University of PA - worth the cost?

[e^(i Pi)+1=0]

I plan to dual-major in physics and engineering. I can try transferring to UPenn or to a closer school that's less than half the cost and guaranteed to accept all my credits from my Community College but not nearly as prestigious. Still, the other school (Temple) isn't a total POS. I want to go on to graduate school afterwards. Is it really worth the extra money? Thanks for any advice.

 

[chill_factor]

A prestigious school gives you access to better networking, better research and most of all, the ability to say you graduated from a prestigious school which seriously does count for something. You'll have better REU opportunities, better recruiting, better access to grad schools, better jobs...

It doesn't mean you'll be miserable and helpless if you went to a less prestigious school. I went to a school that was nonprestigious, crap in sports and had no powerful alumni, EVER, but with high quality research and a friendly atmosphere, and I am thankful of that. However, if you have strong ambitions to become anything that requires you to be extraordinary (faculty, top level management, etc) you'll notice how most of them 1.) came from prestigious schools and 2.) have significant networking with other extraordinary people.