@Cheeringsection, well, there are also a lot of good public schools & programs in the original B10 footprint. I have UMich and UW-Madison as near-Ivies, so kids in MI, WI, and MN may attend one at in-state rates. Of the other states, UIUC engineering, CS, and accounting are among the tops in the country. In IN, there are terrific in-state options in PU engineering, Kelley, and IU Music. OH has a bunch of publics that have a strong point or two: UCincy has one of the top design schools in the country, OSU accounting is strong, Ohio has the Oxbridge tutorial system and an old picturesque campus, MiamiU has the pretty campus and is an original public Ivy, and several of the regionals like Toledo, etc. have engineering specialties where they are among the best in the country. Iowa has a nationally-renown writing program. A little east (and OK, we’re leaving the original B10 footprint now), PSU has a strong alumni network (arguably the strongest of any public school) and Pitt has a high-ranked philosophy department. UMinny and OSU (also Pitt) are also located in thriving cities.
Compare with the states to the east and north of PA. I know RU’s philosophy department is one of the best in the world. Don’t know of much other strong points among the publics there. Meanwhile, that region is chock-full of elite private unis. In the original B10 footprint, UChicago and Northwestern are true Ivy-equivalents. Then you have CMU and CWRU on the edge to the east and WashU on the edge to the southwest. That’s about it (if you don’t look at LACs).