All honors colleges and programs cannot be lumped into a single category. (The CBH program my ds is in has had numerous Goldwater and Hollings scholars. Since it is an honors program focused on developing research skills, it is producing results in its area of focus. http://uanews.ua.edu/2015/04/four-ua-students-named-goldwater-scholars/ )
Not all students have the luxury of simply attending whatever school they want to based on standardized test scores. (Or even want to pick a school through so narrow of a lens.) I know my very high performing kids have a very limited budget. Their college searches are focused on finding schools that offer specialized programs in their areas of interest for top students. Some of these programs only accept a handful of student per year and those kids receive incredible mentoring and career guidance. In addition, they often offer scholarships.
Fwiw, my ds loves Bama. He is not your typical profile student entering there. He took 400 level classes his freshman yr. Guess what? He has found a great peer group of equally top notch students and has wonderful professors who are great mentors. He has been participating in research since his freshman yr. Excellent opportunities are available across a broad spectrum of schools, not just a handful. It takes researching schools and programs and finding ones that match student goals.