“The first two years of University are exactly the same as at a major university. It is just the basics”
You have never been in an advanced course at a major college ...
I have and I can speak from experience. In my experience, the state schools are Ok and can produce some good students, but overall they tend to be amazingly average. The private universities are better than the state schools by a fair degree. When I arrived at an Ivy from a state school to get an advanced degree, the kids who went to that Ivy as undergrads were head and shoulders smarter than I was. They understood things more quickly that I would take hours to digest. In the end my grades were as good as theirs, but I had to work significantly harder to get them.