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<p>Take this with somewhat of a grain of salt, since I am not an engineer (though I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night... j/k) and only a mere h.s. senior-to-be still looking at schools... but from what I understand, many of the uber-elite engineering schools (MIT, Princeton, Cal Tech, etc.) have a reputation for being very theory-focused, since many of the students go on to attain PhDs, attend med school, or work on Wall Street. On the other hand, certain schools (Purdue, Penn St., and Rose Hulman come to mind) have more of a reputation for producing practicing engineers on the B.S./M.S. level, and are accordingly blend more practical elements into the curriculum. You will largely be taking the same classes and covering similar materials, with the main difference being how much "hands on" and project-oriented work comes into play.</p>
<p>That is the main distinction I was trying to impart. Granted, you can become a fine practicing engineer from any school, or can apply to med or law school from any undergrad. But if you have an idea of your goals already, there may be some routes that are easier than others.</p>