Two schools, Two different majors

[fizzycist]

I have been accepted to University of Washington l for an MS in Aeronautic/Astronautic Engineering. It's a very good school, it's out of state, and I didn't receive any funding (which was expected). I also got accepted to another school (Santa Clara University) for a MS in Mechanical Engineering. It's a private, much lower ranked school, but it's in Silicon Valley (which is where I want to eventually end up moving someday) and the program involves exactly what I want to study (mechatronics and space systems).

I am much more interested in mech engineering than I am aero, and this decision is making me feel like my future career is going to hinge on where I choose to go. I just can't get over the fact that SCU is such a low ranked school relative to UW, with so little research funding, and it makes me worry about future job prospects as well as the likelihood that I'd get into a PhD program somewhere down the line. Still waiting on my first choice school, but I'm not hopeful about that one.

Any input from people who have faced a similar choice?

Edited March 21, 2016 by fizzycist