> schools in smaller "college towns" will be more appealing... We always find a reason Yes, schools are not fungible. As soon as you think you've thought of so

> schools in smaller "college towns" will be more appealing... We always find a reason Yes, schools are not fungible. As soon as you think you've thought of some axis to evaluate your options on, like rent affordability, you can always find another that would give you an opposite order of choices, like the quality of the opportunities the program gives you. Rather than pricing these priorities, there's merit in emotional reasoning. Like maybe getting a student excited for an affordable choice is more important than making the "right" choice. Maybe this is why, when comparing colleges, many students choose the maximum affordable prestige (i.e., respond to peer pressure, something very emotional). I agree that your line of thinking is helpful, but it can't compete with Internet posts digesting US News rankings; parents trying to one up each other; other students wearing their Harvard and Stanford sweaters to school. So the question isn't, Can someone get a great education in a small college town? Of course that's true, nobody is going to litigate that with you. The question is, is a measured approach to making those choices fundamentally opposed to the reigning psychology of all the involved consumers?