The reality is that alot of doing a PhD comes down to the choice of your PhD advisor. You'll be intimately apprenticed to this person and his/her whims for seve

The reality is that alot of doing a PhD comes down to the choice of your PhD advisor. You'll be intimately apprenticed to this person and his/her whims for several years of your life, and your life for those several years could be great or miserable (or somewhere in between, as mine was) as a result. Choose wisely and listen to your gut. It's generally the best judge of character you have. Interview former students too (not current ones - you want the ones totally free to speak their mind).