i went to UM with partial ship, grants, and out of pocket money. my reason was bc i was born and raised in miami and i loved canes football. i could've gone to FSU for free, but hated the noles. in hindsight, there isnt much of a diff education wise other than the rankings. i do value the friends i made while at UM though and one of the major reasons i have no regrets. we all have diff reasons tbh and when youre 18, theyre less sensible than the one you made. gotta look at it from diff perspectives.
again, thats not to say that what the parents did was right. it sucks bc it is causing one person not to be admitted, but this happens everywhere. wasnt shocking to me at all.
and to answer your question -- prestige. i had a friend go to harvard law and there is no real difference between emory and harvard in terms of the law. the law is the law. the diff is the rank and prestige. companies like having harvard grads. the friend that went to HLS would tell me that they would get list serv emails from goldman sachs saying to all majors welcome to apply. the entire reason behind all of this is that Harvard is just super old lol