Where you go to school matters quite a lot if what you're there to do is meet the kind of people who go to that kind of school.

Well, what you do in school is network so it does matter.

I should also say, every school has passionate and ambitious people who will do great things. A better school just makes it easier to blindly stumble into those social circles.

As far as learning is concerned, probably.

As far as career opportunities go, no. Having gone to a "big name" school/university definitely opens doors.

Except the data and studies I am familiar with don't bare that out.

There was no statistical increase in future earnings comparing those that went to an ivy league vs students who got in to ivy league but ended up going somewhere else. *

And that doesn't take into account the fact that the ivy league probably cost a lot more.

*There was actually a small income boost for ivy league for minorities.

If only that were true in the USA for the "top end" schools. In many other countries that is the case.