One thing that's missing from here is what else you like about each school. I went to Rutgers, but studied abroad for one semester, which cost me an extra $20,000, since it was through another university. That one study abroad semester made me competitive for a state department job, which I got, which really helped me get my foot in the door in my career, and ultimately get into my dream grad school.

If I was weighing only cost, I never would have taken that semster abroad. I'm all for being as financially conservative as you can with an undergrad education, but with a field like physics, it seems to me that the institution is important. Depending on what you want to do long term.

And as Others have said, If you do decide to take change majors (it happens), Rutgers has pretty much anything you could want.

I went to Rutgers New Brunswick, so I can't say anything specific to Rutgers Newark if that is what you were talking about. I don't know how the campuses are or are not regarded differently when getting hired or applying to advanced degrees.