<p>RML,
We just see it differently. You are what I call a prestige-hound. That’s fine as different things will work for different folks and this is especially true for UNDERGRADUATE study. </p>
<p>I concur with your implicit point that brand power is important-look at how the Ivy label elevates the non-HYP Ivies-but if one is searching for a quality school, there are plenty of excellent reasons beyond prestige to recommend a school. For example, in the case of the non-HYP Ivies, they have some brand benefit, but they also happen to compare very well on all of the questions that are posed. </p>
<p>More broadly, I think that you vastly underrate the importance that most aspiring college students/families apply to the 4 questions that I posed above. In fact, the only demographic where I have found this prioritization to be less than extremely accurate would be among Asians, particularly first-generation Asian-Americans or internationals. For this group, my experience has been that they consider the name and “prestige” as a paramount factor in judging a school (and the people who are associated with the school).</p>