate fallback. Usually, people use one of the lower tier schools to get a solid GPA and transfer to a tier 1 school. I went to Mason and people would wear Tech and UVA colors all the time.

[gasguzzler]

I want to go to GA Tech for my masters. However, I'm smart enough to know I'm not smart enough to get in, or complete a masters there so I'll settle one of the other local colleges.

[ssckp86]

University of Washington is definately the good-to school. UW rejects go to WSU (Washington State University).

[2short]

Texas or Texas A&M are usually the first choice with Texas Tech being a distant 3rd.

Fallback is usually Tech or Texas State or SFA

[Tiger Uppercut]

not sure if there is a go to school in NY, maybe syracuse? eh, too cold. people actually love the SUNY schools, albany was the #1 party school in the country a few times and a lot of those upstate schools are not huge schools, but all good. i went to UCONN, didn't feel like seeing anyone from high school

[DaFort]

With my HS graduating class in North Dakota, Most people just went to UND, while a few of us went out-of-state. A few got into Minnesota. The other out-of-state guys went to San Diego St., Nebraska-Omaha, Cornell, and Ball State (me).
Usually if they can't get into UND (You have to be pretty retarded not to), they went to Northland Tech.

Most people here at Ball State who aren't here for the big name programs would rather be at Notre Dame, Ohio St., Purdue, or IU.

[Mens Rea]

Four years ago I was rejected by many of the Nation's top schools. I did what anyone would do: settle for a lesser-ranked school which offered a superior financial aid package. Going to that school was a great experience which I can't even begin to describe here. Also, if I had not gone there I never would have met my awesome girlfriend.

[Philosophighter]

I skipped the fancy UC's and went straight for a local state univ. The "name" and costs are ridiculous. Plus, by the time I graduated with my degree, I was working full time for the entire 4 years and was making 50K. My friends who went to UCs were struggling to fine cust.serv. jobs or call center positions.

[jahred]

that pic got a laugh out of me.