I don't know whether to take an offer from a "not top tier, not well known, but not unknown" department.
The funding is hand to mouth, but everyone there tells me they are happy. I couldn't possibly "fit" better in too many other places. I idolize this advisor too--great work, great experience, happy students. But I cannot shake off the nagging feeling that I will never be able to compete with TT jobs with PhDs from famous places.
I have been a star student all my life. But do not know how to choose a grad school -- what to prioritize and what to ignore. I don't want to be jobless five years later