Should I choose a school in my home state with finances covered even if I hate it, or leave and be in debt?

Answered

Hi, I am an 11th grade student in Florida, and for some context, I don’t like it here. I personally do not like the environment, neither climate wise nor politically(which is especially relevant given its impact on academics here) nor socially and have always dreamt of leaving for college. However, in state tuition is some of the best in the country at ~$6,000 generally speaking, not to mention I have both Florida Bright Futures automatically as well as Florida Pre-paid, with these even being applicable to private schools to a certain extent making college essentially free. But I want to leave, I have always wanted to live in an urban, northeast city with some of my favorite universities being BU, Emerson, NYU, and UW on the west coast, but these universities are more than 10X the price and I am likely not getting financial aid as an upper middle class citizen. My parents have said if I go out of state they will not pay for it outside of what they have already contributed which means I will likely have to take out thousands in student loans. I understand the gravity of the financial debt, but I also can’t imagine staying here with everyone I’ve asked about it urging me to suck it up, so I came here to hopefully get an unbiased opinion. I’m sorry for the long post, and if you’ve stayed long enough I cannot thank you enough so please leave your thoughts and opinions! Also, I plan on going into Marketing and/or PR.