So how did you finally make your decision? Right now, I am in the same situation. I actually got accepted to Rutgers and Penn State for the Plant biology program. Penn State is ranked number 1 in Plant bio, but rutgers has my research interests.
I visited and Penn State has new labs whereas Rutgers has some labs that are really updated and some labs which are still using older equipment. Their offers in assistantship is about the same. Any advice would help.