art6308

When I wrote my SoPs, I mentioned the names of several faculty members that I wanted to work with. And then I included a statement that basically said that I was really just looking for a dedicated mentor/adviser that would work with me on topics that I was interested (which were pretty broad topics). Anyway, if you are concerned that mentioning specific faculty members might make the school disfavor you in some way, I'd include an umbrella statement like that, saying that you would be interested in working with another faculty member if the situation came up. I personally feel that it is important to mention who you might like to work with - that was one of the main reasons I feel I was accepted. Hope that helps!

I visited the campus last weekend, and several grad students told me that if I wanted to avoid living near undergrads to try to find a place a little further away from campus. Oxford is really small, so unless you live way out on the edge of town, you could easily walk to campus (plus they have a great bus system). There are several complexes that rent exclusively (or almost exclusively) to graduate students, so if you are interested in living in a bigger complex rather than a house, I would look at some of those. Some of them also offer grad students good incentives for signing a lease (for example, you might be able to get a 2 bedroom for a 1 bedroom rate). But, a lot of those complexes are almost full for the Fall, so I would recommend starting your search as soon as possible. If you are looking at renting in a house, you'll probably have an easier time finding vacancies (but those can be hit or miss). I hope that helps! Best of luck!

Some schools are part of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), which has rules about the April 15th deadline. "Acceptance of an offer of financial aid (such as graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by an actual prospective graduate student completes an agreement which both student and graduate school expect to honor. In those instances in which the student accepts the offer before April 15 and subsequently desires to withdraw, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. " So, you can withdraw your acceptance of an offer without penalty through April 15th. After April 15th, if you have accepted an offer from any school that is a member of the CGS, you will have to get a formal written release from that school before being able to withdraw. For a list of the CGS schools, go here: http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/CGS ... ch2009.pdf Hope that helps! Best of luck!

NYU mailed out letters on the 27th - they had to make their decisions for both the Ph.D. and M.A. programs since some people did the dual application. I got my letter today.