<p>I'd agree that once you're out the name of the school isn't going to matter much if you stay in engineering. Engineering programs are ABET-acredited and you'll learn the same things no matter where you go. At a top school (public or private) you'll go more into depth than the ABET min requirements and employers know that.</p>
<p>However there are 2 reasons to consider the private school. At publics the classes tend to be large, especially in the intro level. The "prof" can lecture 3x a week in a class with 100-200 students, then you meet once a week with a TA, and the TA is accessible during office hours. If you run into trouble you may get more personal attention/help at the private. Most Phd students in engineering are foreign-born, BTW, and I don't want to be accused of zenophobia but there are TAs who basically do not speak anything that can be understood as english.</p>
<p>The 2nd reason is for plan B; what do you do if you decide not to major in engineering? If your state school is highly regarded in other areas (Berkeley, etc) this may not be a problem. Its worth giving this a LOT of thought since stats show between 1/2 and 2/3 of all students entering college as engineering majors switch (see <a href="http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041%5B/url%5D">http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041</a>, for example)</p>