When I go to conferences, I like to talk to presenters about how they like their programs, or sometimes my own professors can tell me a little bit about the programs they came from.  Just connecting with people about the process and the focus of the department, etc. can be really helpful.

Grad. school fairs are biased.  Of course they aren't going to tell you anything bad about the department, that's not their job.  BUT, if you can forge connections with students through other ways or talk to people about their research to get your foot in the door, that helps.  

Also, people tend to be really open about their experiences.  Especially if they think it will help you in the long run.  I wouldn't put too much faith into every bad experience I've heard, because everyone is different and just because something happens to person A, person B may have an entirely different experience.  

Lately, I've become really aware of teaching STYLE more than anything else.  

Does anyone have any comment about how to find out what a school's particular STYLE is?  (Think R.L. Moore method versus hand-holding)  I know some schools emphasis research more than others, but I'm not sure how that would affect the classroom, possibly otherwise than giving professors a reason to have students seek out information by themselves more.