<p>If your other options are reasonably good schools and dramatically cheaper, then I’d definitely choose one of them if I were you. If they are academically far inferior and you eventually want to go to grad school, then you’re taking some risk (at least if by “grad school” you mean a PhD program). Some less-selective institutions don’t do a great job preparing student for grad programs; the faculty just don’t encounter enough really motivated students, and can’t offer sufficiently rigorous courses. See what you can find out about grad school placement in the departments that interest you, at the schools you can afford.</p>