Get a Life!

Climate:

How do you like to dress and live?

• cold winters, lots of snow-winter sports (cornell, michigan, wisconsin, CMU)
• mild winters, hot hot hot summers (south texas, southwest)
• love that rain (ooh, Seattle)
• temperate year round (southern california)
• access to rivers, lakes, ocean (chicago)

Basics of Living:

How will you spend each day?

• Costs (stipend vs out of pocket)
• Access to airports, trains, etc (distance from home?)
• Dorms, grad apartments, rooming houses, shared apartments
• Distance to and varieties of resources-shopping, entertainment, hospitals

Ambiance:

City, Country, or Something Else, Indeed

• Urban-good transportation, maybe no car or bicycles
• Mixed-good transportation, but car a necessity
• College Town-an island in an otherwise rural area

Avocation:

Nurturing your self

• Access to other departments: music, art
• Flexibility of program admission: switch or interleave programs
• Access to recreation: weight room, pool
• Emotional or moral support for personal concerns

Culture:

Feeding mind and body

• Theaters, Concerts, Art films, Sports ( separate from university)
• Insular academic atmosphere (nothing else around)
• Religious and Ethnic makeup
• Political climate and activist opportunities
• Food and dietary issues

Other:

It's your life-you decide!

• Two body problem--academia or work for significant other
• Family issues-kids, siblings
• Access to summer employment, or working-while-learning (CMU sw engineering program)