engguy

I nominate: Any city in which the program has offered you a great funding package and really seems to want you. Trust me, you will learn to love it there.

And I agree with the above: anyone who disses the Midwest is a shallow individual who gets "bored" with real people, seasons, apple orchards, rivers, and great architecture from the turn of the century. And probably drowns kittens to boot. (Thus ends my Bull Durham-like speech.)

I nominate: Any city in which the program has offered you a great funding package and really seems to want you. Trust me, you will learn to love it there.

And I agree with the above: anyone who disses the Midwest is a shallow individual who gets "bored" with real people, seasons, apple orchards, rivers, and great architecture from the turn of the century. And probably drowns kittens to boot. (Thus ends my Bull Durham-like speech.)

I nominate: Any city in which the program has offered you a great funding package and really seems to want you. Trust me, you will learn to love it there.

And I agree with the above: anyone who disses the Midwest is a shallow individual who gets "bored" with real people, seasons, apple orchards, rivers, and great architecture from the turn of the century. And probably drowns kittens to boot. (Thus ends my Bull Durham-like speech.)

here's a suggestion:

in addition to asking questions -- all the above suggestions are good, by the way, though you might find that people will start avoiding your company if you start to look like too much of a pesky nerd -- keep your eyes open and be observant.

watch for the following things: do the grad students have access to a decent number of computers / printers (ask to see the grad lounge and/or some offices)? does the printer/computer look like it's a million years old? what about access to office supplies / copy machine etc., just the general accessibility and up-to-datedness of things you'd want to have available?

library: bring a short list of books that might be standard to your field and important to your studies. look them up at the library. see if they have them. if they're checked out, ask what the borrowing policy is and how requests are handled.

if you are able to visit a class or two, pay attention to how actively the students engage in the discussion, and the general aptitude / insightfulness of their questions. you may catch some class on a bad day, but by and large this might be a good gauge of the overall level of the students, who will soon be your colleagues. don't mistake silence for wisdom. and don't be afraid to jump in yourself and ask a question or two.

all of these things might seem very minor -- esp. the supplies stuff -- but, believe me, the little things will come to mean a lot when you're in there and having to dig up a stapler or print out a paper or a syllabus for your class. and it really will give you a good clue as to how organized and well-funded and basically happy the current students are.

best of all, you don't have to rely on unreliable narratives or overly rosy pictures. use your eyes and ears -- picture yourself there, working and learning.