Assessment is relegated to a minor, if any, role in the process, since status is not something yet to be achieved, but already assured by admission to such schooling. Participation in the rites of schooling leads to the conferral of recognition. Page through Barron's guide. Ask the average educated American which schools are the better ones. There is no contest here.
Status counts more.
Don't bet too much on it. Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men. He was the only kid in the neighborhood who collected, mounted and studied butterflies. I lost track of him after my freshman year in college. We learned and we earned.