For one, courses were significantly more difficult and the homework was harder in the top 20 university. For example, the junior level CS algorithms course I to

For one, courses were significantly more difficult and the homework was harder in the top 20 university. For example, the junior level CS algorithms course I took at both were so different that I wouldn't even call the one I took in the 200s ranked university an actual algorithms course. This was just the worst case though; the other classes were better than this class but the differences were significant. I agree though that it can be a mixed bag in that there were good and bad teachers in both universities but I found the top 20 university had in general professors who consistently taught better, the courses were better structured, and the professors seemed more motivated to perform well than the 200s ranked university. There were a number of exceptions on both sides but the exceptions favored the top 20 university.