Of course, there are many wonderful professors in prestigious schools who do take their teaching seriously. I know personally quite a few of them. I'm just saying that you can't assume that the famous professors at any given prestigious school are good teachers, or are teaching at all. Wherever you apply, you should find out who actually teaches the courses you are likely to take, and you should find out what you can about students' evaluations of those teachers. If possible, visit their classes.
It is often better to be a "big fish in a little pond" than the reverse.
A well-documented psychological phenomenon, relevant to your college choice, is what social psychologists call the "big-fish-little-pond effect."[2] The phenomenon has to do with self-esteem. Many research studies have shown that, given equal academic abilities, students in a non-selective academic setting feel better about their academic abilities than do students in a highly selective setting. Stated differently, a student of moderate ability might feel incompetent, even depressed, in an environment of super achievers. Conversely, that same student might feel like a super achiever himself or herself--and might even start performing like one--in an environment in which his or her performance stands out as one of the best. Unfortunately, our educational world is constructed so as to promote a competitive attitude, so such comparisons and their effects on self-esteem are inevitable. Getting accepted at that Ivy League college might give you an immediate burst of high self-esteem, as your classmates look at you with envy and your grandparents gloat; but actually going to that college could lead to a very long bout of depression, if it turns out to be more than you bargained for.
Separate from self-esteem, there is another advantage of being a big fish in a little pond. A good student at a less prestigious school generally has a much better chance of being noticed by the professors and, therefore, of receiving extra educational opportunities and wonderful recommendations for future careers or studies, than does a student of equal ability at a highly prestigious school. Those extra opportunities and glowing letters may, in many cases, more than compensate for any loss in prestige value that comes from not having gone to Harvard. Moreover, if the classes are easier at the less-prestigious school, that could be a good thing, not just for your self-esteem but also for your education. It would leave you more time to go beyond the assigned coursework, to take charge of your own education, in ways that in the long run will lead to more real learning than the assignments and tests given in class.
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I'm not saying it is always a mistake to go to the most prestigious college you can get into. I'm just saying that there are many good reasons to consider seriously the alternative. Another thing to consider is this: For you, given what you really want to do in life, is a four-year college advantageous at all? Many young people today--including many who could easily get into the most prestigious colleges in the country--are carving out great lives for themselves, happy at their work, making good livings, without going to college at all. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste, at college, if you've got better things to do." But that's another essay.
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References
1. S. B. Dale & A. B. Krueger, "Estimating the payoff of attending a more selective college," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117 (2002), 1491-1527.
2. H. W. Marsh & K-T. Hau, "The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept," American Psychologist, 58 (2003), 364-376.
