Wait -- first of all, was it Boy Meets World, or Saved By The Bell: The New Class!? Because Boy Meets World was in every way superior. (Topanga will always have a free ride in my heart).

Secondly, the issue under discussion wasn't whether a school should admit only those who can pay vs. those who require aid; the issue was whether a school should admit the under-qualified simply because they're famous -- or in these pathetic examples, marginally famous. In your example it sounds like the guy just happened to be on the career-killing Saved By The Bell: The New Class!. (And was this the undergrad or MFA writing program? And was it even at Columbia?)

What's weird, though, is that Columbia uses its MFA program as a cash cow in general. It's not a matter of some rich folks subsidizing fellow writing students; it's rich folks and middle class folks lining Columbia's pockets to the tune of, what, $75, 000? For a useless arts degree? That's been the traditional complaint against Columbia.

But getting back to your experience, I still have to take fault with something. Columbia does have the money to send poor kidz there, regardless of how many rich, inbred, hydrocephalic George Bush -types they admit. The may charge you billions to go there, but they don't actually pay billions for teachers and rent. Far from it.

I have not lived in snow, but strongly, strongly desire to as I live in the desert where the irrepressible heat never fails to upset me. As far as the cold goes, my part of the desert gets that too. Some snow would offer a much needed break from all the sand I am used to seeing. If I wanted to stick around here, I'd apply to Irvine (a great program, but waaaay to close to home).