<p>Hilbert, going to the school with the greatest scholars isn’t going to mean you ever get to talk to them. IMO, it’s much smarter to go to the large public schools for grad school than undergrad. 400 person intro courses aren’t worth paying $25,000 a year for. If you have the stats, you should consider Harvey Mudd, MIT, Stanford, etc. These are schools that simultaneously excel in STEM fields and offer good opportunities to undergrads. Another alternative is to go to a community college for two years and then transfer to a state university, since you’ll save a lot of money and avoid the worst of the congested classes. Unless you have $200,000 in the bank, no one is too good to consider community college.</p>