<p>All of this just points out “To each his/her own…”</p>
<p>I think my son is in one of the best honors programs in the entire US (public or private) with not only early registration, an air-conditioned single, great merit money, etc., etc., but also individualized one-on-one instruction with professors, access to graduate courses - even as a freshman, no prerequisites for any course at the university, financial support for summer projects and some of the most personal oversight you’d get anywhere at any school.</p>
<p>I agree totally with what blossom and others have said: the people graduating from the Elites are preselected, and their success in later life has much more to do with the student than with the NAME of the college. Of course, what helps that success is the resources the college is willing/able to give the student. And some relatively lesser-known schools are willing/able to give more than you can imagine.</p>