Grad schools & priority

U of Oregon just moved up a little higher in the list of schools I want to go to. Yesterday I received in the mail a personal letter from David Crumb, the head of their composition department, providing details about their doctoral program as well as his office phone number so I could call if I had additional questions. Yep, a personal letter, not a xeroxed form letter. And I did not specifically request this. After getting an informational packet from them and listening to some pieces written by faculty members, I e-mailed the admissions department asking how to get in touch with faculty and students, that's all. If this is the way they deal with propsective students, it says a lot for their attitude towards students in general, I think.
To add to the attractions, Other Kenjari looked at rentals in Eugene, out of idle curiosity. He found out that for less than what we pay for our 1-bedroom apartment in Boston, we could rent a house in Eugene. A house!
My first choice is still U of Missouri at Kansas City, but Oregon is now second.

Oh yeah, I got this icon from the eowyn_icons community. I forgot to write down the specific person, though. Oops.