Admitted Students

Aaaaah yes... the proverbial Admit Weekend. "Congratulations! U're all brilliant--please come to our school--we love you, really, we really really love you!" Twas the essence of what the Dean of Admissions opened the weekend and what everyone else would echo for the next 2 days.

Unlike the first school, I visited, the crowd was not motley. On the contrary, they were "laid-back" preppy--totally just like me:) I also noticed that they were all generally attractive. Majorily reminded me of my undergrad--though usually these qualities are rarer amongst grad/professional programs. YUM.
The school was gorgeous. Regal really... the building grand and painfully detailed. We kicked off the day with mock classes, which I ditched for a panel for parents and significant others. I heard all the real dirt there.... hehehe. What's the first year really like. How seldom can you expect to see your beloved. How fast does it go. What kind of job prospects can be expected afterwards. There were a few other admits that took my approach and skipped out for this panel instead.

The burning question on my mind--to what degree will my GPA determine my post-graduation employment and salary prospects? The response: The problem here is that getting a top paying job is too easy. If you just sign up, and show up for the interview, you're pretty much guaranteed the position. So, students do not sufficiently think their decisions through and determine whether they really want that job. You have folk mindlessly taking top paying jobs. Oh dear, what a dilemma ;)

OMG--it's welcome to the good life!

International, public service/interest, business, corporate, trans-everything--yep, they have it all and then some. How am I supposed to choose? Who's telling the truth about being the best?

Afterwards, we broke up into pre-arranged groups for an AWESOME lunch with faculty. My prof--so real, so cool, so brilliant, and so all about the school. He played down every single other option I had. He was totally using his lawyering skills to win me over. He seemed to like me. The last question I asked him, sort of stumped him. A real easy one too--"What would you change about the school?" He complimented me later for it. I said thank you. He didn't expect that and graciously said, you're welcome. I'm a sucker I know, but at least it's the facade of mutual respect. Gotta start somewhere.

My undergrad seems to be a big deal here. It was weird because I know one girl who went to this law school. Just as I thought of her, I overheard two law students saying, "Well, as long as she doesn't come in with that chip on her shoulder...." "Yeah, but you know how **** ------- can be!" And they laughed and walked off together--it was that girl I had just thought of. I guess she hadn't changed. There many of us here, and basically running school.

She was on the student panel. She was her same self except more confident and more articulate. Whoa. She was editor of law review. Nice job. AND captain of the mock trial team. DAMN. I was bored most of the time hearing the panels. I've heard it all before and the bull is just so predictable.

Then we went to preview some student activities. I was standing there when a very beautiful Indian girl stared at me for a long while, read my name tag, and very confidently and loudly said, "TINO--why do you look so familiar?" She had a sexy voice.

"I don't know," I said while smiling and looking up to her large gorgeous orb-like eyes. She was hott. I stared at her more directly. "You do look very familiar," I finally responded. I named my major, then a class---"YES! OF COURSE!" She again said loudly before we both burst into half-feigned courtesy giggles.

"Sooo... how do u like it here? Blah blah blah.... What are the professors really like.... blah blah blah.... what's the immediate area like..... blah blah blah... Well you've got to come u know! Of course, I just have one more school to look at.... blah blah blah"

So this happened several times. I discovered connections with everyone from the associate director of admissions who knew a good friend of mine back home, to one of the popular gay hotties from my undergrad who had been hatefully outed while he held a high executive position in student government back in our hey days.

It seemed as if I was already naturally part of the community. Academia can be an INORDINATELY small world. Hence mua's paranoia and past reluctance to date within this circle openly.

That evening the gays had a "ball" planned for us. They were brining the ugrads along as well. U know--one big family gathering.

I wasn't going to go. I only had 1 hour of sleep on my back afterall. But I hauled ass and went. Thank god I did! Whooof... a major hottie greeted us at our first stop. He smiled, and I just lost it. Damn. We were just picking him up from one bar before heading over to the lounge where the party was starting.

The hottie walked with me and started asking me a bunch of questions. He was really nice. He seemed to be rather open to. He got into a top 3 school and turned it down for this place. He had dated, as an undergrad a guy who attended a top 3 school and who had inoculated him against the "myths" associated with having to attend one of them. I found the conversation very enlightening. He finished off the schpiel by coaching me on how to negotiate for additional funding.

We got to the lounge. He took off his jacket. Darn--disappointment. Great build but pudgy and chubby. I couldn't get turned on. That was good thing though--because I got sooo many drinks purchased for me, that I had been into this guy, I would've made a COMPLETE fool of myself. I mean, he already had me hooked. It would've been easy for him to reel me in.

At the bar, he stayed with me. And we talked a lot more. About porn, guys, and the dude from ugrad who was apparently infamously outted. Good gawd, everybody knows about him!

Later, another gay came up to me and took over the conversation. We determined we had mutual friends from ugrad. He went to the number one college. It was a little freaky. He loved my home town and wasn't trying to steer me away from other law schools. At least not overtly. The best approaches after all are subtle. Gays at this school enjoyed quite a privileged life--he explained why.

I was bought more drinks by the fellow gay law students, and I slowly started going there where I shouldn't in such professional situations, so I stopped. We talked and talked and there was a little touching here and there. I found it interesting. It's my first time really "going out" with professional gays on my own. All the rules of social grace apply and yet the rules of homo-mega-flirts do as well, making the dance in between these two standards a very ambiguous and yet enjoyable one.

Eventually folks wanted to dance. So, tipsy as I was, I decided to dance like no one was watching. They liked it! And we all got in a circle and just started tearing the floor up!

Another gay approached me on the dance floor. What was my favorite spot in my home city? he asked. A sweet question. Off we launched into a long discussion before I said that i wanted to go to school where I could find a husband. So he asked me my type. So I rattled off the dudes I've dated. He was a little surprised at the individual heterogeneity in my sample:) Yea, I'm a weird one.

I was getting really tipsy at that point and I hadn't slept. So I said bye to everybody and walked my ass to my host's apartment. I fell and slept for 8 hours straight.