<p>I find very few people forgoing Ivy League caliber med schools in favor of state schools. Obviously, if your state med school happens to be UMich or UCSF or UCSD, then it’s not unusual to choose those schools over Penn Med or Columbia P&S. The reason is that med school is extremely expensive no matter where you go (since there are very few grants) and the difference in avg. debt b/w a private med school and a public med school is only $30,000.</p>
<p>This is much different at the undergrad level where you can go to school for free by choosing a public university over a more expensive private university. If you don’t qualify for financial aid, the difference b/w a full-ride at a state school and an Ivy League education can be as much as $200,000. Thus, it makes more sense to forgo the Ivy League education at the college level.</p>