Tattoos and the Grad Life

[Lascaux3]

I'd say that this depends on your department, but in my experience tattoos and piercings are not that big of a deal. From what my current advisers tells me, one of my professors from undergrad has been walking around like this (plus visible tattoos) since his grad days at Harvard of all places. The TAs I know who have tattoos cover up while teaching, but this is more of a result of dressing well than anything else. Dress shirts are more professional than t-shirts no matter what you've got going on underneath. I'd play it by ear, but I don't think you have any need to be especially concerned.

Edited February 13, 2011 by Lascaux3

[truckbasket]

I worked in the tattoo industry for a decade before returning to school. I actually talked about that in my personal statement, and I can't help but to think that it worked to my advantage in my field (Lit > visual and sub-culture). Oh, and I'm also covered in them.