[bryanalves]

Just my opinion. I went to some random school that nobody here is going to know of or care about, and I had a blast at school. College should be a place to have fun at. Realistically, 3+ years out of college nobody cares about your education anymore anyway.

If you really want to go to MIT/etc. or something and kill yourself for 4 years, go for it. I don't think it's necessary, unless you HAVE to work at <insert name of prestigious company> as your first job out of college.

Also, don't underestimate the effect of a full-ride or close to it. Being debt free or nearly so while making 60k+ a year in your early 20s is nothing to scoff at.

If I were in your shoes, knowing what I know now, at 25, and given the options listed, I would take the full ride in a heartbeat.

[krschultz]

It is all about being DEBT free, if you can get a full ride somewhere, do it. 60k without debt means you have a few hundred bucks to burn at the bars or on a nice car or saving for retirement or traveling or starting a company, whatever you want to do. Paying for school loans would suck, it is a bill for something you already used up, and probably figured out was a scam along the way.