PhD Statistics - UNC Chapel Hil vs Rice

[stats_future]

Realized I had preemptively posted in the April 15th week section.

I am currently weighting offers from UNC and Rice for a PhD in Statistics, and waiting for a response from TAMU (my top choice). 

Background: I am in my last semester of my Masters of Statistics at NC State. Started research with one of my professors there last semester and really enjoyed it; however, the MS program at state doesn't go as far in depth in either applied or theoretical statistics as I would like.

I prefer Texas (e.g., Houston/proximity to Austin) for long-term location, but Rice appears to be ranked much lower than UNC and I don't want to be taking a step back academically. Rice also offered a much more financially lucrative package and has the connections with MD Anderson.  

UNC covers the theoretical shortcomings of my statistical education so far, but they are completely theoretically focused. I am also concerned about the current gender ratio and I didn't 'click' as well with the faculty at UNC as I did at Rice. 

Would I be throwing away a great opportunity if I chose Rice over UNC? What are the objective pros/cons in this situation - I am really struggling to step back and look at the big picture. 

[JeroldJJ]

Where did you finally go?