<p>I'm just curious how they would match up. I've been debating between schools like Northwestern, Princeton, and Yale, with U Minn and Berkeley.</p>
<p>Would a full scholarship at public university be enough to forgo acceptance at a more prestigious private institution?</p>
<p>I'm looking to major in Chemical/Petroleum Engineering.</p>
<p>You aren't going to see a substantial difference between schools like Berkeley and Princeton due to one being public and one being private. It is true that public schools are sensitive to state funding fluctuations but Minnesota and Berkeley are established, have enormous donations and lots of collaborations with industry. I am not sure I would allow the public vs private to have any impact in my decision.</p>
<p>This has been asked many times before, use the Search function. For instance, "public private" came up with this:</p>
<p>go public, if you work hard at public you will save money and receive a equal education than a private school</p>
<p>You can usually get about the same quality education at a good state school as at a top private school. There shouldn't be a significant difference between Cal/UCLA/UMich/UVa/UNC/etc. and top private schools, but I'd venture to guess that there do exist significant gaps between mediocre public schools and the top schools. Honestly, if you have a full scholarship to a top public, you can't go wrong either way. Forgoing the private school is a good decision in that case; going to the private school is understandable too.</p>
<p>Don't let this dissuade you from applying to the top schools though. Oftentimes, top private schools can offer you really great financial aid, even in the current economic situation. My family, for example, found going to an 'expensive' private school just as cheap as going to the state school--and this included a 'full' scholarship (Regents at the UCs). Keep your options open, and make your decision based on the real numbers that you have...</p>
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You can usually get about the same quality education at a good state school as at a top private school. There shouldn't be a significant difference between Cal/UCLA/UMich/UVa/UNC/etc. and top private schools
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<p>Here's a relevant thread on the Parents Forum:</p>
<p>There are pros and cons to both the top Publics and Privates, there's nothing black and white about it. This from the parent of a kid who transferred from a top 4 Public to a top 3 Private ;).</p>