<p>I think it is. It is silly to recommend a prospective student to choose JHU over Columbia if he/she is interested in become an investment banker. It is silly to recommend a prospective student to choose Northwestern over MIT if he/she is interested in becoming a Mathematics professor. It is silly to recommend a prospective student to choose Michigan over WashU if he/she is interested in going to medical school and becoming a doctor.</p>
<p>I could go on an on. Prestige matters.</p>
<p>I think the tiers can be broken down further:</p>
<p>Tier 1: Harvard
Tier 2: Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Caltech
Tier 3: the rest of the Ivies besides Cornell, Duke, University of Chicago
Tier 4: the rest of the top 25 schools
Tier 5: 26-50
Tier 6: 51-100</p>