laika

I go through there once every year or two on my way to visit family, and there's almost nothing to do, and it's fairly ugly. It's also pretty gray and cold. I would definitely give it a chance because of the program, but visit before you consider going. The town seems to be pretty centered around college football without much else going on. Where else are you applying? And to the above, I'd definitely apply with stories over a novel excerpt, unless the excerpt stands alone with a narrative arc and is better than your short pieces.

Hi there! Just want to put a plug in for Madison. It's a really cool town, and incredibly beautiful. I know you might picture cornfields when you think Wisconsin, but Madison is really wonderful. Definitely apply if the program itself is appealing. Syracuse, on the other hand, is one of the worst places I've ever been (I'm personally still considering applying because of the program, but would definitely not be excited to move there.) To jump in, I'm applying to Michigan, Wisconsin, Brown, UVA, Cornell, Oregon, WashU, and maybe Syracuse and Iowa.