Since I live so close to home, it's inevitable (though not necessarily in a bad way) that I'm going to run into someone I know--and I often do.

On Friday, I was talking to one of my friends from high school, who's a senior this year. Naturally, the conversation turned to her college search, and she told me how she had applied early to her top three choices, been accepted at all three, and now just needed to make the decision, which she was having trouble with.

One was just a safety school, but she was back and forth between the other two.
The first college, we'll call it "A," was very large and very presitigious, and B was medium-sized, not as famous, but still well-known within New England.
They were both about the same distance away from home, the same cost, in the same type of location, and neither were offering exhorbitantly more than the other financial aid or scholarship wise.

Her problem was that, though B was a better fit for her (she was looking for a more personable experience), how could she pass up A?

My opinion? Very easily.
Had A been exactly what she was looking for, great! It would be awesome if everyone's perfect fit was always regarded as one of the most impressive schools. That shouldn't be the reason you pick it, though. College is not something you force yourself to accept; you can't make yourself like where you go--you actually have to.
When I told her that, she was worried about what people would think of her for passing up a prestigious school. Well you know what? It doesn't matter what they think because they're not the ones who have to live and work there.

Besides, prestige is, quite frankly, relative. Location affects it (for example, I don't know anything about schools way on the other side of the country), and people's criteria is different. Maybe you base the school's fame on the fact that it's Ivy League, or that their sports team has won the championship twenty years in a row, but I base it on how many people graduate and get a job right away. This is the whole the reason I have always hated those "Top 100 Best Colleges Ever" books and websites. Ok, maybe that school has a five-star dining hall, but is it on the list of Top 100 Best Colleges Ever for Me?

Seniors, as people start narrowing their choices, you're going to start hearing (if you haven't already), "Well, I got accepted at Blah Blah Blah!" It's going to turn into an unofficial but understood competition over who "does better."
When I picked PC, no one in my town was very impressed because we all live five minutes away from it and they thought I was lame for not "branching out." Fast forward a few months, however, and I'm here loving life and half of them are filling out transfer applications.

Forget the prestige--after it's announced at graduation that you're going to "Ooh La La University," all the glory of it wears off and you actually have to go there and perform. Pick the school that fits you like a glove (and not O.J. Simpson's); you'll be so happy you did!