<p>I don't understand the reason for the criticism by others - was it because they felt you wouldn't be challenged at the state universities or find enough similar peers intellectually or what?</p>
<p>Whatever the case, I applaud you for not feeling pressured by others to go where <em>they</em> feel you should go, <em>and</em> for knowing what you seek and what you do not. You don't mention finances, but monetarily, your choice also makes a lot of sense as you'll get a free ride at those state universities and depending on your family finances, might have to pay a lot for a Stanford education, say.</p>
<p>Not sure the reason for your post - were you looking to find some support? Some examples of people who were smart like you are but opted for a state U and are happy they did? In case that was the cause (and not just the support), I'll share two stories from my family. My brother went to a state U for his undergraduate degrees in EE and physics (earned in 4 years with 170-some credits rather than the 150 required for a dual degree and a GPA of 3.8+), landed his first choice medical school (same state system as he loves this state) and earned the M.D. in 3.5 years (something they don't allow there anymore, but did back then so long as you paid the full 4 years of tuition) and then got a graduate degree in engineering (same state system) and is now eminent in his field (was on the Scientific American 50, for example, if you are familiar with that, and has won things like the "Inventor of the Year" award and been in a big city magazine for being one of the most "intriguing" people in that city when he doesn't even live or work in that city!). He <em>swears</em> by the state U in the education they provide, and gives talks there on his inventions and such by starting off with a photo of his four diplomas from the state system and then a photo of his pretty slick (custom designed) home on a large wooded lot and says, "With an education here, you can live like this" (or some such plug for the school).</p>
<p>The second story is of our son. I caught a lecture from Martha Stewart when she heard our son was attending the same school as my brother had (only he wasn't there, he was at another school in the same state's system, but she thought he was at the state U my brother attended, which is just out of the top tier in ranking where my son's alma mater was <em>third</em> tier and so I can only imagine how bad the lecture would have been had she even understood the actual university he was attending) - she insisted that anyone with his brain should only be at a top school like Harvard or MIT, never mind that he was only 9 and we didn't see a need for him (which would really mean all of us when he was 9) to move for an education when the kid was clearly learning quite well all on his own just from having access to the Internet and book stores and a public library and interesting people who live in our area. Martha was not alone in her condemnation of our son attending a low ranking state U, but nobody who knows him today can say where it hurt him - he landed his graduate student spot at his first choice (only choice really - he was very "MIT or bust" when it came to the particular lab even, as MIT allows applicants to apply to two programs and he considered applying to another, but decided, "No, I want this lab or I'll just keep on being a consultant till I can get into that lab."), he's always been happy and had plenty of friends, he was able to be a on college sports team in undergraduate school (which I doubt he would have at a top school), he was elected to the SGA despite his young age at the local state school (which we had doubts he'd be able to pull off at a top school back then, but he's been elected to so many government organizations at MIT including even having people suggest he run for president of the graduate student government there despite still being young for a graduate student or even young for an undergrad when he started there at 14, that now I am thinking maybe top schools would have been open to young people in their government groups, too), and never had any problem finding clients with the no name school on his resume (and clients who were paying him $200+/hour at that) for the year between college and grad school when he worked (so that we felt confident he would be able to live on his own once he started graduate school, though in truth, I now suspect he could have started grad school straight out of college like he wanted and things would have played out similarly, but I also think his having that year of consultant experience was a good thing for him to have as he knows if ever he is wanting out of the Ph.D. program, he still should be able to find work pretty easily and it won't be the end of the world, like some doctoral students fear about dropping out before the thesis is defended). I am also glad he had that time at the local state U socializing with people whose IQ level are somewhat closer to the norm (the state U had an SAT average in the 1200s out of 1600s rather than 1400s or 1500s like some of the top schools do) as well as how he became friends with the janitorial staff there and didn't have at all an elitist attitude while in college, which I had hoped would prevent him developing one later, though I regret to report that I think that has happened somewhat (not that he looks down on others who have had no top tier college experience so much as for <em>himself</em>, he now has no interest in applying to anything but top 5 schools should he try to get an MBA and/or JD after finishing the science/math education).</p>
<p>People so often note that it's good to be well-rounded. Well, I think having experiences in different kinds of colleges (top and not top) also make for a better rounded person, but that's just my guess. And this isn't to say you best go to graduate school at a top college (or graduate school at any college) if you attend a state U for undergraduate school, but just that I think a mix is a positive thing rather than a negative thing, and if you <em>are</em> planning to go to graduate school (as our son was since age 8, the time he could have started college as he had been admitted to start then), it's better to have the undergrad experience be the one from the lower ranked school (unless your particular graduate school specialty happens to have a top ranked program in a lower ranked U, which certainly happens plenty).</p>
<p>Good luck to you, and HAVE FUN (as I trust you will from your post)! :)</p>