[J.A.Sucker]

In technical fields, you are better off going to a state school in most instances. This is especially true if you plan on going to some sort of graduate/medical school. Now, for grad school, then it really matters (though some state schools have top programs, such as Berkeley or CU-Boulder in Physics and Chemistry), but they will pay you to go, so whatever. Medical school matters somewhat, but not as much as most people think. The key for anyone in a technical field is to get a job in a research lab doing some independent work. You'll find a prof you like and go do some work for him. Try to publish a paper or two. It's fun, you can get course credit, and may even get paid. This is your ticket to whatever you want to do (including law school, BTW).

I wish I knew this back when I was in high school, but I didn't. Fortunately for me, I ended up going to a state school anyway and was able to get into every grad school in the country for my PhD. My total education cost (excluding room and board) was 6K, and half of that was for books (bachelor's in 2000). I had a lot of fun in college, and after TA'ing the kids at Stanford (where I did my PhD), I'm really glad I didn't go to one of those pressure cookers for undergrad, because it's a very different college experience.