If you are gearing yourself toward graduate school in the social sciences, with an academic career goal in the USA, then frankly the top LACs are a better option than the ivies. If you do some research you will see that schools like Reed in portland Oregon matriculate more future PhDs than all the ivies on a proportional graduates basis. Take a look at this survey, its a few years old but still very valid…
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-colleges-where-phds-get-their-start/
So although the Ivies have a dominant perception of quality overseas, here in the USA, however, if your personal goal is an academic teaching/research career than going to a top LAC is statistically a better bet than an ivy. Explain that to your parents.