I think one comparison you are leaving out is the student’s personality. I have four kids; three would be crushed emotionally and mentally, and their self-confidence pummeled if they were put into extremely competitive academic environments you would, get as schools like Harvard or even William and Mary, where you can feel the stress in the air walking around campus. Suicide rates are high at some of these schools. It is about finding the right school that fits our students’ needs, and for some that are Bama and Arizona. Your best engineering programs are not housed in Ivys. There was actually a study conducted about 10 years ago that engineering firms prefer to hire kids coming out of state schools over Ivys. Friends at the University of Arizona Medical School tell us they would take an Honors student from U of Arizona over an Ivy student every time. They are much better prepared. BTW Cornell does have one of the top Hospitality programs in the nation.