Onionskin

I'd give Georgia Tech CS the edge -- and it's so ranked by US News and World Report -- but what you need to do now is look at the web pages for both AI departments, and at some of he professors' papers, and see who is working on ideas that seem the most exciting to you. That's what's really going to make the difference not only for your academic experience, but for your eventual job prospects. TA positions are tough to come by at GaTech, but you may be able to pick up some work as a coder. If you want a stepping stone to a PhD, GaTech only accepts their current masters students into the PhD program if they can fund them, and that doesn't depend just on academic record but if there's funding for the particular program you're applying to. (eg, a lesser qualified person may jump over a more academically qualified person because s/he has a skill set needed for an already-funded project.) Michigan may work the same way; I don't know. However, if you want to go straight to work, GaTech CS masters grads are heavily recruited and well-placed. Atlanta is a big city, and there are parts of it that are rough, but most of it's safe. You would certainly be safe on campus. Both Ann Arbor and Atlanta are great cities, with an excellent quality of life -- they're both on my list of favorite places (Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, the Varsity in Atlanta -- how to chose?!) Ann Arbor is a college town straight through, while Atlanta -- even though it has three large universities, and more colleges -- has a more diffuse sense of community. You're far less likely to bump into a professor at the grocery store or Target. Winter temps in Ann Arbor are often in the 20s, dipping down to below 0, while summers in Atlanta sees temps in the 80s and even 90s. Atlanta has Hartfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest, and an Amtrak stops twice daily on its run between New York City and New Orleans. The closest airport to Ann Arbor is Detroit, and the Amtrak train drops you in East Lansing where you finish your journey by Amtrak bus (no kidding!) You hav two terrific choices. Congratulations!