Close, but no cigar

Kaput. Finito. FUCK.

After investing so much time and energy (a whole year's worth!) as well as letting my imagination run wild with visions of me chilling out at a psuedo-alternative hole-in-the-wall dive of a cafe with egghead New Englanders, enjoying debating everything from the merits of Anchorman to the state of international diplomatic relations, boozy nights and the ethereal world of high society where old biddies rule the roost, I was crushed today when I found out that my GPA was not high enough to get me halfway across the world and into the loving, gothic arms of the Boston College Admissions building.

My GPA was off by... ONE point. ONE fucking point. I have never hated the number so much in my life. One is supposed to be a good number! Being first in a race makes you the winner! Maybe if the gap wasn't so narrow and I was off by say, 10 points, I wouldn't have had a stroke. If it was off by 10 points, I at least could have consoled myself with the fact that I knew I didn't try hard enough. Off by one point... Geez, I KNOW I worked my poor arse off. And for what?

After sulking about it to a friend, who unwittingly called me during my mini-breakdown, I got my shizz together and went through the list of partner universities offered by my institution.

University of Arizona

• UA sounded good but deserty. It has a few things going for it though. It's a public school and therefore a party school. I like parties. Nicole Richie went there for a little while thus making it a party school of mythical proportions.
  
• It's a big, big school with plentiful resources and a good reputation.
  
• It's reputation as a sporty school was appealing because years of watching crappy Hollywood sport movies has embedded in me a desire to attend a pep rally and accuse a dumb jock of sexual harrassment.
  
• However, Arizona, as far as I know is one of those places where people pretty much rely on their cars to get from A to B andas a poor student in foreign climes, this would make things extraordinarily hard.
• The other thing that counted against UA was the fact that it was situated on the otherside of the country from New England. I have some sort of deep longing for the east coast. It must be the biddies and their high tea.

Clarkson University

• Potsdam, NY. While having an affinity for all things NY kitsch, my research on Clarkson (thank you wikipedia) didn't really do anything for me. I wasn't filled with a burning desire to pack my bags and runaway to a place that sounds like it's long been forgotten. I'm probably wrong. It could be the most vibrant city on earth but the college didn't sound at all appealing because of it's teeny tiny size (3 000 odd students, I believe).
• I'm simply not that desperate to be in the east.
  

Michigan State University

• Sounded promising. It's the eighth-largest university in the US and is considered a 'public ivy'. However, I do think anything and everything seems to warrant the 'something or other ivy' tag.
• I vagually recall Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor wearing a MSU college jumper or some other mid-western college jumper. This would count as a point towards MSU because I loved Home Improvement as a kid.
• It's history of activism impressed me. I probably wouldn't take part in it, but it's nice to know it's there.

Pennsylvania State University

• Hmm.. Penn State seems to come up in pop culture a lot - Chief Wiggum went there, it has a crazy long wikipedia entry and my favourite show at the moment is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The twins attended Penn State. Dennis did a psych minor and Dee did 3/4 of a psych major which kicks Dennis' minor any day.
• It has a Glee Club. I have no idea what a glee club is but it sounds wanky enough to be totally awesome.
• Penn State students host the world's biggest student-run philanthropic event in the world - a two-day dance-a-thon. I like philanthropy and I like dancing. Bring it on.
• And finally, it's location is almost perfect enough for it to work for me.