CMU vs USC vs Rutgers

<p>I'm having trouble deciding which college I should go to - it's between Carnegie Mellon, USC, and Rutgers University (state school).</p>

<p>I want to do something related to computer science and video game development.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon (School of Computer Science) is going to cost around $21,000 a year (including loans). My EFC from the FAFSA was only $5000, so it is a bit expensive. It is a prestigious school, but it also sounds extremely rigorous.</p>

<p>University of Southern California (Computer Science & Games) has a more relevant major for me and they were recently called the #1 game design college by Princeton Review. They offered me around $15,000 in scholarships so the cost (including loans) is $16,000. It's a bit cheaper than CMU. The location is great for the game industry. Their CS program however doesn't even compare to CMU's.</p>

<p>Rutgers University (Engineering) has absolutely nothing regarding video game development for me, but it's nearby and they offered me a full tuition scholarship. I'm also an honors student there. Our family is middle-class, so I'm not sure if it would be beneficial to forego a better education for graduating debt-free. </p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>