a little-stitious

I've lived in Knoxville the past 5 years (did my undergrad at UT and am now working here), and I've lived in South Knox for 4 of those 5 years. I've loved living there and would definitely advise you to look at places in that areas. My place is 5 minutes from downtown and just under 10 to campus. South Knoxville is also starting to become much more popular right now (*cough cough gentrifying) so there's a bunch of new breweries, coffee places, and shops popping up in that area as well. You'd also be close to a lot of great parks and greenways (Ijams, Forks of the River). South Knox is also going to be a lot more affordable than looking at areas closer to campus (Fort Sanders) or out in West Knoxville. I'm living in a house right now with 3 roommates and my share of the rent is only $275 so there's some great deals to be found. 
You'll definitely know when it's game day, but there's much more to Knoxville than the university so you're right about it being less of a college town. I lived in Nashville before living here, and I much prefer Knoxville (as do most people I talk to). It's obviously not a big city, but it's not a small town feel either. I'm having a hard time thinking of cities that I'd compare it to, especially since I don't know what cities you are familiar with, but off the top of my head Boulder, CO reminded me a lot of Knoxville. And my roommate recently came back from a trip to Baton Rouge and said it had a similar feel. Market Square is the main "downtown" area. Then there's also the Old City and if craft beer is at all your scene, you'll want to spend a frequent amount of time in North Knoxville as well. Knoxville is really quite spread out with lots to do, and there's plenty to do in the surrounding areas as well (Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Smoky Mountains). 
Let me know if you have any questions or want my opinions on particular apartments you've been looking at. I'm familiar with most of the major apartment complexes in the area. And for anybody moving to Knoxville, I could not say enough good things about it! It took me a while when I first moved here to warm up to it because it's not always obvious at first how much there is to do. But I quickly grew to love it and am going to be super sad to be leaving in August. 

Yikes, sorry about that previous post. Didn't mean to ask that here! 
For what it's worth, my undergrad was in a sociology program that had a CJ concentration available, and I really enjoyed having the varied subject matter like you mentioned. I think it just depends on the sociology programs that you apply/get accepted to. I applied to both cj and soc programs and ended up choosing to go with a cj one because the sociology programs only had a handful of faculty with focuses in cj, and I'd rather have an entire department that can expose me to more relevant research. I think it comes down to more of a personal preference and what's the best fit for you. 

Congratulations! You will do great things, I'm sure!  

I've been contacting the grad directors

I've been reaching out to whoever my primary point of contact has been (i.e., who informed me of my acceptance, answered questions, etc.). For most programs this has been the grad director, but for one it was the department chair so that is who I reached out to inform of my decision. I've also been sending a quick email to any other faculty at each program who took the time to talk to me just to let them know and say thank you for their time etc. 

Thanks so much for saying this!! I've been telling myself similar things this past week. It always helps to hear it from someone else. I'm happy to say that I've accepted at the school my gut says is best! 
And congrats/good luck to you as well!

My gut tells me that yes, some universities do offer different students different amounts of funding, but I don't have much to base that on so go ahead and sprinkle some salt on that answer. 
But for your second question, yes you can absolutely negotiate. One of the programs I'm considering actually encouraged us to negotiate and let them know what other funding offers we have gotten so they can compete. I was able to successfully negotiate there for 4 additional summers of funding. . 

I can't really help because I don't know anything about your field. I just wanted to say that I could not be more in love with the city of Boulder so location wise, hands down CU-Boulder wins. And if your professors are suggesting CU-Boulder and it's ranked the highest out of the three, it sounds like they also win in the categories of reputation and academic strength, as long as you thought they were a good fit for your research interests. 

Now that I've received my revised funding offer from UCI, I'm ready to submit my SIR. It's a relief to finally be done with this part of the process. 
Best of luck to all those still waiting and in the decision process. 

Confused....

This sucks... no one wants a former cop with an MA who was almost killed twice in the line. I don't have the publication and research experience that all of you do, but I've lived it. Have fun with your f'ing studying..... I'll be greeting you at Walmart.

Thank you for addressing that. As I had mentioned, that's something I have been struggling with - not letting the fact that I am on a waitlist negatively influence my feelings for the program. Your insight on the process helps alleviate my self-doubt. 

I waited a couple of weeks to hear back from other schools, then e-mailed the grad chair to ask a) if they ranked their waitlist, b ) if so, where was I on the list? c) or do they determine waitlist preference by faculty availability and research interest? and d) when should I expect to hear back based on when acceptances are due (April 15th)? They were really cool about it. 

My waitlist is also my first choice. I emailed back saying I'm still really intrested in the dept. and that I hope to come off of the list in the future.They responded back with a friendly email saying they'll basically keep me in the loop.  They don't rank their waitlist there so no need to ask. 

I just responded to my waitlist notification saying that I did have another offer but the school I was waitlisted at was my first choice, and if they need anything else from me over the next few weeks/months to let me know. They didn't respond [I'm on a computer but if I were on my phone this is where I would add the emoji that has the little yellow cone with the confetti coming out of it].

When I replied to my Rutgers waitlist notification, I [a] told them that I had another offer and b] asked them to let me know about a time frame when it comes to hearing back, not asking about my ranking. They said that they sometimes "go deep into the waitlist" so I'm inferring that I'm ranked low on the waitlist. Which, you know, is fun. 

The universal deadline is April 15th. Schools would like to know much earlier, especially if you're going to turn them down, so that they can make decisions about people on the waitlist. It can be hard to turn schools down if you have connected with faculty or students or saw yourself there at some point, but the best way to not burn bridges is to not string people along. Cut some of the schools who are out of the running early to help others who might have that as their first choice but who are on the waitlist.
Speaking of being on the waitlist, don't let it dissuade you from attending your top school if you're invited. I've talked about this before on this forum, but some of the top students in my grad program were from the waitlist and went on to do really well on the market and in the field. The initially waitlisted students have also been impressive in the department where I'm a faculty member. The admission process is not an exact science and schools often can't admit everyone who they believe would be a good student because of limits on funding/cohort size. Don't infer that a waitlisted position (or a rejection) means that you're somehow less worthy than someone else. Once school starts in the fall, you'll be in the same position as everyone else in your cohort.

People are upset right now, they just realized that it isn't going to happen...don't kick a man when he's down.  There are more constructive ways to say the same thing and that's all I'm saying.  This has been a great community to turn to as I've gone through this process and I'll be back next year if my waitlists don't work out.  I think we all can stay respectful, however.  How is it our place to tell another person to give up on their dreams?  More to the point, I wasn't taking sides.  Just trying to point out that we are going to hear more of the "it isn't fair" as people get bad news.  Please, please don't drag me into the arguement. 

How have you all responded to emails informing you that you've been placed on a waitlist? This is my first experience with being waitlisted so I'm not sure how to respond/what the proper etiquette is. I would really like to know what my position on the waitlist is (if it is ranked at all) so that I can know what chance I stand of making it off the list, but is asking about the ranking of a waitlist frowned upon? And would letting them know that I have other offers to respond to be a good idea, or something I should avoid? 
The program I was waitlisted at was my top choice, but I'm now struggling with thoughts that perhaps I should attend one of the institutions that I have already been accepted to since they were more interested in me. I'm already having a tough time deciding between the two that I do have acceptances from. The thought of possibly having to wait until the day of the deadline to hear whether or not I made it off the list sounds torturous. Any advice on this situation would be appreciated. Fellow waitlist angst is also welcome here!

Maybe you can reach out to one of the grad students we met during the recruitment weekend. I've found them to be extremely helpful.

How have you all responded to emails informing you that you've been placed on a waitlist? This is my first experience with being waitlisted so I'm not sure how to respond/what the proper etiquette is. I would really like to know what my position on the waitlist is (if it is ranked at all) so that I can know what chance I stand of making it off the list, but is asking about the ranking of a waitlist frowned upon? And would letting them know that I have other offers to respond to be a good idea, or something I should avoid? 
The program I was waitlisted at was my top choice, but I'm now struggling with thoughts that perhaps I should attend one of the institutions that I have already been accepted to since they were more interested in me. I'm already having a tough time deciding between the two that I do have acceptances from. The thought of possibly having to wait until the day of the deadline to hear whether or not I made it off the list sounds torturous. Any advice on this situation would be appreciated. Fellow waitlist angst is also welcome here!

I'll claim one of the UCI acceptances!

I applied! I have absolutely no idea how competitive it'll be though. 

I told my sister to order Chinese food because we didn't have anything to eat at home, and (I kid you not) this was my fortune.  

In sure you all did a lot better than you think you did. Have faith/hope! I didn't make this account with an anonymous type name so you all probably know exactly who I am but, everyone I met there was super smart and a real contender! You all definitely have a shot!