<p>Internationally, the only U.S. colleges and universities that have true name recognition are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and in some instances, Stanford and MIT. Other than that, you’re mostly out of luck. </p>
<p>If you look at polls of the American pubic, the most prestigious schools, in addition to Harvard and Yale, are New York University and Penn State (both of which are great schools, btw). Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Pomona, etc., have very little name recognition among the general U.S. public, let alone abroad. If you want your neighborhood butcher or your favorite bartender to know where you went to school, then you should go to Notre Dame, Duke, or some other school with a good basketball or football team. Stay away from elite liberal arts colleges. If you want the admissions officers at Harvard Business School and Yale Law School to be impressed with your undergrad institution, then by all means attend a top LAC.</p>