When it comes to undergraduate studies, how vast is the difference between the quality of education among colleges of different leagues?

Finding a school that fits your interests and learning style is much more important than an arbitrary ranking. There are definitely differences the quality of undergraduate education from school to school but it is far more nuanced and granular than an arbitrary ranking of state, private and Ivy League schools. My son thrived at Brown; he would not have enjoyed Harvard. I loved the small liberal arts college I went to for its seminar courses and personal attention.

There are schools that offer an education as good as that at an Ivy League school, you just have to know which schools those are. There are other schools you choose because they excel in a particular discipline you’re interested in. Then, you pick schools for an environment you desire, rather than studies.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir , @janbb What exactly do you mean by the environment? What are some different examples?

It differs between schools, but not necessarily in the ways you might think. A top-ranked private school that most students go to because “college is what you do after high school” or “my father went here” or “because the elitist bars around here don’t card you” is quite possibly going to offer a less impressive education in some respects than a really cheap commuter college in which everyone there knows exactly what they want to major in, exactly how they want to apply the degree when they graduate, and how important a degree is for them.

And yeah, for undergrad, it doesn’t matter as much.

I think one very good source for the kind of information you’re interested in would be Colleges That Change Lives

I was lucky enough to attend one of the “colleges that change lives” and I think that the undergraduate experience, where you choose to go, really can make a difference in some very important ways.

But as others have pointed out, there a number of factors you have to consider in choosing a college for yourself, which college is best for you, which will provide you with the best education and foundation possible. You need to consider what you want to study and if the college has a good department in that field, what your own needs are, would you function well at a very large state university with tens of thousands of students or would you do better at a private college or one of the smaller colleges in the public university system. And what do you want from college? For many people the college they attend, as you mentioned, may not make much of a difference. They will get out of it what they put into it and move on to graduate degrees in their field, and yes, a lot of time that is is more important that what college you attended. You can shine at almost any college and graduate schools will notice that. And, of course, all these choices sometimes come down to what you can afford.

And even if you don’t go on to graduate school, there really are a lot of very good schools in the U.S. and if you are motivated and put the effort into getting the most out of the college you end up choosing, you can get a good education almost anywhere.

As far as quality of education is concerned, there is a difference. The better schools hire better professors who are doing more cutting edge research. If you have one of these fellows as a teacher, you are likely to be introduced to more interesting information.

But the difference in education probably isn’t that much.

The real difference is in the students you rub shoulders with (they really are smarter at the good colleges).

Also ask yourself this: why did so many of the leaders of the big tech startups—Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, etc, come from Harvard or Stanford? It makes a difference to go to a prestigious school.

@wundayatta But it’s also important to remember that a lot of times, those better professors with better research don’t always translate into good teachers. Many times, it’s the professors who focus on teaching in lieu of research that can clearly communicate their ideas to students, not the professors who are daring to take on this new research topic, because they don’t spend much time creating teaching skills.

@raven860 There are party schools, there are nerdy schools, there are city schools where you aren’t sheltered and explore the city, there are sports schools, etc.

@Aethelflaed You are absolutely right. And in addition, at a large university, you may not even get to have a class with such a professor, certainly not until you are a Jr. or Sr. But a student can play a more active role in, shall we say, training the professor? You just need the right attitude and you can get a professor to give you what you need.