Both replies are really helpful for me to read. It's been hard, as I feel like prestige is touted so highly in our field. I am very particular, in that I want to work in pediatrics and possibly cochlear implants.
My issue is that I was accepted to my top two schools, both top 10: Iowa and KU. However, I was offered a great GA, very likely to be renewed a second year, making Missouri State nearly free, at most around 12,000 vs. the 80,000 of both KU and Iowa. MSU is also ranked one of the worst in the country. It's not an awful program, it does have fewer faculty, and you have to drive long distances for off-campus placements. But I keep coming down to the money; and there's no guarantee that going to a "worse" school is going to ruin my career, even if I desire to be a leader in the field in research and pediatrics. But there is a guarantee that that debt will follow me until I'm 50 (it would be around 130,000, including undergrad loans from my husband and I, and his current online MBA program). It's tough to get the prestige out of my head, but in the end, I keep hearing it's not worth it.