Big state vs. small, prestigious private?

<p>hows vandy, rice, or cornell for oil?</p>

<p>My qualm is that, by going to one of these prestigious privates, I would keep the door open for both engineering and management consultancy. By going to uiuc, I may limit myself significantly in terms of connections, ability to get into grad school, and other factors that would prevent me from going to a top grad school or getting into a top management consultancy firm.</p>