Exactly. My son turned down a top engineering school for a lower ranked SEC. I guess I got the benefit. Money. He chose it for getting his own dorm room and shared bath with one, palm trees and close to mom. Of course when we skied at Aspen he realized he should have applied to Colorado Mountain College so he can ski daily. Or when he had his first gig out of college in Ogden Utah he rued that he didn’t go to Weber State so he could ski every day, better skiing than you’ll ever find in the East 20 mins away. I didn’t like him dumping Purdue but he told me rank is for US News sales, and that companies and society don’t care. Given his outcome job offer wise, he’s not wrong.
It was dumb luck but my daughter ended up in a cohort of Honors - so a group of 15 or 20 Fellows. They had a lot of enrichment and May study away. I say dumb look because she didn’t know about it when she applied, didn’t get in via the interview weekend (named an alternate) but got chosen when a student chose another school after she had already accepted
I took she and her bff to dinner - why C of C with Rice, Vandy and Penn admits. He said dad is a Dr, mom is a hospital administrator. They both said where I go won’t matter for med apps and med school cost a lot. So I grabbed free tuition. Plus the medical school is a few blocks away for shadowing. He then asked why mine didn’t go to W&L or the public Honors she got into. Fair enough. Why ? Fit. He was making fun of me - noting it’s all ridiculous
It’s like you are trying to impress mom or friends but in life, no one will have a clue what Hobart, Colby or St Michaels (another near skiing) are just like many don’t know what U Chicago or Washington University are. You probably don’t think much of URI or Kansas but they’ll have plenty of off the charts kids there. Bama has the most, or if not close, National Merit Finalists m. A few years ago 1/4 of U of Tulsa class was NMF So brilliant kids choose myriad school for numerous reasons (in those cases, likely money).
Yes you worked hard and you’ll reap the reward in being prepared and that mom and dad are able to provide this education.
As for grading academic caliber - there’s a thread from a student who is either at UCSD, Cal Tech or Columbia. I think most of us think Columbia. The thread - I’ve learned nothing.
In grad school, my Cornell undergrad roommate had a best friend from Wharton. Our rigor at a west coast public was way more intense. Don’t conflate rank with rigor etc.
anyway, good luck. I know you’re going to land at a school lucky to have you. Midd said no. Their loss. If you look back five years from now and say, these were the best four years of my life, then you made a wonderful choice. But dug into the academic offerings of ea h like I noted up thread. Good luck.