Berkeley vs UW Seattle for ML|Vision|Robotics

[robot_control]

Hi, I have been fortunate to get two wonderful offers: Berkeley and UW. I would appreciate any comments about them and advice on where to go.

I visited both places, and liked both universities. Both cities seem to be huge tech hubs (Berkeley more so than Seattle, but the latter is great too), have good weather, and look gorgeous. I can see myself doing good work at either place and also living comfortably. For many people, Berkeley would almost look like an obvious choice, but surprisingly I find myself leaning towards UW. I have summarized my reasoning below. Am I shooting myself in the foot?

Berkeley has many great researchers in my area, but they are not as accessible as I had imagined. Most top POIs are oversubscribed with 15+ grad students and postdocs. Hence, it would be hard to get face time with them, or I have to compromise and work with junior faculty. On the other hand, UW CSE is expanding at a good pace with great funding. Many top faculty were hired over the past 2-3 years and are in the process of expanding their labs. Sergey Levine joined recently, and the general consensus is that he was the brain behind most of the robotics work at Berkeley over the past 2-3 years.

The situation boils down to sub-optimal POI support (either face time or researcher) at a more prestigious place vs ability to work freely with anyone I want at a (slightly?) less prestigious place. Can anyone offer advice on how to navigate this landscape? Is the difference between Berkeley and UW very significant, that too in ML/AI/robotics? I believe both are top 5 schools. Thanks!

[robot_control]

Bumping thread. D-date near. Appreciate any comments and advice. Thanks!

[xusnac]

Hey, I am just curious, which one did you choose? Are you happy where you are now? 

These two schools are kinda my dream schools.