NYC and Chapel Hill Recap

I've got a few minutes now, so here's a quick snapshot of the rest of my tour.

The conference in New York was alright. I met some other good grad students and spent some time hanging out in Manhattan (which is always fun), but I didn't really get the kind of feedback I hoped to get on my paper. My commentator prepared some good notes, but nobody else asked a single question. So the weekend turned out to be no good academically and, although hanging out in NYC is always fun, I didn't really have the time for a side trip to do some partying. So, in retrospect, I probably should have skipped the conference.

My Chapel Hill visit was fantastic. Again, another excellent dept with top faculty working in my field. The grad student community seemed solid as well. The town was alright--not really much to do. Maybe this is a good thing (for me)--fewer distractions. Kieth Simmons--UNC's grad admissions director--was a little less determinate about my chances of an offer than Eric L. at Michigan. But this could explained as Keith being cautious in his predictions and Eric being ambitious in his. In any case, both said not to accept an offer without talking to them first. I'll be sure to do so.