Well brother what I would do is start off in a small community college first. Reason: you won't get caught up in the party stigma with a small school versus a big school, will have a good professor to student ratio which will allow you to become a whole lot more personal with your prof and your studies group, hence you will actually LEARN more and ve very successful, you won't inquire huge debt the 1st couple of years as with a major university, and by starting small you are more likely to stay in college then drop out because of bills piling up. After a two years in a community college that is a sister college of a bit university you could look at switching to the big university to finish up the major classes needed to graduate. Let's face it the first couple years in college are mostly core classes and why go and pay the big bucks for these classes when you can save a kit of money and actually be successful through a smaller school than struggle in a larger school. I understand you may not want to stay near home or at home because you are ready to spread your wings but you have the rest of your life to figure out who you are and room and board, plus insurance, plus food, plus any other expenses are not worth a couple more years home with mom and dad. Trust me on this decision bro!!!