Life after deferrment?

<p>I do live in Philadelphia, but I attend Central so I’m not in the program but have received the newsletter. Philadelphia Futures seems to only tell people about how to get ready to go to college, not how to get in or how to find financial aid that is within grasp (let’s just say the school district had someone come talk to my school about the Gates Millenium as if we could all get it).
I am considering the non-Pitt/Penn State public schools, but I’m really concerned about the rampant unemployment and underemployment of the graduates, combined with the extraordinarily unimpressive and easy academics. </p>

<p>For those of you who aren’t from PA, I don’t want to sound like a snob, but I’d rather not go to the non-flagship state schools (anything that isn’t Pitt or Penn State). I understand that my GPA puts me at an extraordinary disadvantage, but I don’t see any real advantage in going to a school where the top 25th percentile have SAT scores 400 points lower than my own, just to obtain a piece of paper without intellectual development. However, they do seem affordable, but I can always keep looking? Do I swallow my pride and take the offer or continue my search?</p>