<p>It’s interesting just how kids think, though. My HS was in IL, yet I knew a few kids from my HS who went to CMU for CS even though UIUC CS has always been top 5. Granted, if you’re poor enough, CMU may actually make sense financially, and maybe some had families with enough money that they could choose purely on fit (and back in the day, even elite privates weren’t so outrageously expensive).
Still, while I know CS grads from my HS from both CMU and UIUC who have had successful careers, the most successful (financially) ironically went to UIUC.</p>
<p>BTW, if he’s confident of his future earnings capacity, then why spend 100K more if another school can get him there?</p>