I am deciding between a full ride at my state flagship and Penn. I am planning on doing pre-med, but this is subject to change. Penn has given me an all grant fin aid package (which includes work study) of about 58K per year. This leaves about 10K for my family and I to pay (talking about only direct costs, not books, transportation, personal expenses). It is a very very good financial aid package and my parents want me to go here (despite the full ride at my state flagship). I am planning to take out about 5,500 (I know I can take out more after freshman year) per year, and my parents and I can pay the rest out of pocket (and a little through my summer job). Does this sound okay to you guys? I’d be passing up a full ride at my state flagship (which isn’t one of those public ivies).
Which state flagship is it?
Take it. It’s a very generous FA package. You will not regret. You will have a lot of opportunities for research and research assistant jobs that pay at Penn.
$20,000 is a modest amount of debt for four years, especially at an Ivy. I agree with @coolweather-that’s a great FA package. You should take it.
@DadTwoGirls the state flagship is Indiana university
I am personally rather debt adverse. However, a total debt of $20,000 is not all that bad and the University of Pennsylvania is a top university.
One thing to be aware of: University of Pennsylvania will be a lot of work. Pre-med there will be a LOT of work. If you are pre-med I assume that you are aware of this and okay with it.
I agree that this is not an obvious decision either way. I don’t think that there is a bad choice between the two.
To which school are you more drawn in terms of academic/environmental/social fit? If Penn, then yes, Penn is worth the extra $20k. If IU, save the money and go there; IU isn’t Penn, but it is a fine school.
@prezbucky definitely Penn! I’m visiting next week to make sure that it’s worth it. After visiting in planning on making my final decision. I could see myself being happy at both schools for different reasons
If you favor Penn and your visit doesn’t change that… and assuming your family can handle the $20k difference… then really there’s no reason not to become a Quaker.
Well worth it. Very generous FA.
@Zblue17 I agree with above. It is for sure worth it and the level of debt is quite manageable.
Penn.
Thank you for all the insight, everyone!
We are in almost the identical position as you, and my S is going to Penn. It is a top university.
The only caveat I would have is if you are certain you want to go to med school and become a practitioner. If that is the case, going to a strong state university like Indiana and getting top grades, taking advantage of shadowing, etc etc will not impede you from getting into a great med school. My niece got a 3/4 merit scholarship from a top 10 medical school after going to UConn.
On the other hand if you do go to med school, $20K debt is a drop in the bucket haha… And if you don’t go to med school, then Penn is a better choice including the relatively modest debt.
Perhaps most importantly, the 4 years where you go to college are an instrumental part of your development intellectually and as a person. Not to mention the friendships, learning from others, etc.
So my vote would be Penn! 
@connections what you said is very true! I’m heavily leaning towards Penn
Penn is worth that much debt, which a typical undergrad at a typical college can reasonably repay. I also don’t think it’ll be any easier to get top grades at IU, since IU has severe curve for some classes and Penn has slight grade inflation. It’ll be hard at Penn, but not harder…; and if you change your mind about premed (like most students), you’ll have a Penn degree no matter what.
Over a lifetime, yes it is worth $20,000 debt.
@ZBlue17, I were not able to figure out the reason behind your concern. Honestly, this is a pretty easy decision in this case. It is Penn and the generous FA which is not easy to get elsewhere. I believe your judgement due to your admission to Penn. GL
The reason I am worried is because I was/am under the impression that even though it is “reasonable” amount of debt, I worried pre-med at Penn would be much harder than pre-med at IU. I’m also factoring the fact that I would likely be one of the top students at IU, while at Penn, I might just be average. I’m trying not to base my college decision over being pre-med though because that may change. I’d hate to give up on a school like Penn just because I’m scared of it being too hard or being average. That seems like something I’d definitely regret later on in life, so I’m just going to go in with the mindset that success at Penn is 100% what I make it. @J2H239
It’ll be hard at both, especially since IU has a severe curve Penn doesn’t have.