First, the caveat I probably should have included at the top of the thread-- I'm just speaking from my experience, and obviously it's totally totally different for everyone.
hitomimay - I had a SUSE prof interview me over the phone. She didn't indicate whether she would be my advisor or not if admitted, but later the same prof called me back, made the offer, and said she would indeed be my advisor. HGSE did not do a phone interview. They called me to congratulate me and that was it. SUSE admitted me rather early (end of January-ish) while HGSE admitted me toward the end of February (I was trying to resign myself to rejection at that point and was pleasantly surprised). One thing to keep in mind is that HGSE is less compartmentalized than other schools-- the whole faculty gets together to consult on building the cohort, whereas other places do things in more of a piecemeal fashion (or so I understand).
keepswimming - HGSE offered me (a lot) more money and my partner had a job offer in Boston, so it was no question. But even before I got into HGSE, I was on the fence about SUSE because I don't love the area and because I didn't feel so strongly about my advisor-- seemed like an awesome person, but perhaps not the best fit for me. I was considering Berkeley instead, even though they were entering me for campus-wide fellowships and thus I was possibly not going to have much money, but they were awesome people, seemed like a better fit, and I love the bay. As I'm sure you know, you have to decide what factors are most important to you. Is there something you're comparing between HGSE and SUSE?