Brief impressions of BC
Apr. 13th, 2008 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liaku1) The campus is pretty. Will provide evidence with photos later, but for now, let's just say that the campus is gorgeous. Because it is. Seriously. Even the inside of the buildings are gorgeous. (I would like to cite Columbia as a campus that looks great on the outside, but is perhaps the most unpleasant thing ever on the inside.)
2) So, like, they gave me this folder with the itinerary in it. I think I was just finished listening to the second lecture (seminar on English & History departments), and when I was walking down the stairs, my hand slipped or something, and suddenly I had this massive papercut on my finger. By massive, I mean that a whole half-centimeter of my skin was hanging on only be a thread. It looked fugly. Naturally, there were no first-aid kits randomly chilling on the quad, so I wrapped my finger in a paper towel and waited for it to stop bleeding profusely.
3) I am going to make a conservative estimate of what 50% of the girls were wearing. 75% may be more accurate, but it's not like I stopped to examine everybody that was there. The typical outfit: Ugg boots, the ugly kind. Blue jeans, boot-cut or flare. Aerocrombie & Eaglister t-shirt of some variety. Northface jacket, the lusterless felt kind. This actually really pisses me off. I know I sound like a total asshole saying this, but I do care what people wear. I care that they're not all wearing the same damn thing. I don't care if they're dressed like beggars--well, I do care, but it's preferable to seeing an entire campus full of old-school videogame NPC clones walking about.
4) I still don't approve of the Core Curriculum, but it's more of a "This sucks" than a "RAGE RAGE WITH THE FURY OF A THOUSAND SUNS" thing. I'm sure that even my complaint of gimongous intro-level courses doesn't hold water. I'm one of those students that does absolutely fine in a gimongous class, nevermind my preference for smaller classes.
5) Very much liking how their Study Abroad works. I'm pretty sure Reed's programs are fine though (was looking at the University of Sussex one in particular). This might be a pretty major factor though.
6) The students were really short. I saw no girls taller than myself, with the possible exception of one--though I'm not entirely sure that girl wasn't a man. Out of the guys, majority were roughly my height sans heels, with a few up to par with me with heels. None of the prospectives were really obviously over 6' (I stood at about 5'11" or so with my heels, so measuring against myself is the easiest way to tell), except for these two random Asian guys I walked by. Thar be some tall Asians, yo.
7) The religious influence and general political conservatism seems mostly unnoticeable.
8) Dorms suck. Uh, the doubles I saw? They're smaller than my current double. Communal bathrooms too. My dormlife would be getting a downgrade, I think. The triples are nice, and I think I'll be requesting one. They're two rooms with a private bathroom, not a bad deal. Either way, not too fond of the living arrangements. Good enough, but fails to impress. I think I'd like it better if the floors were somehow divided into smaller communities of maybe 20-30 instead of just a massive floor of many. Better for building a community. Either way, I'm a little disappointed at the lack of a common lounge for chilling. I guess it's a bit unnecessary since everyone brings a TV along.
At the airport, I was just sitting alone at a cafe table with a drink. Spacing out, you know. Some guy comes up to me (youngish, tall and dark but not really handsome, well-dressed, nice coat, liked the plaid shirt), and he says, "So you're going back to DC?" I nod, real slowly because I'm all spacey. "Yeah, I'm heading all the way back to California."
I think I responded with "Cool" or something. Maybe not. As said, wasn't really paying attention. Then he just grinned and walked away.
Thirty seconds later, my brain finally decides to kick in with a comment: Who the hell was that, and how the hell did he know I was from DC?
Crazy little world.
2) So, like, they gave me this folder with the itinerary in it. I think I was just finished listening to the second lecture (seminar on English & History departments), and when I was walking down the stairs, my hand slipped or something, and suddenly I had this massive papercut on my finger. By massive, I mean that a whole half-centimeter of my skin was hanging on only be a thread. It looked fugly. Naturally, there were no first-aid kits randomly chilling on the quad, so I wrapped my finger in a paper towel and waited for it to stop bleeding profusely.
3) I am going to make a conservative estimate of what 50% of the girls were wearing. 75% may be more accurate, but it's not like I stopped to examine everybody that was there. The typical outfit: Ugg boots, the ugly kind. Blue jeans, boot-cut or flare. Aerocrombie & Eaglister t-shirt of some variety. Northface jacket, the lusterless felt kind. This actually really pisses me off. I know I sound like a total asshole saying this, but I do care what people wear. I care that they're not all wearing the same damn thing. I don't care if they're dressed like beggars--well, I do care, but it's preferable to seeing an entire campus full of old-school videogame NPC clones walking about.
4) I still don't approve of the Core Curriculum, but it's more of a "This sucks" than a "RAGE RAGE WITH THE FURY OF A THOUSAND SUNS" thing. I'm sure that even my complaint of gimongous intro-level courses doesn't hold water. I'm one of those students that does absolutely fine in a gimongous class, nevermind my preference for smaller classes.
5) Very much liking how their Study Abroad works. I'm pretty sure Reed's programs are fine though (was looking at the University of Sussex one in particular). This might be a pretty major factor though.
6) The students were really short. I saw no girls taller than myself, with the possible exception of one--though I'm not entirely sure that girl wasn't a man. Out of the guys, majority were roughly my height sans heels, with a few up to par with me with heels. None of the prospectives were really obviously over 6' (I stood at about 5'11" or so with my heels, so measuring against myself is the easiest way to tell), except for these two random Asian guys I walked by. Thar be some tall Asians, yo.
7) The religious influence and general political conservatism seems mostly unnoticeable.
8) Dorms suck. Uh, the doubles I saw? They're smaller than my current double. Communal bathrooms too. My dormlife would be getting a downgrade, I think. The triples are nice, and I think I'll be requesting one. They're two rooms with a private bathroom, not a bad deal. Either way, not too fond of the living arrangements. Good enough, but fails to impress. I think I'd like it better if the floors were somehow divided into smaller communities of maybe 20-30 instead of just a massive floor of many. Better for building a community. Either way, I'm a little disappointed at the lack of a common lounge for chilling. I guess it's a bit unnecessary since everyone brings a TV along.
At the airport, I was just sitting alone at a cafe table with a drink. Spacing out, you know. Some guy comes up to me (youngish, tall and dark but not really handsome, well-dressed, nice coat, liked the plaid shirt), and he says, "So you're going back to DC?" I nod, real slowly because I'm all spacey. "Yeah, I'm heading all the way back to California."
I think I responded with "Cool" or something. Maybe not. As said, wasn't really paying attention. Then he just grinned and walked away.
Thirty seconds later, my brain finally decides to kick in with a comment: Who the hell was that, and how the hell did he know I was from DC?
Crazy little world.
In other news, MoEP: The Abyssals is out. Since yesterday. I may invest. Pretty meh on Exalted 2nd in general. I'm just a fluff-reader and save for The Lunars, the fluff's really kinda sucked. Of course, The Lunars was made of so much awesome, it's pretty much made up for the total lack of awesome everywhere else. From what I've heard so far, The Abyssals isn't bad. There haven't been any fluff complaints, and given how much the Exalted fandom complains about every damn thing since 2nd, that's saying something.
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Date: 2008-04-15 12:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-15 12:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-15 01:24 am (UTC)