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Hi everyone, I've been accepted to a couple of PhD programs, and would really appreciate any opinions on how to choose. The programs I'm considering are: Toronto UW-Madison Duke UCLA I have not yet completed the visits but will next week. These are all great programs and I'm really happy with all of them (did not expect this to work out this way), yet I'm struggling making a choice. I'm interested in applied micro, and I don't think any single place clearly dominates (though maybe I'm wrong). One important idiosyncrasy. One PI in my current research group (Im an RA) is at one of these institutions. The PI has made a very strong pitch for me attending, offering to work on new projects, mentioning RAships as a possibility, and has been very supportive. I'm interested in the work the PI does and think its fascinating, there are plenty of projects to try out. Obviously, this has been a major factor in my thinking. PhDs are hard, and I figure that having an established prof 'on your side' and willing to engage with you is a big positive. I'm just curious to hear perspectives on how much importance this should have. Does it make a no brainer, does it not? Thanks, really appreciate any perspective here.