Who to say yes to?

Today I have been thinking a lot about back when I got accepted into several universities and had to pick one to say yes to. I wish I had given it more thought instead of just taking the top university I got into and telling them yes.

First, universities have their rankings and reputation. Almost everyone knows what Oxford is. The university has a thousand year history, and is considered by most to be one of the top five currently in the world. But just because a university is highly ranked, that may not mean the department and programme you are interested in is the best one out there or a right fit for you. John's Hopkins and Georgetown aren't among the top 10 universities in the world, but they do have what are generally considered the best IR masters programmes.

Here is how I wish I had approached it (and will probably do this when I can finally get back into the grad school world):

First, do you like the programme itself? Course options you can take? Would it be a good fit?

How is the department? Again, would it fit you?

Would you be happy there? Really, this is very important. Would the location suit you? Would you fit in with the general university culture?

How is the university ranked, both in general and in your field? Make sure this isn't at the top of the list!