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^^^ It's not a question of being "opposed" to the idea of going somewhere prestigious, it's a question of which is the better place for the student, which school offers a better fit.
Just like stats and rankings don't give you a feel for what the "personality" of a campus is like, GPAs and SAT scores don't give you a feel for the personality of a student. You could have a numbers match but a "personality" mis-match.
Bottom line, just because someone can get INTO a so-called "prestigious" school - doesn't mean it's the best place for that person. One of my BF in high school wanted to go into medicine. He was accepted to (and could have paid for) several ivy types (memory is going on me many years later....but I"m thinking JH and Yale). But there was a particular professor at Tulane that he really admired and had encouraged him about medicine. So, he chose Tulane for undergrad and med school, and followed that up with various fellowships at JH and in Europe. It was the right thing for him and has served him quite well with his career.
As for the "where did you go to school" thing.....that's particularly big in New Orleans, but- has NOTHING to do with where you went to college. Instead - it refers to High School! It is somewhat of a status check, giving a clue as to family status and where (more or less) you may live. However, just as frequently it is used as a conversation starter because chances are........if you meet someone roughly your age and they went to one of about 12 schools in NO - then you probably know someone (or many someones) in common.
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