I think there’s also wildly overestimating the value of elite schools for undergrad - in undergrad you’re so far from the “state of the art” that you’d probably

I think there’s also wildly overestimating the value of elite schools for undergrad - in undergrad you’re so far from the “state of the art” that you’d probably get about the same level of education at those schools than you would at any good (for example) European public university/US state university with a decent CS department - of which there are many and they're neither as expensive nor as selective. Elite schools only really matter for their reputation and for research (which is done at the grad level, not in undergrad).