Is the college price tag worth it?

The safe/conservative route would be to go to community college your first 2 years and then transfer to another CMU or even something similar (Georgia Tech, MIT, Cornell, Berkeley, etc).

On the flip side, I am going to give a contrarian opinion than what most people have suggested so far - going to Carnegie Mellon, majoring in Computer Science, and getting a job afterwards is totally worth it. CMU has one of the best CS programs in the nation, if not the world. I wouldn't underestimate the worth of the name and reputation of CMU CS. With just a Bachelor's, it's pretty standard for you to get a 6 figure paying job in that industry. Plus, if you can score summer internships, you can probably save some significant money while in undergrad. In my honest opinion, I think the hefty costs would well be worth it and I would try to think of it more as a long term investment on yourself.

That being said, I have never been in your predicament and what may have applied for me won't for you and vice versa. I still think a combination of both options (CC->CMU) is totally a viable option.

/r/personalfinance Thread