<p>Here is another resource that has some discussion and research into this issue: [Amazon.com:</a> The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education (Chicago Guides to Academic Life) (9780226721156): Andrew Roberts: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/The-Thinking-Students-Guide-College/dp/0226721159]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/The-Thinking-Students-Guide-College/dp/0226721159). In this book, a professor from Northwestern provides compelling evidence that a motivated student can receive an equally good quality undergraduate education at any of the top 300 or so U.S. colleges and universities. The book is not specific to engineering, so this includes liberal arts colleges. He also tells students exactly what they should be doing to find the opportunities and what actions to take to get this quality education no matter which institution they happen to attend.</p>
<p>The book also has a chapter on grad school, and here, the author states that the rules are different, and reputation does matter, that you want to go to the best PhD program you can get into. However, coming from an elite undergraduate school doesn’t necessarily help you get into a top PhD program, because there are profs from top grad schools in all the state schools and liberal arts colleges who maintain contacts within their fields and can help top students get into the programs of their choice.</p>
<p>Another book, [A</a> Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs: John Willingham: Amazon.com: Kindle Store](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Review-Public-University-Programs-ebook/dp/B007VCZL40/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1]A”>http://www.amazon.com/Review-Public-University-Programs-ebook/dp/B007VCZL40/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1), reviews what the author considers to be the top 50 public university honors programs. One criteria in the ranking is the schools’ record for earning prestigious scholarships (Rhodes, Fullbright, Cambridge, Truman, Goldwater, etc). The point I want to make here is that author, who includes plenty of citations, shows that the very top undergraduate students in the U.S. who earn the most prestigious national and international scholarships (not going into college, but upon graduation), do not hale exclusively from elite private universities. About half of them graduate from state universities, many of them from the list in this book. So it is a myth that the best and brightest attend the elites.</p>