<p>My guess is that the OP would be willing (and is able) to pay the big bucks for the big names, but reluctant to shell out the same for schools that are not as well known to him. That is usually the way it goes. </p>
<p>You are truly unusual, Curmudgeon, in finding a school that well fits your D's goals and then being able to let go of a far more prestigious option since it did not fit your family financial picture. Most of the time, unless it is truly not possible, parents take the hit, often even to the detriment of other children, family members and themselves (health,stress, pension issues) to get that Holy Grail of a top school admissions for a member of the family. Usually the financial reality check hits home when the kids wants to go to midrange PRivate U when simiilarly ranked Public U is less than a third of the cost, but when the gap in prestige is greater, all financial caution tends to get thrown to the winds. </p>
<p>When I entered this process many, many years ago, I did not know what I was doing. I was puzzled to be getting huge packages from some schools and a lot less from others. Now I know that the difference was pure financial aid vs merit money plus aid. The one ivy league school I had on my list gave need only money which made it the smallest aid package. Next came an out of state major state U that gave me very little as well. Where I raked it in were with the ones that had merit aid, if I got the larger prizes. Only took me 30 years to figure it out!</p>