FishNerd

Hawking was an inspirational figure for me in the sciences. I feel lucky that I was able to see a talk given by him in my first year of my PhD. In addition to his many scientific accomplishments, I was inspired by his perseverance and ability to succeed despite his illness. He has also done a lot of good advocacy for scientists with illnesses.
People are complex beings though. Hawking was not perfect and we would do a disservice to humanity by pretending he was. I think it is important to remember him for his greatness but also to remember that he was a misogynist and mistreated some of those close to him, including his wife. His actions does seem to normalize / add to the idea that if you are brilliant enough, you should be forgiven for your misdeeds and for me, it is uncomfortable that he contributes to the gender problem already prevalent in physics. 
One thing doesn't erase the other though. I am sad that our world has lost such a person. But I think it's possible to remember him for both his good deeds and bad. It is hard though and I'm still learning the best way to do this.

I totally understand not wanting to offend your professor, but if you absolutely do not want to attend the program at your current institution because you already know you've been accepted to a place you would rather attend, I do not think you should worry about getting this application to your current institution in. It would be a waste of your money and time, and I am sure that if you tell this professor that you've been accepted to your top choices with funding (rather than just hint at this), she will understand completely. Thank her for all her help in the application process too. I think most professors understand taking the offer you dreamed of, so I really doubt doing this will ruin your relationship with her.

I totally understand not wanting to offend your professor, but if you absolutely do not want to attend the program at your current institution because you already know you've been accepted to a place you would rather attend, I do not think you should worry about getting this application to your current institution in. It would be a waste of your money and time, and I am sure that if you tell this professor that you've been accepted to your top choices with funding (rather than just hint at this), she will understand completely. Thank her for all her help in the application process too. I think most professors understand taking the offer you dreamed of, so I really doubt doing this will ruin your relationship with her.

@FishNerd I'm planning on making a pros and con list too, and talking about it with my current PI and the other grad students in my lab. The factors I'm thinking about are stipend, location, the other PIs in the department (since I am very interested in doing rotations), and how well I thought I fit into the general atmosphere of the department and lab. Another factor that's important for me is the name/brand of each school...I'm an international student and I probably will not end up in the US in the long run, so I do have to think about how much people outside of the US are going to know about the school and the program. I'm also not sure that I want to go into academia, so the brand plays a role in looking for jobs outside of academia as well. I'm just not sure how much emphasis I should put on each of the different factors. Obviously the fit is very important, but idk how to weigh the other ones...

There are many people who ask this on this forum and time and time again I have seen that it is always worth trying to ask for an extension. So I say try because all they can do is say no, but I do think a lot of people actually do get extensions on their deadline to decide.
Good luck!

There are many people who ask this on this forum and time and time again I have seen that it is always worth trying to ask for an extension. So I say try because all they can do is say no, but I do think a lot of people actually do get extensions on their deadline to decide.
Good luck!

@PsychedSloth So far my funding amounts have all been listed on award/acceptance letters I have received. However, these letters have always been PDF attachments on the email or admissions portal.

I received an email this morning from UNC Chapel Hill to inform me I was admitted off of the waitlist! This is one of my top choices and I could not be more thrilled. It also means I’ll be turning down the waitlist at IU Bloomington, so hopefully someone moves up in the ranks there! 

Hey everyone!!
I applied for the MS in Bio but haven’t heard back yet. I know this isn’t the right thread, but it’s really exciting here all you guys talk about your backgrounds in Ecology! Really excited to be in your shoes one day going for a PhD :-)
Wishing you all the best of luck!

One of my advisors in my MA program told me that his campus visits when he was applying to PhD programs made all the difference - he wouldn't've gone to the school he had if he hadn't visited.
That said, for me, I would say the campus visit allowed me to choose my first choice school with confidence, versus just saying, "It made the most sense since my family is nearby."  Not only was the research fit not great at the runner up, but one of the male POIs I was interested in working with was described as "overbearing and creepy" by two female grad students.  No bueno.  So now I can confidently make my choice for the right reasons.

Accepted at WUSTL.

Of all my interviews, there were 2 I was most excited about and 2 I was least excited about (and considered canceling). Those opinions flipped entirely after my visits. Bottom 2 became top 2 and vice versa.
It was vibes. 

For me on paper I really liked a program before but interactions in person made me think that it wouldn't be an environment I could thrive in for 5+ years so if I hadn't visited I likely would have just gone with that program semi-blindly.  I visited another university and was blown away like wow there are all these resources and things I didn't know about and am now discovering and liked my interactions more. So for me I think thus far my visits have been a major factor in deciding school.

Okay so how much did your all's visits to schools end up helping in your decisions?
I just got back from a visit at a school yesterday and it was such a whirlwind trip that I'm still processing it. I really liked it, but I don't think my visit really helped me decide one way or the other if I want to attend there or not. I honestly left my visit there feeling the same as when I went - which is excited about the school as a whole, but my reservations that I have about the program are still there and now confirmed. I think overall it's a really great option for me but it would be financially a lot less secure than my other option. Also I think I'm trying to remain relatively neutral before making the visit to my other school.

I would also add that if research fit is really important to you this can be really important to students sticking to their research and completing tasks in a timely manner. I personally find its a lot easier to be motivated to get work done on research I'm really interested and excited in vs. research I view as 'take it or leave it.' So with that being said if the research is getting done at the lab with out-dated equipment and you're really excited about the research there it might be a really good fit for you. But if you find that out-dated facilities will impede your motivation you need to take that into consideration.

Thanks so much for your congratulations! We were super relieved when we received notice that we'd both been accepted into one school together, and when the second school came in we were thrilled that we have the option to decide between the two! Also I really had no idea we would each be so competitive for these extra fellowships, so that's been really exciting.
I'm from Louisville, so I guess I'm from the big city of KY haha! My partner is from a tiny town in SE KY.

I would also add that if research fit is really important to you this can be really important to students sticking to their research and completing tasks in a timely manner. I personally find its a lot easier to be motivated to get work done on research I'm really interested and excited in vs. research I view as 'take it or leave it.' So with that being said if the research is getting done at the lab with out-dated equipment and you're really excited about the research there it might be a really good fit for you. But if you find that out-dated facilities will impede your motivation you need to take that into consideration.

I'm now unofficially accepted into my top two places which is super exciting!
Unfortunately my excitement is tempered with nerves because I applied to all my schools with my partner and he has yet to hear anything. I really think this is because in my field I have to secure a potential advisor before applying and they are the one's who have sent me updates on my application status. I haven't received my official acceptances yet, so it does track that my partner hasn't heard back because his field doesn't really have to secure a potential advisor first and because of this he doesn't have anyone who can let him know unofficially that he's in. I really hope that's the case at least.

I have been in a long term relationship with my partner for quite a while now and we got our master's together and now in the fall we will be starting our PhDs together. Since we are both in academia our situation is a little different since we both have times when we are absolutely swamped, so it's really easy to understand that and just let the other person catch up with everything they need to do. But I'm gonna try and give some advice as best I can into how we make it all work.
I think one of the biggest things for us is us trying to make sure we are on the same wake-up and bedtime routine because then that means the times surrounding those times of the day are spent together. Also we really try to make sure we spend time not working after we wake up or before we go to bed and instead enjoy our breakfast and coffee together or enjoy winding down for the night after dinner. I really think if you have the ability to be on a similar schedule as your partner then that allows you to see each other much more frequently through the day. If you aren't on the same schedule you can easily end up just barely missing the opportunity to spend a little time with your partner. I usually wake up when he does (5:30 a.m. )for his 8 a.m. classes even though I don't absolutely need to wake up at that time and I'm totally not a morning person. But this allows us to spend all that time together before we need to leave the house. Also when we are really on top of things that wake up time allows us to work out together in the mornings/meal prep (chop veggies) for that evenings dinner.
I think one of the things that helps us a lot is even if one of us is working at home we try to be in the same room as the other person (unless we do need absolute solitude) so we can still chit chat when the person working needs a break or someone's brain to pick about something. Also while chores aren't fun we try to do them together when we can so we can have the time to catch up during that. We also almost always try to cook dinner together or at the very least eat dinner at the same time. I guess all of my advice so far is to just try and spend time together, even if it is just day-to-day stuff, but I would imagine that doesn't work for those who need a break from their partner now and then (I guess my partner and I do tend to be attached at the hip a bit...) But I do recognize that doing non day-to-day stuff also really helps keep relationships thriving.
For you to be able to do bigger things outside the day-to-day activities together during grad school I think the most important thing is time management. It took me a looooong time to figure out time management during my masters, but once I did, my partner and I were definitely better for it. It did allow us to do non-day-to-day activities more frequently (i.e. going out to eat or to the movies, going fishing or hiking or other things that we enjoy doing together). I find that the best way for us to do these fun activities together was for us to plan on X date to do whatever it was we wanted to do. This allowed me to figure out what I needed to do before that date and usually meant I was very productive in getting things done so I could feel deserved in taking the break with my partner. Basically we had to prioritize spending time together and I think that is maybe one of the most important things we learned during out master's. Of course setting aside a certain date isn't exactly spontaneous and sometimes spontaneity is great for relationships. So at times we would just shirk our responsibilities (when we knew we could get away with it for a day or weekend) and just do whatever the heck we wanted to do besides work even if it just meant a day of Netflix together.
It is absolutely OKAY to not constantly be working during grad school (take some weekends off!) and it's OKAY to take unplanned breaks to have some fun! If you want to go on a vacation with your partner then make those plans and do it! While during grad school you of course have to be productive and get things done in a timely fashion, sometimes you just need to make time for other things because that will ultimately make you a more productive student. When I realized that it was okay to not work all the time, I started to treat my grad school responsibilities as more of a 9 to 5 job (I mean more realistically I was working from ~8 to 6 or 6:30 with a lunch break) and became much more productive. It meant that I needed to make the most of those hours I set aside for work and I did. It meant that I had so much more downtime to look forward and wasn't as likely to goof off at school as I was before. It meant my partner were so much happier because we had made the point to prioritize our life in addition to prioritizing our responsibilities to grad school.
I know this went a bit long but as I was writing it I came to the realization of just how much better off my partner and I were when we better managed our time and prioritized us. I think prioritizing your partner and relationship is one of the biggest things for a relationship to remain on solid ground. It allows your bond to remain strong and by making time for your partner that shows how much you care for them. I know I went a bit stream-of-conscious-y so feel free to ask me to clarify something if its unclear.
 

Husband officially accepted Harvard's offer! I'm so excited!!!

So I really don't understand what factors the US News ranking system uses and the ranking seems arbitrary to me at times (but then again I didn't taken into account rank super highly when I was applying to programs). What I take away from the US News rankings is a rough estimation of how well that department/school is known for the field that is being ranked. I'm not sure if this is the case or not but I always thought of those rankings as an indication of how likely a wider audience would recognize that department at that school.
Honestly, I would personally choose faculty research fit over prestige. Also if the money is with the best research fit then that's even more of a selling point. If you think the faculty are a good fit, are productive researchers and would make you a better researcher then I think you should choose the place that seems like it will be the best to advance your studies as a researcher. Now if you come to find that the more prestigious programs have more productive faculty then that could be an indication of a program that would help you further in your academic career. But if you think you will be more productive and advance your knowledge at the school with the great faculty that isn't as prestigious I think you should go that route.

Oh, wow! Thank you, that definitely makes me feel better knowing that you both come from similar-ish backgrounds as I do and both are so successful. I'm also definitely not trying to have a crazy prestigious career, just one where I can be happy and also make enough money to survive  Congrats to you and your partner on the great offers! Especially since you guys got into the same program--that's awesome! What area of KY are you from?

Hello fellow Kentuckian! I am a firm believer that programs are definitely what you make them, at least from my experience in my Bachelor's and Master's. My partner, @Melvillage_Idiot, and I did both of our degrees at small state schools in which I highly doubt either of our programs were ranked highly, but we always took advantage of any good opportunity given to us/sought out things to further our educations. It has all been worth it too. Because of this background we have essentially no debt between the two of us since we both had full-rides during undergrad and, also, both had fully funded master's programs.
We have both been accepted into 2 of the 3 schools (see signature) we both applied to together for our PhDs and I've received additional fellowship money at both schools I've been accepted and my partner has received a fellowship at one of the two schools too. I can't say the schools we chose are ranked tremendously high and the one school that was ranked the highest out of the 3 we applied to doesn't seem to want us (partner rejected and I've heard nothing since the Dec. 1st application deadline...). That school though was the poorest fit for each of our research interests though, so it really isn't too much of a surprise. But I do firmly believe the programs at the 2 schools we've been accepted are good and will get us the careers that we want - as long as we keep working hard to remain competitive in our fields despite whatever name is attached to our degrees. Also neither of us is trying to break into academic positions in Top 10 or Ivy League schools so I don't think that our school names will matter too much in that aspect.
Sidenote - my partner is also from rural KY of a town less than 1000! Also feel free to PM me or my partner if you wanted to know the specifics of our backgrounds to have a better idea of what our applications consisted of, if that would make you feel less worried about the prestige of programs/school names.

Nope, sounds like you have an awesome setup! 
There are no significant downsides to fellowships. It is almost always better to get teaching experience on your own terms rather than have to rely on TAing for funding.
The one super minor downside to fellowship which I could think of is: some schools don't withhold tax from your fellowship income, which means you may have to figure out how to pay estimated quarterly taxes. But this is something that might take 10 hours of your time once, compared to the 100s of hours you might have to work as a TA or RA for funding otherwise. Well worth it. 
 

I've been accepted to one of my programs and they are considering me for funding! Oh, and my cat wants to snuggle.