Unless you are going to an Ivy League school with a very specialized degree, do NOT pay 30-60k a year in tuition. That is silly. You have to consider cost when choosing a college just like you would when buying a house, car, etc. If it's going to handicap you for that long, don't go there. Pick a state school. This is especially true for a Bachelors. Make good grades and do an internship or two, and it will hardly matter where you went. Just don't go somewhere that has a really bad reputation.
Rutgers should be fine. Do not go to out of state schools unless you are in fields such as Law, Engineering, Medical etc.
your best bet would be to apply to a lot of schools with scholarship goals to help reduce the out of pocket costs. Then while it will be more difficult, get a job once in college. They don't pay well, but there are often student type jobs at universities, some of which at least provide living money, while often also providing study time. You could work hourly in the commisary in my dorm for example, and when not ringing someone up (and it wasn't exactly super crowded in there), you were free to do homework/study. While you can take the advice of others and go state school route, its also important to remember you are now becoming an adult, and "leaving the nest" if you will, is also important and has value. If you just want to get away, or hate NJ, or whatever, there is value in going to college out of state, even if it puts you in much more debt. At some point, that value does have to be weighed against other costs - you can always move later - but don't discount getting away. If you simply "hate" the idea of Rutger or Seton Hall, even if it's an irrational, teenager hatred, then you really might not be happy there.
Here's a reality check: If you can't afford a school, go to another one. Don't put yourself in a bind to go to a school that you can't afford. Education is important, but importance of quality is very overrated. Focus on going to the best school you can afford and just work hard. Besides, if the name of the institution you put on your resume really matters, you can transfer or save that investment for grad school. You get much better bang for your buck at the graduate level than undergrad. Getting a degree and not forcing yourself into unmanageable debt is the primary concern here. Don't get caught in the rankings game. Effort is way more important than which school you went to.
Yes. And do not worry about things such as poor area, big city etc. No one cares about those and it could save you a bunch.
So far I like GW, American, and Fordham. I'm also looking at George Mason since that's 15 min. out of DC.
Stay in state. Those universities are not worth the out of state fees for international relations major.
Rutgers seems like a good deal at 12k a year. If you can do a 2-year for around 1k a semester, you could get out with a bachelors degree and only about 28k in debt if you don't receive any assistance.
