Which math schools should I consider for my PhD? Comments appreciated!

[Geomancer]

Thanks again for the comments on my previous post. I've done some work narrowing the field of math schools. Note that since my previous post I've made a decision to weight schools in the south a bit more heavily than those in the north. Here is a list, along with my comments.

AMS Group I:

• U(TX), Austin: Very large, well regarded. Generous stipends.
  
• U(MD), College park: Seems to be stocked with various kinds of analysts. They do have a leading symbolic dynamics guy, though. High cost of living?
  
• Twin Cities: Missed their deadline. They looked nice, though. Hard to get in?
  
• U(WI), Madison: Strengths in algebra and combinatorics. Low Faculty/student.
  
• U(CA), San Diego: Looks nice.
  
• Purdue: An engineering school, I'm not sure I'd fit the culture.
  
• Georgia Tech: Has one of the only combinatorics programs in the US, but with a very applied bent. See Purdue. Good stipends, but I'm not sure what the cost of living is.
  
• U(GA): Strong in representation theory, nice to students.

Group II:

• Arizona: Friendly appearance, didn't tweak my academic curiousity.
  
• Florida: I don't have a note written for this one. IIRC, has an unusual strength in discrete geometry.
  
• TAMU: Very large. My notes claim a strength in algebra, but the largest group of degrees was in applied math.
  
• Kentucky: Friendly web site, nice location. PhDs.org gave it a decent ranking (for my weighting), for some reason. Don't know much else.

Any comments are appreciated. I hope that some version of this list may be a help to others in a similar situation.

 

[rodigee]

What is this list for?

 

[Geomancer]

It's a list of places I'm considering for graduate school (math PhD). I've previously discussed my situation http://https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=271391" .

On consideration, I probably should have posted in that thread. Mods, please feel free to move this there.

Thanks,
GM