Your examples of Uninformed/Informed first choices in College Selection?

For the love of…cake! Why do so many threads have to veer into elite school vs elite school territory?
The truth is that the kids I know (including my own) care about the right “fit” - size, location, campus vibe etc. They also care about dorms and food.
To me your criteria is your criteria.
The big mistakes to me are going into serious debt and following a boyfriend/girlfriend.
My own kid knocked a school from his list because it was too conservative and another because males greatly outnumbered females.