I applied but didn't get in to MIT undergrad for computer engineering. I ended up attending a good state school instead. Years later, I attended MIT for grad school.
With that context, my advice is twofold:
1. Surround yourself with people who will challenge you
2. Make financial decisions using net present value (NPV)
I've taken classes on four campuses over the years and found the quality of the instruction in the classroom was universally high and uncorrelated with the prestige of the institution. However, I found that I learned more deeply and tackled more ambitious goals when I was surrounded by other students in the most challenging programs. Furthermore, I continue to observe stark difference in the post-college opportunities for graduates that are highly correlated with each institution's reputation.
As for NPV, your chosen field means that the money you save or spend in the next few years will be swamped by your income later in life. Make a spreadsheet that stretches out over your working life and calculate the NPV of both paths.
Steadily | Full Stack Engineer | Austin, TX or Remote | steadily.com
Steadily is 6-month old, $4M-funded insurtech building a full-stack insurance service for landlords. We’re fast, affordable, and amazing at customer service. Our customers love being insured by us, even when they have a claim.
Why join us: you'll be in good company. Not to toot our own horn too much, but the founders are pretty solid engineers. Our VP of Engineering started as junior dev at his company when it was 15 people and grew it up to more than 2,000. The president has gone through YC twice and had two exits.
Build embedded insurance at a Series B startup as first product hire.