also, more on the grad school front: i'm heading to berkeley tomorrow afternoon, and will be there until monday night. then two days at home, and off to michigan on thursday. then a week at home, then three days in new haven. whew. i am now *thoroughly* pissed at harvard for their snobbish refusal to do something as simple as sending a letter. well, fine. i didn't really want to go to harvard anyway.

each of the departments i'm considering has an incredibly different feel to it. berkeley's weekend has practically no plans -- just pizza parties, mexican lunches, wine and cheese 'gatherings.' students are happy and profs seem laid-back. there are an awful lot of swatties there. at michigan, i haven't heard from any students, happy or otherwise. the weekend is planned, not to the minute, but something like that. and i received an e-mail from allen hicken -- all the way from manila! -- that was (a) incredibly friendly and (b) incredibly specific to my interests. seriously, that one piece of communication made mich a contender again. and there's yale. i haven't heard much from them since the original plans. the money is still the best. the people seem nice, i get to stay in a hotel for the visit (and yes, i do realize that that would be the mother of all lame reasons to choose a ph.d. program), i think the profs' work is interesting, the department is the smallest...the list goes on.

gaaaaaaad...how to compare places that defy comparison? (i think the answer might be, "financially.")