<p>BTW dekkahs I would lean toward choosing Rutgers in this case if you indeed would be able to go there cost-free. Rutgers really is a fine school, and if you get a full or high partial scholarship, employers will look at this favorably later, but again, make sure this is actually the case. Do your due diligence, make sure that they can’t yank your scholarship away from you or arbitrarily raise tuition after your first year, which some do. I’ve had some students suggest to me that they were opting for public, state schools since they were supposedly much lower cost, only to get there and realize that they’re forced to take out loans that grow higher each year with tuition increases. Whereas some schools like Cornell, after negotiation, will often more in grants and/or scholarships. Make sure you’re well aware of the details.</p>
<p>As a general rule, keep in mind that tuition in US universities isn’t “merit-guaranteed” as in Europe and most of Asia. If you go to school in a country like the Netherlands, Germany or Korea for example, you pay very little tuition so long as you’re qualified (though of course it isn’t easy to qualify, you have to do well on the exams and of course to speak Dutch or especially German, which is of increasing value). But in US public universities, even if you’re admitted as a qualified student, you may wind up still paying a massive bill, especially since tuition is going up and state assistance is going down. That’s again why it’s so important to look at exactly they’re offering, just because it’s a state university doesn’t mean its cheap, though generally it’ll be better than Cornell’s package.</p>