<p>Hey so I was accepted into the Materials Science and Engineering program at both Penn State, main campus, and at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. I really liked Illinois more than Penn State; Illinois really had everything I was looking for in terms of the matsci program, studying abroad, being able to live in a living learning community, doing research, etc etc. But the problem is Illinois is $48,000 a year vs. Penn State is less than $20,000 because I'm in state in PA. Would spending the extra money on Illinois and graduating with a huge student loan be worth it; does Illinois offer things Penn State wouldn't? Or should I save money, go to Penn State, then maybe consider Illinois for grad school? I don't really want to go to Penn State, but I also am not a fan of graduating with $200,000 in student loans...</p>
<p>Thank you for any input :)</p>