<p>it seems that some schools have more regional prestige than national prestige. For example, with schools like Northwestern and U of Chicago, outside of the midwest, many people have never heard of it. If you go to want of those schools, where the majority (around 40-50 percent) of the student body comes from the midwest, will that jeapordize job opportunities outside of the midwest, such as on the east coast where you have all those ivy league grads and schools such as nyu, tufts, and the rest sitting on the east coast. That was one of my concerns when I was selecting a college. Maybe I was just ignorant, but it was a little disconcerting that so little alums from these places were located in my area, whereas the school I chose (Cornell), everywhere I turn is an alum.</p>
<p>I've lived in my town for 15 years, the capital city, and work with educated folks - scientists, legislators, policymakers, professors - and am active in the arts community as well. I've never met a single one who went to Cornell (or Brown, or Dartmouth, or Georgetown, and the list could get longer.)</p>
<p>Prestige among the general public is different from prestige among people who know schools. The general public has heard of most of the the Ivies, Vassar, Stanford, MIT and any school with a strong Division 1 sports team. I think most people think that UPenn is a state university. All of this stuff about prestige would be more serious if it actually meant anything.</p>