I found life a whole lot more enjoyable by not giving a crap about prestige, and not planning out the entire next 12+ years of my life (HS, undergrad, grad school) when I was an 8th grader.
That said, I chose my school based on a lot more than the limited metric implied by the author. College (and grad school...) is about more than just the job you get after graduation. I've met so many incredible people and had so many awesome experiences here... to simplify it to a "game" measured in terms of post-grad salary is ridiculous.