<p>Jarjar, what part of the country are you from? In the Northeast, it is relatively less uncommon for high achieving students to want to go to the state flagship. (I said relatively, so don’t everybody jump on me because they know one kid, blah blah blah). In the rest of the country, it is very common for high achieving students to want to go to the state flagship. Particularly in California, with a lot of good UC’s to choose from, and in the Midwest with the B1G 10 schools.<br>
No one would blink an eye out here at a good student choosing U of Illinois. </p>