The location of your undergrad degree doesn’t matter as much as parents like to think it does. The really important thing is *succeeding* in school: getting good grades, making a good name for yourself among teachers and counselors, and, simply enough, genuinely learning a lot. This is what’s going to get you recommendation letters, grad school acceptance letters, and job offers.

First, create a list of schools that seem to fit you, your career goals and your personality. Then aim for the best schools among those. If you don’t get your #1 school, don’t freak out. In the modern academy and job market, a student’s accomplishments are more important than where she went.

Personally, I didn’t get accepted into any private colleges, but I turned down the #1 state university in my home state and went to #2 because I thought I’d be happier and more successful there. Turns out I was right, and I did well enough to get into good MA and PhD programs. When I apply for jobs, they’ll glance and my undergrad transcripts for a couple seconds, then move on to more important matters.

Do whatever is going to make you happier. If you want to have a social “college life”, go for a state university (i.e. Texas, U of Florida, Arizona State, etc) for your undergrad. Top tier grad schools are definately competitive, but going to a well known-not necesarilly top tier- school with a good gpa should be sufficient to get in a top grad school.. In addition to that you’ll have to take the GRE or GMAT (depending on degree) and the schools will base admission to grad school based on that as well. So if I were you, i’d do that, and then attend a top grad school. If you plan on getting the graduate degree (recommended), then thats the one where the “top” school is going to matter on resumes anyway. But really, just do what will make YOU happy, many students end up doing badly or dropping out because they’re not doing what they want to do.

you’re going to be spending your nights studying and pulling all nighters regardless of where you go if you plan on attending a top grad school. so if that’s what you’re worried about, go to the best school you can. you’re parents are right, undergrad may not matter THAT much, but it does look better in terms of your resume. and it would help for you to be prepared for grad school anyway, you don’t want to go to some less demanding school, then flunk out of grad school!

but seriously, do whatever you want. a top 100 school can still offer a valuable education.

That is a nice fantasy, but the fact is that top-20 grad schools tend to be highly competitive, and they aren’t looking for partiers from lower-tier schools; they want the best candidates they can get. Sure, there is the possibility you might get in, but the probability is much greater if you come from a better school and do well.

The other fallacy in your assumptions is that you would have to study harder at a top university. I’m not convinced that is the case. You could go to a lesser school, find out you have to study harder, and not get into graduate school in the long run.

It does matter. That’s how you get into a good grad school. Good grades at top universities. The school you go to makes a big impression on the grad school you are applying for.

It depends on what you want to do. What are your future plans? For some people going to college isn’t important.

How sad for you that you worked so hard in high school! Learn to manage your time. If you really crave a social life, you can do this at any school with proper time management.

What should you do? Realize you are an adult and this is your life. Forget your parents plans for you. What are your plans for you? When you know what you want, you’ll know how to get it.

don’t go to a school just because it is a top school. go to a school because YOU want to go there. do what you think will make YOU happy. doing something just to make others happy will only make you miserable and unhappy in the long run.

doesn’t matter, do good job on your classes, attending student activity frequently, and just please remember this word: “you’re doing right because you think it’s right!”