I would advise to either get in the best school possible with a brand name (like MIT), or the best overall deal (e.g. a decent public school with in-state tuition). I would not waste money on second rate private schools.

The brand name schools payoff. The price difference between a school like MIT and second tier schools like GWU is not big enough to justify the difference in the brand power.

On the other hand, some public schools, e.g. William and Mary, while being dirt cheap offer decent education. Some of them even have comparable brand power, e.g. Berkeley vs. Stanford. Thus due to the significant cost difference, they're an alternative to best private schools.