There is something wrong with our college admission process, as well as the college system. I think a lot of kids now believe that if you don't get into an Ivy or close to that then there really isn't any point of even going to college. There needs to be a move to explain to kids that although the name on the diploma isn't unimportant it isn't the only thing that matters. I've looked at a lot of resumes in my current job, and I glance at where people went to college but it doesn't really thrill me as much as their internship or work experience.

I am in the process of selecting grad schools for a PhD program and I applied to 8 schools, I got into 4 schools. I got denied from the very elite schools (Harvard, Stanford, Cornell), but after visiting Penn State and finding professors there that seem amazing I am perfectly content (I visit Madison this weekend so we will see what they have to offer).

Of course applying to graduate school is very different than undergraduate, but I do think that the principle stands, name recognition isn't the most important part of going to college.

Sidebar: I did went to a fairly unrecognized undergraduate that has now moved up in the rankings which I've been told makes my diploma worth more but I have not seen the return yet.