University of Iowa is a very good school, no doubt. But depending on what you want to do with your life, it can close a lot of doors. Top-tier banks and management consulting companies don't recruit heavily from U of I, nor do top-tier tech companies for that matter (though the distinction is less marked). When you look at the fraction of the upper echelons of corporate America that come from those backgrounds, that's significant. I went to a state school for undergrad, but where I currently work most people have at least one Ivy on their resume. The difference in our undergraduate social networks is really quite dramatic in terms of peoples' career trajectories.