<p>No offense but you would have to be an idiot to give up Cornell over Colorado. Especially if your debt at Cornell for 4 years accumulates to 70K, that means your taking an annual debt of 17,500$. This is not an abnormal amount of debt. You will be able to pay it off without too much pain in the future; especially if your graduating from Cornell with a Master’s in Engineering. That degree will get you management positions.</p>
<p>So don’t give up this opportunity because you will regret it later if you do. Also, like eternity_hope said earlier, opportunity knocks once in a lifetime. The only problem I can see for you attending Cornell instead of Colorado is that you may get homesick considering you’ll be very far away from your family. That is something you may (and probably will) have a tough time adjusting too.</p>