I just got back from the ASEE conference in Pittsburgh.   I have noticed that there seems to be two types of schools.  One feels their job is to educate students.  The other believe they are a research facility.  I went to Berkeley and there is no doubt which camp it falls into.  I also did not see professors from CAL.  I saw a lot of Professor from land grant school and small private Universities.  Even though it was held in Pittsburgh I saw no one except one librarian from Carnegie Mellon.

If I was looking for an Engineering school for some high school student,  depending on the student I would check its staff's involvement in ASEE.  

If the student was the type that wanted professors they could closely work with  I would recommend a school from the ASEE group.  If the student is able to survive at a school with brilliant but unavailable professors the one of the recognized top schools would be the way to go!

 
Anyway I saw cool lego stuff, about a billion different text books, and I got enough pens to start my own office supply store.

Davey.