[habbababba]

I totally understand that this very likely may not be the place I should be posting on to get answers to my questions and I profusely apologize for asking nevertheless.
I have reached a point of desperation and I thought perhaps expressing my concern to people who may have previous tangible experience in similar situations could give me a different, yet important insight on the issue.
I have a bachelor's degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. The original plan for getting into science was to get into Med School and become a physician. As I moved forward into my degree however, I realized that I can't spend the rest of my life as a physician. It's a respectable and noble career with many great benefits (and no, I'm not just referring to the financial benefits) but, as hackneyed as it may sound, I genuinely enjoyed the science I was learning and developed much less interest in all the other significant aspects that are associated with becoming a physician. For this, I started to have doubts about whether I want to become a physician and eventually I decided, under other circumstances, to let go of this plan and to start thinking about doing research instead.
I completed my bachelor at the age of 20 and then, I was compelled to enter the professional field for family related reasons and started teaching at high-schools. I have also volunteered to join some lab research to get a better idea and I enjoyed the experience. I've been doing this for the past 4 years now and I've made some money that can help me finance my graduate studies. Last year, I started looking up opportunities to join grad school and applied to some universities. Specifically, I applied only to Master's programs because I personally do not think that I'm ready enough to make a leap directly into PhD programs (not insinuating here that I am confident I can get admission straight to PhD programs but I heard that some students were able to do that under special circumstances). I feel that I can learn from my Master's, that I can build a more solid foundation in my knowledge and that it can prepare me better for future research oriented careers.
I received admission from some universities. Some of the programs I was admitted to hold top ranks, others are much less ranked. It is also worth mentioning that both the highly and the less ranked programs have faculty whose research areas match my interests. I did not receive any funding from any of the universities which, to be honest, explains majorly how I got accepted into some of the top ranked programs. As you can imagine, the top ranked programs cost much more than the less ranked ones and although I can personally fund my education, I am certain that I will have other commitments in the future. I should now make a choice. I either enter a top ranked program in a flashy university but pay an awful lot of money or I join a mid-level program which costs a hell of a lot less.
Personally, I'm inclined to join a mid-level program not because it costs less but because I care more about the knowledge experience. I doubt that a school with a flashy name will hoist my knowledge to levels a mid-level university can't. Learning is mostly, if not solely, my responsibility. So am I failing to see why I need to pay a much greater amount of money if knowledge is what I'm after? Perhaps I'm mistaken about this though. Perhaps a reputable school will help me in ways a mid-level school can't, but I just don't see how. That's why I came here, I would like to ask if anyone here could give me an insight on what else I need to base my decision on. Also, there is always a risk that I may not get a funded PhD after my Master's, so given that risk, what is a good reason to spend so much money on something that can cost much less in other places? Does the rank of the program during the Master's level play an important role in securing a funded PhD in the future at creditable places? Or does the nature of your work during you Master's level regardless of where it has been done matter more?
I am fully aware that the matter is personal and that a lot of you here will feel hesitant to spew out any advice. I've read many great posts on this forum by members like Corribus that look at life in research vs life in medicine from interesting and informative angles. So I thought this could actually be a good place to ramble about my academic concern. I welcome any advice or guidance from anyone here with or without relevant life experience.

[Furanone]

My opinion on this matter is that you don't judge based on whether the school is mid-tier or top-tier, but rather (most importantly) on what you are interested in studying, and then approach the professors who are doing the most similar related research to your interests.

There could be the best professor in this particular area that you are interested in at a mid-tier school, while at a top-tier school the professor that works on this same topic is a complete dolt. Top-tier is only an average across all disciplines. That said, make sure you make a good match with the professor as this will make your 3-4 years (or in my case 6+ years) much more enjoyable and productive. When speaking to the various professors interested in the area you want to explore, always remember they are interviewing you but at the same time you are interviewing them. There are countless stories in life of people who excel at an area at a low-to-mid-tier school just because they had the right adviser and they were so interested in this topic that it was not work necessary to get their degree but a labour of love, that they had to understand the mechanisms (mysteries) for what their research project was based on.

If a professor (any professor whether mid-tier or top-tier) interested in this same area as you, sees how much passion you have for this same area based on your prior knowledge of this area and the ideas you have to expand this area, then they would be a complete dolt not to select you as their graduate student (whether for MSc or PhD).