That reminds me of my university search. Looking for an engineering program, visited a campus (top 5 engineering school) and they asked where else I was considering. I mentioned GA Tech (had lived in GA for part of high school, a number of friends intended to go there), and Notre Dame (sister's intended school, had visited and liked it). The response, completely straight, "Well, I guess those are good schools." It's incredibly easy to get people to dismiss an entire institution from consideration when their representatives are so crass.
the gatekeepers at our nation’s most prestigious firms are pathetically shallow, outrageously parochial, and insufferably snobbish.