I don’t know if I would list them as a backups, but CMU ¶, Olin College of Engineering (MA) and Cooper Union (NYC) deserve that designation. Some schools are on the map because of very large graduate schools and corresponding research budgets which may or may not match up to the quality of the undergraduate schools.
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Check out this list @https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_technological_universities.
It is very hard to find a polytechnic, an institute of technology, or a school of mines which does not have a very demanding program. It is the nature of the beast! If you have doubts about job placement, average salaries of graduates, or graduate schools attended, etc. you should ask the schools directly. Some schools have very good websites for this. You will be surprised how many schools you never hear of have very impressive records. The world of quality choices is much broader than you may realize. Popular rankings can be misleading.
If you want engineering at large state institutions you might also look at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
If you want fully developed project education programs look at Olin and WPI (also international project studies).
If you want hands on activity, you might look at Cal Poly.
If you want a true first class “pressure cooker,” try MIT or Cal Tech, but the others are not easy.
What specifics are you looking for?
:bz