| slideruyle...
Lots of very good advice on this thread. I'll add this:
Two things a happy grad student make: relationship with faculty advisor and colleagues (in other words, research) and adequate funding. Has she visited yet? She really needs to ferret out the proper professional atmosphere for her. What are the respective profs at each school publishing? Has she familiarized herself with their current journal articles to find a good fit? What are the current grad students publishing? What do current grad students at each school say about funding and their advisor relationships? Are there any key faculty that may be leaving either school in the near future? Are her prospective advisors tenured? How long is it taking current grad students to finish? What percentage of incoming grad students complete the dissertation? Where are they going and what are they doing postdoc? If part of her funding involves being a TA, she'll want to ask lots of questions about that, too. She should speak to her Aggies faculty who have their ears to the ground; e.g., is there any under-the-public-radar scuttlebutt about up-and-coming young faculty stars at either school? Even if she loves one school over the other, she's going to end up very unhappy if the professional fit is wrong.
The types of things aibarr posted are the issues that your daughter should address in her visits to both schools. Best of luck to her!
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