Well, there is at least one nuance that I’ve expressed my preference to have cleared up.
“National University” is US News nomenclature and lumps in institutions of a different kind. “Major research university” is an equally imprecise term. Again, when you summarily say that undergrads at one are not given less attention than at the other, for that to mean anything to me I need to know whether you’re talking about Dartmouth or the University of Texas. Those are different places and experiences.
As to the rest, based only on a general recollection of prior posts on this topic, we are in general agreement about what a large university HC can do, which is to alleviate some of the challenges presented by allocating resources across an undergraduate city population of 35,0000 + students. So, that means that the large public HC is a great option. On that I think we agree. And, extending that just a little, it represents, to me at least, a better option as compared to undergrad gen pop at such schools.
Whether these HCs really offer an experience that is like a true LAC is harder to peg. To really know, you’d have to talk to someone who did both. I don’t know such a person. When my D was making the choice, she clearly perceived a lingering difference, and I would bet if she could do both and compare she’d say they were not 100% overlapping experiences.