Advice From The College Savvy?

What the- is this... is this really... no... is it? A moment to myself? OH my GOSH. IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!

The musical is over. It was fun, to say the least. Being Addaperle in "The Wiz" was a very... shall we say NEW experience, but an enjoyable one. And probably the only solo I will ever have in a musical for as long as I live. And who knows if I'll ever be in a musical again? Who knows if I'll ever be in a play again? Scary... but hey, that's the future for ya.



Speaking of future (yes, we're talking more college prattle), I'm now stuck between Pratt Institute and Whittier College. Any advice would be fan-freaking-tastic.

So, here is a well thought-out and rational clump of Pros and Cons for each school:

WHITTIER PROS:
-Fine quality education, especially in Creative Writing
-Personal attention
-Travel to/from home less expensive (driving 1 hour vs. a cross-country plane ride)
-Essentially no tuition with scholarships/grants/aid

WHITTIER CONS:
-May be too small
-Too close to home
-Must live on campus for at least 3 years (this may turn out to be either a pro or a con)
-May not a very diverse experience
-Will need a car (though if the situation with my grandparents works out, this could turn out to be a pro after all :])

PRATT PROS:
-Super prestigious school with a great Writing Program
-Small, but still a college setting
-A very new experience in New York
-Great potential career contacts as a student
-Good location for a prospective writer

PRATT CONS:
-Student body may be overly aggressive/competitive
-Very expensive, even with $10,000 scholarship (tuition alone would still be around $24,000)
-Much more expensive to visit home

So, I'm stuck... the main thing is I want a whole new experience, ie New freaking York. I want to be immersed in an entirely different culture. Plus, Pratt is, I guess you would say, more prestigious than Whittier. Whittier is cool too, but it just seems too... similar to home.

My dad is pushing for Whittier, because of the financial appeal. Whittier is offering a buttwad of cash, as in, essentially a free ride. I wonder a couple things though:

1. If Whittier hadn't offered me all this money but Pratt had still offered me the $10,000 discount, would he choose Pratt instead?
2. Would he pay Pratt's (reduced) tuition at all?
   
3. Should the financial weight be my primary factor in choosing where to go? (I don't mean that rhetorically. I genuinely beseech, is this what I should be looking at solely?)

Answers, opinions, always appreciated.

Sorry. I'll post a funny blog sometime in the near future.