[firstplacelast]

Oof. This is a very out-of-touch comment. This isn't about the difference between Harvard and a good state school.

[devcpp]

Except it is. Education in the US is relatively cheap and easy to get if you don't aim for private or top schools.

[firstplacelast]

There's still a massive difference between schools that don't fall into the private/top-tier bin. Sorry.

I am from a family of 10 kids and we all went to and were accepted to different schools (all non-private/non-top tier)...there is a massive difference in education levels between schools (maybe it won't affect your career trajectory, but I didn't go to college for a career, I went to learn and be surrounded by others of my caliber).