MIT vs UIUC, theoretical biophysics

[biophysicist]

Hi, everybody!

I have a question which I cannot solve without your assistance.

I have two interesting PhD offers, one from MIT (a fellowship is included), another from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (may be a fellowship).

It may seem obvious that I have to choose MIT, just because it is MIT. However, UIUC is also quite rated in condensed matter (#2 after MIT). Besides, I am more interested in the research by a target professor at UIUC, comparing to that at MIT.

As an international student, I may not know some important information. Is MIT's name worth to go there, even if I like UIUC's research better? Are the students comparable in both universities, or MIT's people are much stronger and more interesting? What decision is better for professional networking? Are there other factors I need to consider?

Thanks.

[biophysicist]

There are already 4 votes, and all of them are for MIT.

Is this choice so obvious? But why? UIUC is #1-2 in condensed matter theory, so it's not about specific rankings.

Guys, I really need your opinions.