<p>Is it worth the difference in price if you have no aid at CM and a full scholarship at Rutgers if you want to major in physics?</p>
<p>You should go to Rutgers. As long as you work very hard in that college, then reputation of schools don’t matter.</p>
<p>I think that even though CMU is the “obvious” choice based on prestige, that doesn’t mean everything. Having a full ride at Rutgers is something to be proud of and taken advantage of, unless you know you can afford CMU with no problem or are absolutely dead set on attending, Rutgers is better financially, especially if you are planning on attending grad school for a Ph.D- that’s 4 more years of expensive tuition- your overall debt would be minimal if you kept your current savings for grad school. Don’t worry about physics at rutgers- I know someone who went there and now owns a 1.3 million dollar home in the highest taxed are of Long Island with his degree from Rutgers. As long as you try your best and are a bright student, you can succeed at Rutgers. And save a heap of money.</p>
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<p>If you go to a halfway decent school for a PhD in physics you won’t be paying any tuition. You’ll actually be getting paid to go there.</p>
<p>That said, college is a massive investment, and taking out substantial loans can be a large impediment to doing what you want to later in life. I loved my time at CMU and definitely felt it was worth the $25k I had to take on in loans, but I’d be a lot less certain it was worth the money if I had spent > $50k. That’s a lot of money to have to pay back coming right out of school.</p>
<p>Looking at the US News rankings, Rutgers is rated a little higher than CMU for its graduate program in physics (26 vs 30). So scholarship or not, these programs could be on par with each other.</p>
<p>[Best</a> Physics Programs | Top Physics Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/physics-rankings/page+2]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/physics-rankings/page+2)</p>