So far I got:
Colorado (long shot?)
UNC Chapel Hill
I'm considering (short listed):
Arizona
North Carolina State (too much coursework?)
Also considering (long listed):
Georgia
Oregon State
Colorado State
New Mexico
Washington State
U Washington
Missouri, Colombia
Florida
I've tentatively crossed off:
Portland State (ridiculous requirement to write reports of colloquia on all topics 1st year)
Virginia (too much coursework)
My factors in choosing a school...I have a Masters- I'm not interested in more coursework than average. Good AMO/CM focus and/or strong industry presence. Nice places to live and seemingly good AMO/CM- I'm as driven as the next guy, but I don't want to live somewhere that I'm miserable just for school. I'm down for being a hippie (and surrounded by them) as long as the research is respectable

About me:
2 REUs as a Physics undergrad
Took a year off, wasn't sure about continuing in Physics
Did non thesis Masters in Biomedical Engineering (sucks by comparison). Non thesis in order to GTFO of Boston
Spotty employment during this time off, but very relevant research experience with Semiconductor mfg startup
So, any input is appreciated!
On a side note, I'm kinda upset that Colorado is the highest rated. I wanted to go there because it has NIST/JILA, it's beautiful, and great for outdoors. Now it's gonna be flooded because of "brand recognition".