<p>OP, I applaud you for not jumping at the full-ride opportunity without serious considerations, but maybe you shouldn’t approach it from the social life angle. After all, there is no guarantee that you will maintain the 3.5 GPA even without any social life. On the other hand, a balanced social life may be quite important for a successful academic career. Part of the reason to go to college is to explore, grow and mature. It’s not just about engineering. You are not going to a trade school. Yes, this is from a parent with lots of bills to pay :)</p>
<p>A $36K debt with a UVA engineering degree is manageable enough that you should concentrate on which environment you will do best in, and the two environments are indeed quite different. It’s not like you are comparing Penn State’s ChemE to that of another B1G school like Illinois or Purdue, in which case you should obviously go for the money.</p>
<p>Do another visit. Talk to as many students and professors as you can. Study the curriculum and student outcome in depth. Many UVA engineers go into non-traditional careers like business or law. Does that interest you or just the opposite?</p>