[suppasonic]

Not many people pay the full price of a private college, at least the upper echelon ones. For example, Northwestern is actually about the same or cheaper than the UCs would be for me or for out of state tuition at Ill.

You are right, its not all about the books, and any smart driven kid at any state school will outperform a lazy slacker from an upper echelon private.

I'm not defending the other guys statement about "LOL, state school," because I could've easily ended up at one too. However, a top private school has resources that a good public just cant offer.

If I had to pay full price at Northwestern or any other private, I wouldn't be going there, I'd be at UCLA, UCSD, or Cal, and you'd be right. But a lot of people assume anyone going to a private is leaving with 160k in debt, which is just not the case for most people.