bluemagic,
I attended MIT for graduate school and received an excellent education. I agree with you that the research labs are exceptional and should have mentioned it.
But my point was different. I attended a midwest state school for undergrad that has roughly the same reputation as BU. I was part of the honors program and received an excellent education there as well. While the average school IQ was lower, my honors classmates were just as sharp as those at MIT (they all ended up at Stanford, Columbia, MIT, etc. for graduate school). I also found a great undergraduate research opportunity (only a few to choose from as opposed to hundreds). Career opportunities were notably different which is what I really noticed after attending MIT.
However, here is another key difference: My state school cost was less than zero. After considering all the scholarships I received, I even had beer money for the weekends. If I had gone to an expensive private school for undergrad, it would have completely drained my parents finances.
A clarification: I just saw that BU's Trustee scholarships cover full tuition, but not board. So it could be effectively free for a Boston area resident that lives at home, but those staying on campus would have to pay boarding fees. That is still an incredible educational value.
