Brought to you live ... from the Megabus!

Today's whirlwind of a trip is to Chicago to visit the University of Illinois-Chicago.  I rode the ICE (Indy Commuter Express) bus down from Carmel this morning with Boy Wonder to downtown.  Then I wandered over to the City Market where I had breakfast with Lu, where we discussed all things in life, including men.

Now I'm on the Megabus. 

For the uninitiated, this is a non-stop bus service from downtown Indy to downtown Chicago that can be booked for as low as $1 one-way.  My trip today was $29, as I had to reschedule yesterday's trip to better accommodate the friends/family visiting schedule and also to fit in a trip to IU. 

The Megabus is a double-decker bus, that has wifi. Yes, dear readers, I am on a bus, rolling down Ohio St. in Downtown Indy, on my laptop, live blogging from the bus.

Bus travel, incidentally, is no different from air travel.  Same level of dumbass-ness is prevalent. 

There are 110v jacks on the bus, so my laptop isn't even without power.  I'm loving this. 

I'll be working on my admissions essays on the bus this morning.  How fab is that???

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Yesterday's visit to IU was intimidating.  Each college I've visited has had a different feel.  American was friendly, GWU was impersonal, IU was intimidating.  I am curious what UIC will be.

Reasons for intimidation: 8% acceptance rate of Ph.D. candidates for starters.  Yes, I said eight percent.  And of course that freaks me out.  I mean, really, I'm gonna have to score not just a home run but a grand slam to get in that place and I really think it may be the best fit for me so far.  They could  easily do a policy program with grant effectiveness (which is what I want to study) without much effort at all.

Now to visit UIC.  I wonder what they bring to the table? 

All the schools I've chosen to apply to are all top 20 schools -- my masters came from a top 20 school so I want the same level of Ph.D,.  Sure, I could get in somewhere else but I don't want to -- seems like I should be selective in my program as ultimately I want to teach and it seems that without a good school as my background that may be hard to do.

Onward and upward.  To Chicago I go.