It's admissions season and I've gotten into some great schools so far, all of which I love. I'm very torn as to how to choose where to go - mainly between two programs, so any advice would be great.
I got into the program/lab that I have been stalking for YEARS and am super excited at the prospect of attending. It's pretty well ranked in what I want to do and my POI is very respected in the field. They're offering me a decent stipend and funding and I feel like it would be a wonderful match (visiting soon). It is in a city that I am so, so about but that has the exactly climate I want. It's also very far from my family which makes it a hard choice to make.
However, I got into a very well respected (ivy) program that is offering me a deal I'd have to be crazy to refuse. They are offering me a larger stipend in a much cheaper city, guaranteed funding for research and travel, and a lot of freedom to do research with several professors. No one of these professors do exactly what I want to do. However, if I smush them together then it's the perfect PI. I also feel like there is a huge push from family and friends to go to an Ivy school. I went to a top 5 school for undergrad and it seems like this would be the next logical step (yet I have a bit of a stigma against the idea because of how mentally destructive my undergraduate experience was). Am I crazy if I choose elsewhere? Will it negatively impact my future prospects? I don't want to make the wrong choice and then regret not going to a school that could better support me than the above "dream school".
Has anyone been in this position before? Any and all advice is more than welcome.
Side note: obviously the admission season isn't even over yet and there is one school which, if I get into, will trump both of the above options and I will definitely be attending