I may be too late on this - not sure. Yale is a better ranking program, yes. But buidling the NYC network after Yale as suggested by others is so much easier said than done. So it really depends on your goals. The prestige of a degree from Yale is invaluable and will always turn heads-- but it's not going to compensate for having mediocre work, which means you should truly go where you will be inspired and motivated to make great work. Likewise, you can have great work and it still won't get in front of the right people without the right connections. At Parsons you will be constantly working with and placed in front of the very people that have the power to make or break your career. Curators, Press, and Dealers in New York pretty much take the cake in terms of kicking off an art career (More in terms of sales than anything. In general, having your art outside of the US will spread your recognition, but only in the US, particularly New York, does your work have the potential to actually start selling.) I ran an NYC gallery and a low-priority, tiny part of my job dealt with filtering thousands of portfolios, which had to get past me before reaching those with their names on the doors. Never did I come across mediocre work and push it forward because of where the artist studied-- I was never instructed to do so. In fact where an artist studied hardly ever came up unless some tire-kicker at an art fair was trying to come up with a reason not to purchase a piece.
Ok I'm rambling... my point is that I think you are dealing with an extremely tough decision and you are absolutely valid in struggling with it. Yale is a stronger program in both reputation and rigor... but Parsons is in NY and that's where the connections and critical players are. Go where the instructors and environment are going to personally motivate you to make kick a$$ work.
