balgor

I was accepted at my top choice "School A" back in late March, however my intended adviser was waiting on a grant application before he could offer me funding. Meanwhile I was accepted at several other schools and wait listed at a couple of schools. "School C" my backup graciously extended my response deadline to May 2nd, while I waited on "School A". However, in the meantime while waiting for "School A", on April 22nd "School B" one of the schools that had wait listed me offered me admission with a fellowship with a response deadline of May 6th. I immediately turned down "School C", since "School B" was a significantly higher ranked program. I waited until May 6th and still had not heard back from "School A" on funding and trust me I emailed them ever 2-3 days. I requested an extension from "School B", they could extend the admission response deadline, but I would lose the fellowship. So, at 4:30PM on May 6th I accepted "School B"'s offer, since funding at "School A" was not guaranteed. So, long story short "School A" emailed me yesterday with an extremely generous funding package. So, now I'm torn about what to do. "School B"'s Ph.D. program is relatively small with entering class sizes of 2-3 students, so I'm pretty sure I was "School B"'s last admit and that they've most likely killed off what was left of their wait list by now, so if I turn them down 33%-50% of their entering class will vanish since they will most likely not be able to find a replacement. I'm guessing they will not be happy if I back out now. However, for reasons that I will list below I would greatly prefer attending "School A". School A's Pros: Top Ten in my Field (So is B though)Located in same city that I currently reside in (I own a house and have a wife, no kids though)More $ RAFaculty match with research interests better than School BFuture Adviser seems awesome (I met him for lunch) and talked with him on the phone a few times but then again you never know he was recruiting me and I've1st hand experience about how things change once you signed on with an employer.Toured department met professors and other graduate students and was very impressed. School A's Cons: Have to break commitment to School B another top school in my field (It'll make future conferences awkward and maybe hurt me when I'm on the market)UC in California, which is just hammering the UC's budgets, so School A may have trouble recruiting/retaining faculty in the short term and funding research/travel. School B's Pros: Top Ten in my Field (maybe ranked even slightly higher than A)Cost of Living lower than my current city (makes up for the extra $ at A)$ in form of a Fellowship with no RA or TA duties.Wealthy Private University so I don't have to worry about the state budget cuts impacting my funding or faculty retention/hiring.Smaller more intimate Ph.D. program than A (2X as many faculty as students), so lots of individual attention and finding RA for extra experience/$ should be extremely easy.Research Interests mesh well with faculty.I'm from the east coast originally, so I'd be moving a lot closer to my family. School B's Cons: [*]I have to sell/rent my house and move myself and wife across the country.[*]Wife would have to try to find a new job in terrible economy, so I could be potentially separated from my wife for an indefinite period of time until she finds a job in the new city. No, she can't just quit her job and move, not with our mortgage and not with the job market this terrible.[*]Wasn't really recruited, admission/fellowship offer just showed up out of the blue, haven't actually visited school or met anyone face to face, didn't have time and too far away.[*]Research Interests mesh well with faculty, but not quite as well as at A. Has anyone been through a situation like this one? The important piece of information would be how would "School B" react if I back out? The April, 15 CGS resolution wouldn't really apply since both offers were received after that deadline. So, this is my dilemma in a nutshell. My head tells me to suck it up and just go to "School B" its an excellent school and I've already committed to them. My heart tells me to go to "School A" which seems like a prefect match for my research interests. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.