<p>I’m viewing the amount spent for college as an investment analogous to buying a car; I want something cheap and comfortable that gets me where I want to go. I have the luxury of being able to consider schools that are a bit more expensive than full-ride safeties, but I cling to money and will not let go easily.</p>
<p>My quasi-firm squeal point is ~$30k a year total, but I’d prefer <~$25k.</p>
<p>Fortunately, many of my favorite options are reasonably priced - Pitt, a few schools in Canada, and UMinn will hopefully all fit those price guidelines.</p>
<p>EDIT: While I don’t have any “dream school” per se, MIT is honestly the only expensive top school that I like anyway. I prefer the schools listed above to the other top privates on my list.</p>