I know that idealistically both the school and the student should be looking at best fit. You will be accepted if you fit their criteria for a student; you should go to their school if it best fits the criteria that you have for a school. But I have a problem: I'm living internationally. I don't really have the time, money, or opportunity to go visit schools before I pick one. I'm going off of websites, e-mails, this forum, and Skype interviews alone to try and figure out which one will be the best fit for me. So I guess the question I have for you all here is this:
Without being able to go to the campuses, what are criteria are you looking at to decide which school will be the best fit for you? How heavily are finances weighing your decision? Well-known profs? What you're able to study? What categories should I put on my giant pro/con list for all of my schools to know which one is the best for me?