Yes, they do have some prestige, but for good or bad, when an HR rep has to choose between the average Stanford/MIT/Harvard/Yale/Princeton grad and the average Dartmouth/Brown/Williams grad, you know the outcome.
Secondly, Williams is literally the #1 liberal arts college. LACs are ranked separately from large universities. [0]
Thirdly, if you think acceptance rate is the most important indicator (which I'd argue it is for this thread), Brown is #7 and Dartmouth is #12. [1] I'm not really sure why you think they're somehow second-tier. Do you really think the 80 basis point difference in the acceptance rates of MIT and Brown (for example) means that MIT requires intensive prep but Brown will just accept anyone? Give me a break.
> when an HR rep has to choose between the average Stanford/MIT/Harvard/Yale/Princeton grad and the average Dartmouth/Brown/Williams grad, you know the outcome.
No, I really don't. They're pretty much equally competitive and are recruited to the same prestigious companies.
[0] http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/...
[1] http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/...
This is part and parcel of the helicopter parent mentality: that if my kid doesn't get into a top-10 school, they are a failure. It's just not true.
To name just one example: http://qz.com/180247/why-google-doesnt-care-about-hiring-top...