<p>Go for the rankings in your major. In engineering and the sciences, the rankings actually mean something (though not <em>as much</em> as many people think). The main thing they mean is that they open doors for your first job/grad school and help you make valuable connections.</p>
<p>And yes, employers and grad schools are more impressed with an undergrad engineering degree from Rose Hulman or Harvey Mudd (schools that most people have never heard of but which are big names in engineering schools) than an engineering degree from Yale or Harvard, whose engineering schools are good but not nearly as highly ranked from an engineering standpoint. And then there are superschools like CalTech, MIT, Cornell, Stanford, etc., which are highly ranked in engineering <em>and</em> most other disciplines.</p>