PhD Computer Systems : Purdue vs Maryland

[instinct71]

Hi ,

I am an international Graduate applicant and have received admits from Purdue and Maryland, College Park. My area of application is Computer Architecture and systems. Purdue has even offered me a 14k stipend + tuition waiver for its PhD program. I am slightly unclear about picking up the better one amongst the two.

How is Purdue placed academically compared to Maryland, especially the computer systems department ? Some of the people I have talked to suggest taking the Maryland option. On paper Maryland looks better but is there really a significant difference between the two ?

Any suggestions here would be most welcome!

Thanks.