<p>I've narrowed my options down to penn state and university of pittsburgh. My mom works at psu hershey med, which gives me a significant tuition discount making my total costs at penn state about 16000 a year. Pitt would cost about 26000. However I really dislike penn state. I dont really buy into the WE ARE mentality or the party scence and honestly consider the atmosphere at psu to be ignorant and self centered. On the other hand I really liked pitt, but I didnt love it. If both schools cost the same I would definately go to pitt but the cheaper costs at psu are making this decision hard for me. So my question is should I go to pitt where I feel I'll be more successful and happier or penn state which makes the most financial sense?</p>
<p>How, exactly, would you propose to come up with the extra $10,000 each year for Pitt? Sit down with your mom, and talk about that.</p>
<p>Not knowing your families’ financial circumstances, how much of a hardship paying the extra $10,000 would be, how it would impact on your parents’ retirement plans, how it would impact on the ability of other siblings to go to college, or how it would impact on available funds for graduate school it is impossible to even begin to render a decision.</p>
<p>I think your first step is to have an honest “adult” conversation with your parents as to how important the money is, if you have not done so already.</p>