<p>You can surely succeed by going to a state school and excelling. Although many may not respect Carl Rove, he never even graduated from college and he was one of the biggest behind-the-scene forces on Capitol Hill for 15 years. With that being said, I would personally go to the best school I could possibly get into, and I would go to UofC in a heart beat. For pre-med though, I would reconsider.</p>