Going to a lower rated public school has been a mixed blessing for my kids so far. Because they are smarter and more determined than most of the other students, they pretty much get first choice at anything they want. Because the school routinely scores low and has many low income students, money flows in. On the flip side, the AP classes my daughter took were as hard or harder than any college class I took. In the end they have to be, or the students will not pass the test required at the end to get their college credit. Same test state wide, so when a student scores well, you know it is against all the other "higher class" schools. Same with the high SAT Scores. One of my son's classmates was accepted to West Point last year, so it isn't like a top end school is not possible.
I doubt half the options available to them would not be possible at some of the higher rated schools, as the competition would be that much more intense. PLU is offering any student from their school a guaranteed free ride, provided they get the grades to get in. My daughter wants to go out of state, but other wise it probably would about a $45,000 benefit. With everything going the way it is, she probably will get a free ride anyways, but the PLU option is pretty incredible. The school is also incredibly diverse, so my kids have no problem getting along with anyone.