Gradhorn

I'm currently attending the University of Texas. I'm not on this forum much anymore, but I should be able to reply to posts and messages within a day or so.

I went on two visits that were outside of the official visit days and they were both worthwhile. One program in particular did a great job of making sure several professors in my area of interst were available - and that is no small feat, as someone else noted. They also organized a morning coffee with several current students in my subfields. It was a great trip that sealed the deal on my decision. Individual visits can be far better than the big group weekends, as long as you are a little flexible on the dates to allow the program to line up the right meetings for you.

I did this two years ago with my pals in a bar. I told everyone I would make my decision in one week. I was down to two schools, so I put them on the table and grabbed the correct hat when I announced my decision. For those that couldn't be present that cared to know, I stole LeBron James' quote from "The Decision" to post to Facebook to serve as my public announcement: "In this fall, this is very tough, in this fall I'm going to take my talents to [CITY] and join the [uNIVERSITY] [MASCOT]."

This is only partially related to the topic, but worth pointing out: If you have a conflict with any official visit dates, ask to visit another time. The program should be happy to oblige and still give you the same travel reimbursement. I visited two programs outside of the broader "open houses", and in many ways liked that type of visit better. I had more numerous and longer meetings with faculty and all of my time on the campuses was fully tailored to my interest area and my concerns.

When schools ask for subfields, approach that question strategically. If your interests straddle two fields, the field you list first might affect your chances. Strict admission quotas by field are probably unusual, but if one of your fields of interest is one that doesn't get as many applicants, listing that one first can modestly boost your chances since they might be a bit more open to applicants for that field.

Look for housing elsewhere and drive in. There is ample parking on campus and the neighborhoods immediately surrounding CSU are awful.

Avoid housing near the Akron campus. It is a terrible neighborhood and students are frequently victims of both violent and nonviolent crime. A much better option is to get an apartment in the Highland Square area and drive or take a bus over to campus. Highland Square is a safe and pleasant area where many graduate students choose to live. Nothing in Akron is especially pricey, so you can expect housing to be affordable.

I turned my rejections from last year into non-stop entertainment thanks to college sports. In my application season last year all nine of the schools were in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. I was accepted by 2, rejected by 6, and wait listed by 1. I had 2 schools to root for, 6 to root against, and I was ambivalent on the last one. Even better, this football season all nine schools made bowl games. My two acceptance schools won their bowl games and the six that rejected me all lost their bowls. I have had a few chances to watch my current school play some of my rejectors. Those are fun days.

Considering the typical salary of an assistant professor, I'd say a five year old Honda Civic.

To get back to the original topic, I'd be hesitant to transfer barring some unusual circumstances. Don't become too fixated on one professor or another from afar. As a graduate student you are the primary architect of your training, and you can shape it to whatever you want it to be. Yes, letterhead matters when you hit the job market, but you are already in at a top school, so that isn't an issue. Transfer would be a painful, time-consuming, and risky process.

The neighborhoods surrounding campus are all fairly pedestrian friendly. It's easy to find a coffee place, a restaurant or two, and a mini-mart close to almost any apartment. It's certainly not as pedestrian friendly as New York, and you should consider a car or at minimum a bike. I use my car on weekends only, but grocery shopping and some social activities would be a challenge without it.

West Campus is the area where the majority of undergrads live. It's quite safe and very close to campus, but it won't be too peaceful. The most popular area among graduate students is north of campus in Hyde Park and the North Loop area. UT shuttles abound through there if you don't ride a bike in to campus.

RE: The UT-Austin page. Last year I saw the application page do the same thing with new tabs popping up. I don't think it meant anything about my status, since it was another 10 days or so until I received an admission decision.

They did the same thing to me last year. Mercifully, they were the first rejection, so the unnerving emails stopped quickly.

When I was pulling together my list of schools I gave my wife veto power over any schools on the list. All the schools on the list had very competitive admissions, so the deal was that anything not vetoed before applications went out was "fair game" for me to accept. As it turned out, my school is 1300 miles away and she received a major promotion at work, so we will be doing a very long distance relationship with flights to each other on alternating weekends. It's not a solution that works for everyone since it is costly to fly that much, but it is something we have done before when I was working in DC for a while and it worked out okay for us.

You might try one of the apartment search services in Austin. I used one to help me find a place and they were helpful.

I was in Austin looking at apartments a couple weeks ago. July might be a little late to be looking for apartments for Fall 2011 semester. Most places I looked at north of campus in the Hyde Park area pre-lease well before July. It might make sense for you to go apartment hunting in May instead of July.

Agreed. Coming from Cleveland where we never see the sun from October through March, I too am looking forward to some sunlight.

I read a lot on these boards people suggesting that Austin isn't like the rest of Texas, but in my two trips there I have loved that Austin is bohemian but it's also very Texan.

I am headed into the Department of Government. I visited Austin a week before the official visit weekend because I had a schedule conflict. Also, I had been to the city before in my former life as a touring musician. When I boarded my flight to Texas I was 80% sure I was going somewhere else, but by the end of my trip I was 90% sure I was going to be a Longhorn. The faculty in my field was fired up to work with me and the city is fabulous. In the end it was an easy call to make.

I accepted my offer from UT today so I thought I would get the Austin thread started.

Rejected at Vanderbilt. This is proof, ladies and gentlemen, that interviews do matter. I was told I was a "top candidate" by a professor of interest at this school in an email. This professor and I had a phone interview shortly thereafter. I usually do very well in interviews, I am quite comfortable doing them, and I always relish the opportunity to get face time or at least phone time. Unfortunately, he and I just did not hit it off at all. For several weeks after this interview - silence. Finally the expected rejection showed up today. Vanderbilt is a great place and its reputation is rising fast, but I ended up being accepted somewhere I personally preferred over Vandy. Also, if I can't find a way to get along with my principal professor of interest, then a school quickly becomes a less appealing place to be.

That was my UNC rejection that was posted. Hey, I was the very first rejection on this board for UNC! I'm #1!

It looks like I have the dubious distinction of being the first person on this board to be rejected by UNC. I came in first in something this year! Yes!

I am deciding between two programs now and one key factor is how well I mesh with faculty of interest. I am wrapping up my visit to School A that was lower on my list, but my #1 professor of interest really went out of his way to spend time with me and we hit it off quite well. That is something that counts for a lot - I am going to be working with this person for 4 years and he will be an important advocate for me when the time comes for placement. I was leaning strongly towards School B, but after this week I have changed my mind.