I was bored and am waiting for Mrs Hat to bring me my Green Chicken curry and beer so I skimmed thru the thread.
First of all you've got to do what you think is right. If that is going to an expensive school then do that.
I don't want to get into specifics of what works and why but what I can say from experience is this: If you get to know someone that is in the industry and has been thru ga then you can learn from their mistakes and cut some of the pain out. The times I didn't listen to MY mentors were the most costly mistakes I ever made.
There are people on this forum that can offer you the heads up on the real world. They might not say stuff you want to hear but it is worth listening to.