I am going to William and Mary

i chose william and mary and just emailed my acceptance to them! HOORAY! there are lots of reasons why i finally chose this one, but the highlights are:
1. it has the best reputation in American Studies of all the schools i applied to
2. there's a prof there doing EXACTLY what i want to do (women in american religion)
3. it's a gorgeous place and i would love to live there
4. i'm thisclose to renting a cottage with cathedral ceilings and wood floors (YAY)
5. it's 1.5 years, so cheaper than any other program (with the exception of UT)
6. my fav prof at skidmore has tons of friends from harvard that teach there
7. i can prob. get into a much better phD program from w&m than anywhere else (unless i stay at w&m, which is possible)
8. i've made friends with a grad student via email, wendy, and she seems really awesome so i already have a friend there!

here's a good story: i was looking at w&m's radio station website when i came across a show that sounded great and the DJ played a lot of music i like. i thought, "hooray! i can make a friend!" and DJ turned out to be my friend Wendy, the american studies grad student! what are the odds? i mean REALLY? i feel like that's a total sign.

so thank you everyone who have offered help, support, a shoulder to stress out on, etc etc. please come visit me in Williamsburg, Virginia! i move in beginning to mid August, so let's hang out before then!