A late funding offer

[Tina_The_Pro]

Hello everyone

Of the seven universities I applied to last fall (Econ Ph.D.), I got accepted into four. One of them made a fully-funded offer, which I accepted around April 15th. Last week, however, I got contacted by another university (better ranked and more suited to my research interests) saying they wanted to offer me a fully funded admission (the stipend is over 3k higher than the offer I took). The professor I talked to said 
they didn't offer me funding in the first round because of my GRE scores (Q164, V162), though he was in favor of making an offer in the first round given that I had taken real analysis and did well at that class. Long story short, I don't know if choosing this last offer over the one I already accepted is the right call. The first university has always shown interest in having me join their faculty, but the second one is better academically and offers a higher stipend. Any thoughts?

Thank you.

[startz]

Ignore the difference is stipend. It's trivial compared to your lifetime income/utility.

[annsteele]

which unis?

 

[Tina_The_Pro]

Uni #1: American University

Uni# 2 (late offer): George Washington University

[Marty McRy]

Firstly, congratulations on getting accepted into these programs! Disclaimer, I do not have the foresight/wisdom your letter writers might have. With that in mind, since location, rank, and funding are similar I would really only consider placements, culture, and research interests (on the condition that you're certain you know what you wish to study). To gauge culture, I recommend you speak to as many PhD candidates as possible and ask them about level of support they received in years three through six.