What Criteria Are You Using To Make Your Decision?

[againstourfaces]

I believe the CIB factor is a perfectly valid decision-making metric. As creator of this thread, I endorse the continued discussion of the prevalence of Cute Indie Boys in various cities. *stamp of approval*

I'm afraid Duke scores rather low in that respect.....though I'm not averse to changing things up a bit and enjoying some good old fashioned Southern charm for a few years.

Good manners can be just as sexy as ironic disaffection, right?

I once gave my heart to a southern boy... [cue romantic montage]

Chicago definitely has more hotties. Go there! Besides, Chicago's program seems like it's really immersed in cultural theory. It seems very *in touch* and *cutting-edge*

Durham definitely does not have many hotties! Believe me. I've been! I've looked!

[hedgerows]

Durham definitely does not have many hotties! Believe me. I've been! I've looked!

*sigh*

[cquin]

Somebody should organize a drinks night in New York, where we could all panic and commiserate in person. (Also, I want to see what Cquin and TripWillis actually look like.)

Union Pool, anyone? Say, this Friday? (I'll be there regardless...)

[SibylVane]

Union Pool, anyone? Say, this Friday? (I'll be there regardless...)

Ha, I live down the street from Union Pool! By the way, have ya'll discovered the Alligator Lounge? Its right around there, and, get this: free personal pizza with each and every drink! 'Tis a great place to stumble to when the munchies set in but the drinking must continue...

[Fiona Thunderpaws]

Indeed...when I was visiting a school, I had an amazing slice of cake called "The Peanut Butter Bomb" from a place in Brooklyn. I almost accepted right then and there. I mean, cuties come and go, but cake -- now THAT'S a serious matter!

THIS. Food quality is vital, there must be places with great food to which the CIBs and us can go to.

[Phil Sparrow]

I believe the CIB factor is a perfectly valid decision-making metric. As creator of this thread, I endorse the continued discussion of the prevalence of Cute Indie Boys in various cities. *stamp of approval*

I'm afraid Duke scores rather low in that respect.....though I'm not averse to changing things up a bit and enjoying some good old fashioned Southern charm for a few years.

Seriously? Durham/Chapel Hill/Carrboro is full of lots of cute indie people. Just possibly not in the same overwhelming volume as NYC. It also definitely wins for affordable delicious food out of an NC-IL standoff. Listen---Chicago: "da Bears." There is a LOT of that kind of man in Chi. Plenty of CIBs, but also many many many Farleys and Aykroyds.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Phil Sparrow

[cquin]

Ha, I live down the street from Union Pool! By the way, have ya'll discovered the Alligator Lounge? Its right around there, and, get this: free personal pizza with each and every drink! 'Tis a great place to stumble to when the munchies set in but the drinking must continue...

Hmm, I've never been to Alligator Lounge, but when I'm in the mood for personal pizza and/or crust punks, I like the Charleston.

[ecritdansleau]

Another non-academic consideration: Not sure how familiar you are with MeetUp, but if you want some more insight on the variety of social/interest groups in Chicago or the Duke area, I recommend checking it out. http://www.meetup.com/

[againstourfaces]

Seriously? Durham/Chapel Hill/Carrboro is full of lots of cute indie people. Just possibly not in the same overwhelming volume as NYC. It also definitely wins for affordable delicious food out of an NC-IL standoff. Listen---Chicago: "da Bears." There is a LOT of that kind of man in Chi. Plenty of CIBs, but also many many many Farleys and Aykroyds.

come to think of it, i know some hotties from chapel hill--only a car ride away from durham!

[againstourfaces]

guys, are there many hotties in ithaca?

Edited March 12, 2012 by againstourfaces

[marlowe23]

One thing I haven't seen so far on this thread is simply that weird, elusive thing called the gut. I'm a big proponent of going with your gut, and already I'm leaning towards making a decision based on mine (though of course I'm waiting until after visits to do so). It's always worked out with me so far...hopefully it will this time, too.

This.

I went with my gut for my MA--I was accepted to a highly ranked institution and wasn't even going to visit the other one. A professor talked me into going, and I just knew I was meant to be there. It wasn't logical, but it worked out for me. (I'm only just now validated in the eyes of my father, though, because I've gotten into PhD programs). It's hard to explain it, but if you're into animal studies you'll understand--intuition is a powerful thing.

[Fiona Thunderpaws]

guys, are there many hotties in ithaca?

The odds are in your favour, Cornell is HUGE!

[kikalique87]

The odds are in your favour, Cornell is HUGE!

Although the odds are good, are the goods odd? That's been my problem at my current university.

[spasticlitotes]

I heart this thread.

Dorinda - it depends on what you want to study. I think you'll find the CIBs in both places. You could compromise in Chicago and get a small puppy, or become a Hurricanes fan (er....). The thing about Durham is that it'll be very academic in the stereotypical sense. That means you'll get yourself a good dose of book learnin', and maybe not much else. I did my undergrad in Chapel Hill, and I swear, Duke students came to Carolina to party. There's a sort of culture to Chapel Hill/Carrboro, but I'm pretty sure Durham culture involves learning to use a taser and carrying pepper spray everywhere (outside of campus - campus itself is gorgeous, kudos to Duke for getting something right). Chicago will have the culture and vibrance that any kind of interdisciplinary degree will need available easily, whereas Duke will have a limited selection. So do you want to be a sharply honed academic knife or a culturally aware multi-petaled flower? (I think they're both great, it just depends on what you want...)

Note: Crown is my favorite whiskey. In case anyone missed that. Crown.

Fiona, please sign me up for your university. I can train the bears in basketball. I've watched it done right for years.

MrBrooklyn, you just threw yourself into the middle of a hungry pack of wolves. Do us a favor. Bring your friends. Or move to Ohio. With your friends.

If anyone gets around to arranging a drink night, please let us out-of-towners know about a month in advance - I'd LOVE to meet all of you, and I'd be willing to drive/find really cheap plane tickets up there if at all possible. For serious.

I mean, cuties come and go, but cake -- now THAT'S a serious matter!

Tru. Dat.

Although the odds are good, are the goods odd? That's been my problem at my current university.

I'm curious... what do you mean by "odd"?

[vordhosbntwin]

I heart this thread.

Dorinda - it depends on what you want to study. I think you'll find the CIBs in both places. You could compromise in Chicago and get a small puppy, or become a Hurricanes fan (er....). The thing about Durham is that it'll be very academic in the stereotypical sense. That means you'll get yourself a good dose of book learnin', and maybe not much else. I did my undergrad in Chapel Hill, and I swear, Duke students came to Carolina to party. There's a sort of culture to Chapel Hill/Carrboro, but I'm pretty sure Durham culture involves learning to use a taser and carrying pepper spray everywhere (outside of campus - campus itself is gorgeous, kudos to Duke for getting something right). Chicago will have the culture and vibrance that any kind of interdisciplinary degree will need available easily, whereas Duke will have a limited selection. So do you want to be a sharply honed academic knife or a culturally aware multi-petaled flower? (I think they're both great, it just depends on what you want...)

Note: Crown is my favorite whiskey. In case anyone missed that. Crown.

Fiona, please sign me up for your university. I can train the bears in basketball. I've watched it done right for years.

MrBrooklyn, you just threw yourself into the middle of a hungry pack of wolves. Do us a favor. Bring your friends. Or move to Ohio. With your friends.

If anyone gets around to arranging a drink night, please let us out-of-towners know about a month in advance - I'd LOVE to meet all of you, and I'd be willing to drive/find really cheap plane tickets up there if at all possible. For serious.

Tru. Dat.

I'm curious... what do you mean by "odd"?

That may be true for Duke grad programs, but certainly not for undergrad. Fucklist anyone? Shooters? Duke basketball??? Also, I understand that Durham isn't the safest place, but I think the bit about the laser is a gross exaggeration. I lived in Durham for a year, and that's just simply not true. Like any other city with a university that has thrived at the expense of the surrounding community (e.g. Yale, Chicago, Duke, Johns Hopkins, etc.), it has problems, but it has great riches as well, and the triangle area is in general quite excellent. The New York Times cited Durham as a top place to visit last year, fyi.

If you're looking to party, there are plenty of parties in Durham. In fact, Duke made the cover of Rolling Stone for its party scene. But you will be getting a very specific kind of party... I know some Duke graduate students who are bored, but most of them are MA students who have been there for a year or less. The people I know in PhD programa have great social lives and love Durham. Having attended many UNC basketball games and grown up as a UNC fan, with several family members who attended the school, I still find it to be a strange claim that UNC is more of a party place than Duke...

As for Chicago; people in Chicago like to say that the U of C is where fun goes to die. I lived in Chicago for a while, and the U of C was not a very fun place. My neighborhood, on the other hand, was awesome. I lived in the Ukrainian Village/Wicker Park area, and it was an excellent living experience.

Edited March 13, 2012 by vordhosbntwin

[Phil Sparrow]

That may be true for Duke grad programs, but certainly not for undergrad. Fucklist anyone? Shooters? Duke basketball??? Also, I understand that Durham isn't the safest place, but I think the bit about the laser is a gross exaggeration. I lived in Durham for a year, and that's just simply not true. Like any other city with a university that has thrived at the expense of the surrounding community (e.g. Yale, Chicago, Duke, Johns Hopkins, etc.), it has problems, but it has great riches as well, and the triangle area is in general quite excellent. The New York Times cited Durham as a top place to visit last year, fyi.

If you're looking to party, there are plenty of parties in Durham. In fact, Duke made the cover of Rolling Stone for its party scene. But you will be getting a very specific kind of party... I know some Duke graduate students who are bored, but most of them are MA students who have been there for a year or less. The people I know in PhD programa have great social lives and love Durham. Having attended many UNC basketball games and grown up as a UNC fan, with several family members who attended the school, I still find it to be a strange claim that UNC is more of a party place than Duke...

As for Chicago; people in Chicago like to say that the U of C is where fun goes to die. I lived in Chicago for a while, and the U of C was not a very fun place. My neighborhood, on the other hand, was awesome. I lived in the Ukrainian Village/Wicker Park area, and it was an excellent living experience.

Seconding all of the above. Plus, the assumption that Duke will be less intellectually vibrant because of its location is...questionable. If you're looking for interdisciplinarity and inter-institutional work, then honestly anywhere in the Triangle is for you. You get 2-4 schools for the price of one, especially with Duke and Carolina, which have total reciprocity as far as classes, faculty, other student-y things go. (I'm less familiar with how NC State and other area schools work in the system of reciprocal learning, or whatever they call it.) Chicago is obviously an amazing program in a great city, but it is quite isolated from the other area universities, geographically and campus-culturally speaking.

[antecedent]

Although the odds are good, are the goods odd? That's been my problem at my current university.

I'm still giggling about this. I dealt with both during my undergrad ;p

[sobeobe]

There have been a few mentions throughout the thread about "gut." Totally off topic (but then again, a lot of this is) but every time I see a post about "gut," I can't help but thinking of that quote from High Fidelity: "I've been listening to my gut since I was 14 years old, and frankly speaking, I've come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains."

[Fiona Thunderpaws]

Although the odds are good, are the goods odd? That's been my problem at my current university.

Good question. I haven't been to Ithaca in a while... Anyone know the CIB factor in Ithaca? How about Austin while we're on it?

Spasticlitotes-- you can be head of the athletic department AND head of of whatever your subfield is as well then!

[Stately Plump]

How about Austin while we're on it?

Austin is overwhelmingly good. And not just for Texas; Austin has a surprisingly large hipster/indie scene for any city, though a much smaller feel than NYC. In some ways, Austin in kind of like Brooklyn without Manhattan; perhaps it is more comparable to San Francisco, if that helps.

[ComeBackZinc]

In my experience, people significantly overrate area as a criterion for choosing where to go. You're not going to have the time to constantly be painting the town red.

Then again, I'm in Lafayette, so maybe that's just sour grapes.

[Fiona Thunderpaws]

Austin is overwhelmingly good. And not just for Texas; Austin has a surprisingly large hipster/indie scene for any city, though a much smaller feel than NYC. In some ways, Austin in kind of like Brooklyn without Manhattan; perhaps it is more comparable to San Francisco, if that helps.

That seems too good to be true! Is Austin a real place, or is it some sort of fairyland? I think I'm in love... I have to make another offering to the waitlist Gods later today.

Zinc--you're right, of course. We WERE talking about serious decision criteria... but then the thread was massively derailed.

[antecedent]

_speakwrite just made the following argument for the University of Edinburgh:

"IV: Scotland.

Scotland!"

Pretty persuasive, if you ask me...

[againstourfaces]

That seems too good to be true! Is Austin a real place, or is it some sort of fairyland? I think I'm in love... I have to make another offering to the waitlist Gods later today.

Zinc--you're right, of course. We WERE talking about serious decision criteria... but then the thread was massively derailed.

I am so sorry for derailing it! But wasn't it so much fun?!

[ecritdansleau]

Chicago is obviously an amazing program in a great city, but it is quite isolated from the other area universities, geographically and campus-culturally speaking.

I don't know if I would say that Chicago is terribly isolated from other nearby universities--being within an half hour of three R1 universities (including UChicago, Northwestern, UIC) is relatively close, although I cannot speak to the inter-campus cultural climate; the Triangle may be better in that regard of accessibility. But I feel as if more is negatively *said* about Chicago's "culture" than can actually be witnessed (the "where fun goes to die" rep); the undergraduates, at least, that I've known who went there in recent years were all brilliant, happy, and energetic individuals.