I went to the American Studies applicant day yesterday. I went there thinking American Studies was at the bottom of my list but now I'm genuinely considering firming it above Nottingham and York... the people were friendly, the course actually sounds very very interesting (and appeals to all of my A Levels: History, English Literature, Art) and I've come away entirely enthused.
The guy who lead the talks (I believe his name is David Eldridge, though the students we spoke to refer to him as Dave) actually already knew all of our names and what subjects we were taking and could even recall what one guy wrote about specifically in his personal statement. It seems like a simple thing but it's surprisingly impressive and made me feel much more welcome. It is unsurprising that American Studies at Hull has a 100% student satisfaction rating (: