[abgoldberg]

So I've been admitted to the following two PhD programs:

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Comp Sci & Engineering
University of Wisconsin (Madison) Computer Sciences

I'm trying to balance out department strength overall, reputation, program requirements, location, campus life, stress level of students, and of course--the research and professors. I'm getting good financial support from both places (guaranteed 5 years at Mich, 4 years at Wisc (first as fellowship)). The stipend amount is a bit higher at Mich, but so is the cost of living in Ann Arbor. I'm considering how hard it really is to get RAs and funding support without brutal amounts of TAing at each place. I was just wondering what people had to say about these two programs on any of these (or other) factors. I'm curious to hear people's honest opinions of these programs based on what you either personally know or have heard from friends.

Thanks in advance.