Hello. I'm a first year Masters' Student @ University of North Texas (though I worked on my post-baccalaureate study of composition here since 2006). The UNT-Composers list-serv just got wind of this thread, so it is possible there'll be more UNT Composers coming here to answer your questions.
Unfortunately, the topic of choosing the right school is not an easy one, and it would be easier for me to answer particular questions regarding our program. I will go on record as saying that I'm extremely happy with UNT, and I'll try to give a few general pointers about our program. If you wish to know more, please let me know what compositional / performance interests you have, and if you need to know anything about the program itself.
While I can't comment much on financial aid, I would say that my main reason for happiness at UNT is the faculty. Since you may familiarize yourself with their music by following links to their respective websites from our division page (Division of Composition Studies) I'll mention that the department is incredibly friendly. This healthy atmosphere may not be the most "unique" thing about the school, but this part of the program goes a long way.
Due to the diverse nature of faculty, you are likely to find someone who will cater to your compositional interests.
I am trying to understand what "being forced down my throat" means, but it is likely that I do not understand it due to the fact that nothing is forced down mine... One of the remarkable things about UNT is that it caters to both electronic as well as acoustic composers. To provide anecdotal evidence - recently, Elliott Figg has defended his Masters' thesis with a neoclassical baroque repertoire, focusing on music written for just intonation and custom alternative tunings for the harpsichord. At the same time, we have a Doctorate student working on interactive computer music works with dance, as well as an upcoming Doctorate defense for a piece for chamber ensemble and tape. Our faculty does not consist of "computer" composers as it does not consist of "acoustic" composers. Every member of the faculty had experience working within electro-acoustic music, just as every member of the faculty has experience with purely acoustic works as well. Every semester we have an electro-acoustic show (UNT Centerpieces) and two shows mostly dedicated to acoustic music (UNT Spectrum). If you are worried that a faculty member will make you write jazz - that's silly. Ditto for "world music" (what's that?) and "electronic music" - the latter can be catered to within your supporting area and UNT is quite famous for its jazz program, if such musicians are ever desired.
I can't comment on the negatives of the institution unless I know more of what you are interested in, apart from the fact that parking sucks and the university punishes commuters (fact!). UNT is a good school for music performance, which means that there are guaranteed to be at least some very skilled musicians that would play your stuff. I would feel rather silly making blanket statements such as "UNT is probably a bad place for a film music composer" because that means nothing in practical sense (if you're after good orchestration chops, UNT will most certainly deliver).
A good place to start is the Composition Student Handbook, which will give you an overview of our program. After that, I suggest looking at faculty pages, checking out their music, and seeing if there's anything interesting you find there. If everything on those goes against your gut, seek elsewhere - we're all different people, and grad school is not a good time to be stuck in a place you don't want to be in. If you are interested in recent student works from UNT, I am certain they can be made available.
Last but not least, we do have some excellent facilities for those interested in electronic side of things. The Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia (the website of which is under development) provides several excellent options for production and realization of tape, interactive, and intermedia works. In particular, at the moment we have three 8-channel studios, one 2-channel studio, and one studio dedicated for multimedia production. Our Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater (MEIT) is owned and operated by CEMI Staff. It boasts a 16-speaker system (two rings of 8-channels each, one above another), internally developed diffusion system for such. We have excellent facilities for recording as well, supported by Music Computing Lab.
Looking forward to answering any specific questions you may have (if that is necessary). And whether you choose UNT or not, I wish you the very best of luck with your search for a graduate program.
