How to choose a program
Location, Location, Location
Money
Professors
Be cautious about privileging programs *just* because they employ a certain professor. Professors are people, too. They move jobs, go on sabatical, retire, and even pass away.
That being said, finding out who you would be learning from, who might be your mentors, and who might be on your committee is still important. For instance, I study writing centers and writing tutoring, so I looked for schools who had faculty writing center scholars that could serve on my committee.
Reasons to narrow your search to a specific place:
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Be close to your family, friends, and support network
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Experience a new part of the world/country/state
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Lifestyle--grad school won't be your whole life. Where do you want to spend the rest of your time?
Some people narrow down schools based on the potential research opportunities that would be available to them. If research is important to you, here are a few things to look for in a program:
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Are there faculty doing research you're interested in?
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Does the program offer graduate (research) assistant (GA/GRA) positions?
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Does the program and/or graduate school provide funding for student research and conference travel?
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Do you have to compete with your classmates for funding and/or opportunities?
Culture
Research Opportunities
Teaching/Tutoring Opportunities
Whether you intend to focus on teaching in your career or not, teaching and tutoring are great experiences to have in graduate school. Check and see if your programs offer these opportunities to graduate students.
For many in English (and its related fields), being a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) is how they can afford going to school. The stipends aren't much, but they usually come with a tuition waiver and can make a big difference.
Grad school can be expen$ive! You need to figure out the best way to pay for it. If you don't want to take out student loans, you'll want to narrow your search to schools with GTA/GRA opportunities that come with a tuition waiver and stipend.
Do everything you can to learn about the culture of the programs you're applying to. Talk to current and past grad students, professors, the admissions office, etc. Go to conferences and seek out people from those schools and offer to take them for coffee/tea to find out more.
If possible, go visit the campus and talk with people in the program.